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Mike Holmes
Posts: 308
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:15 pm

Post by Mike Holmes »

I sometimes think that Schopenhauer was having fun with us, the sum total of his work a grand jest. But it would seem that he was dead serious, and that his pessimistic view of life is that, since the other guy will cheat, you should know how to cheat better. It still makes me laugh.

Call me a Pollyanna if you must, but I prefer to stick to Aristotle's methods, and be willing to be convinced if logic and facts are on my opponent's side. To disclose, I was, formerly, very conservative, including feeling that the war on drugs was a good idea. It was only after being bombarded with a multitude of facts and logical arguments that I changed my position to what it is today. I'm fully willing to change back to my former position if somebody were to provide me with facts and logic that countered the data that was used to convince me. But consistently I find that when asked to do so, the side promoting the war falls back on "well it's common sense."

There was a time when "common sense" told people that bathing was harmful. Louis Pasteur had a rather uphill battle to convince people that they could avoid infection by washing their hands.

Common Sense today tells mothers that sugar makes their kids hyperactive. Guess what? Look it up. We're still a superstitious lot.

I prefer Critical Thinking to Schopenhaurian utilitarianism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking

Mike

Betruger
Posts: 2321
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 11:54 am

Post by Betruger »

Mike Holmes wrote:I sometimes think that Schopenhauer was having fun with us, the sum total of his work a grand jest.
Mike
That was my first impression too! Hehe.. tricky old coot..

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