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The Cognitive Dissident

A blog by Ronald P. Thompson, Ph.D.

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Ethics

Of Human Rights and Government

I am an American.  The sanctity of unfettered freedom of speech, assembly, press and religion has been ingrained in me as, it is in all Americans, since my earliest years.  This belief is, in many ways, the heart of who we are as a people.

“We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are endowed by their creator to certain inalienable rights:  life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  This we believe as a people.   The political right, center and left know the fastest way to public repudiation is to trample those basic rights.

Americans citizens regularly get in trouble in other countries when they give the authorities the proverbial finger only to find out that they have committed a crime in doing so.  This type of behavior is often seen as American arrogance, but in fact it is not that Americans think they should have that right, they believe every person on earth already has that right. Rather than being arrogant, we tend to be naive to the ways of the rest of the world.

Against that backdrop we look at the execution last year of a women’s rights lawyer for simply stating that women have rights equivalent to men.  We see the Chinese government arrest people for practicing unapproved religions and systemically destroying Christian churches.   We see the a number of governments arrest not only those who practice freedom of the press, but lawyers who defend the journalist. And we hear of death sentences handed out by the governments in several countries on the charge of changing religion or daring to question even the smallest tenant of the official religion.

How can all this be?  Don’t all people know they have the inherent human right to freedom of speech, press, assembly and religion?  It is a puzzlement for us in America. How does a government get away with it?  Such a flagrant violation of the social contract between government and the governed simply must result in the fall of the said government.  Mustn’t it? Continue reading “Of Human Rights and Government” →

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Of Ethics

Years ago, in one of my group psychosocial sessions I had decided the group needed an introduction to ethical decision making, so I asked who could give me a definition of ethics.  No one offered an answer. I asked again.  I got a couple of answers that were not even remotely connected.  This was not good, I had assumed (wrongly) I would have some foundation on which to begin a session.

With that in mind, I have decided to mention ethics to my little group of readers.

Ethics is defined as: 1) study of morality’s effect on conduct: the study of moral standards and how they affect conduct  2) a system of moral principles governing the appropriate conduct for a person or group.

Ethics is not a list of rules for what to do our not to do.  It appears that most people like lists of rules, clear bright lines saying “don’t do this” or “do this” to be morally sound.  It absolves them of making difficult moral choices. Leaders also like rules because it allows them micromanagement powers over their followers.  Rules are the hallmark of the world’s mono-theistic religions, even when their founders apparently opposed such rules. Jesus was very clear in his denunciation of the rule makers in favor of an ethics based on “love thy neighbor as thyself”; however, the first thing his cadre of disciples did once he was gone, was to start imposing a list of rules. Continue reading “Of Ethics” →

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Of Experts and Pseudo Experts

 

In a few very narrow topics I am a genuine expert. In a good many more topics (though still rather small in actual number), I am highly knowledgeable.  On the vast majority of topics that come up I either have a basic working knowledge, or can bluff my way through a conversation by knowing what questions to ask. Then there are those things that I can’t even begin to discuss without looking like a rube.

I think this pattern is true for most people.

There is simply no way anyone can spend the time and energy necessary to become truly an expert in more than a small group of things.  To get to that level one must have both the theoretical understanding of the topic coupled with years of practical experience to work out how the theory behaves in the real world.  This is equally true for educational policy as it is for plumbing. Simply knowing about something from books or classes cannot make one an expert, unless we are talking about being an expert in the theory alone.  All too many college professors believe they are experts in things at which they have little or no practical experience.  On the other hand it is very difficult for most practitioners to see beyond their immediate surroundings to the larger, big picture, concepts.   It is this myopia that formal education/training is very useful in correcting.   That education need not be in a formal classroom, but the larger perspective of why things are done in a certain way is imperative if one is to be a real expert. Continue reading “Of Experts and Pseudo Experts” →

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