Attitude & Opinion

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Marilynne Robinson, whom I've quoted before, hits the nail on the head in her observations even if I disagree with her politics (she is a classical liberal).

Here's what she says on pge. 262 in The Death Of Adam

The present dominance of aspersion and ridicule in American public life is a reflex of the fact that we are assumed to want, and in many cases perhaps do want, attitude much more than information.

I suppose each one of us could, upon an instant, call to mind four or five people whose entire demeanor and conversation correspond to Robinson's insight.  I suppose, with some reflection, we might see ourselves there more than we ought. 

There is more to it than simple ignorance.  If it were only ignorance I suppose, with suitable public relations and the inevitable pressures of making a living, the situation would, in a sense, be self-correcting.  Would that it was that simple but it is not.  If this is ignorance, it is willful ignorance and to my knowledge there is no known cure for that disease.

Somewhere along the line, maybe from the beginning of time, we human beings have been susceptible to thinking that we have a right to our opinions and that we also have the right to shout those opinions when people offer up arguments that run counter to them.   Shouting is somehow understood as a rhetorical guide to self-validation.  Its most common expression is when someone says "Well, I told them a thing or two" with that particular smugness that comes from having shut down all conversation through a form of intimidation.

We have this idea that education is supposed to make us better, more capable of wisdom, better prepared to deal with the complexities of life.  Unfortunately, through our smorgasbord approach to curriculum these days, what happens is that those being "educated" get to pick and choose among the courses which appeal to them rather than be submitted to a 'core' set of requirements for study.  Sometimes this simply means that our laziness dictates which courses we take as we settle for the least demanding.  Mostly, I think, it means that we choose courses which fit our opinions.  We look for professors who we know will say stuff we want to hear.  Higher education becomes reinforcement for our prejudices. 

Somewhere there has to be a path to sanity out of this snake pit of emotional fervor.  I think it can only come when we actually begin to value connectedness in thinking.  Someone once said something to the effect that "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds." (Paraphrase of Ralph Waldo Emerson)  There is little danger of an inordinate desire for consistency prevailing among us today.  We seem to absolutely delight in inconsistency in thought.  It is as if every moral question is divorced from every other question, moral or otherwise.  There is the adamant rejection of synthesis, of common thread, of ultimate principle. 

This sense of fragmented thinking is exalted as freedom.  A person is "cut loose" from any shaping influences and free to consider every experience, every shifting whim, independently of all else.  In its extreme it can lead a person to wake up one morning, walk into the kitchen and surprise his or her spouse with the news that the marriage is over.  It's how I feel, you see, and therefore all questions or argumentation counter to the tendency are viewed as irrelevant.  And yet, as the person walks out the door, in their new freedom, they simply reject any idea that this action has any broader ramifications.  It certainly cannot be viewed as a reflection of their overall character, at least not in their mind, because the action is isolated to just the sphere of its own immediate effect.

If a President has perverted sex with a young woman while talking on the phone with his commanders in the field about a military situation, then that should not be taken as any reflection upon his competence, his overall moral integrity, or his ultimate qualification for office. 

Fragmented thinking which denies or subordinates the importance of unity, of consistency, of principle as a guide to evaluation, to decision making, or as a virtue, is the surest precursor to embracing impulse as the sole criterion for actions and choice.  If we give up coherent principle we lose our humanity.  We might as well join the zoo - not as observers, but as simply one more exhibit.

Comments

[Gadfly]

It's terrible isn't it. Life is getting in the way of blogging at the moment but I hope to be back soon.

[beepbeepitsme]

Come on. I am relying on you to post something controversial.

No slacking off. ;)