March 2, 2008
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The Most Dangerous Questions
The most dangerous type of question is that which opens the door to doubt and change.
"Why do we live/believe/act/think/do things this way?"
The change and doubt engendered by such a question inevitably leads to an uncertain future. Since questions of this sort are the bedrock of human curiosity and have been asked since the first proto-human picked up a stick and wondered what to do with it; we have been bedeviled by the results.
Wrong decisions can and often do lead to disaster, but quick-thinking humans just as often use change as a road to improvement, sometimes even making a success of the disastrous situations. Indeed, change is the road to improvement.
The more fundamental the question, the more fundamental the change, the more fundamental the improvement (or the more serious the disaster). Once the step toward change has been taken, there is no turning back as the change itself becomes part of the past and colors any retroactive steps we might try to take. That's why the reactionary's plea to return to the "Good Old Days" never succeeds.
What's the best way to avoid the pitfalls of change?
Comments (17)
You're linked - for a change
So it is to think the unthinkable that might be plausable?
well, I know why I believe the things I do. It is because I am a Christian.
Do you think it is impossible to make things like they were in the past?
Like Afghanistan.....They are now "free" from talaban rules and the women don't need to wear burkas.
Do you not think it possible for things to go back the way they were before?
Zeal: Just what is unthinkable anyhow? Such a question almost always has something to do with dangerous Change.
Kristen: Yes. It is impossible to make things exactly like they were in the past. That has never stopped some humans from trying however
The Talaban is an example of such an attempt. It is normal for us to yearn for that better life we once had - once gone, it never returns the same - but the new life may be better.
I am confused...why do you think change is a bad thing or dangerous? It would be a change for the U.S. to suspend the death penalty until the system is reformed. How is that bad?
Pondering questions of change is what the old and great philosophers did. It's were many of our moral foundations come from etc. It is how the world has evolved into what it is now. Do you think everything in this world we live in is now bad?
I am asking these questions not to try and refute your opinion, but merely to understand it a bit better.
I agree with Momentkeeper when she says "why do you think change is a bad thing or dangerous?" I get the feeling from reading your post that you consider change a force of nature that always ends badly, that people have to take the lessons learned from change to progress. I don't disagree that those situations do occur and when they do are beneficial to the betterment of mankind, but does change always lead to a bad thing? I don't think so. I think there is both a positive and negative aspect to change that could be interpreted either way depending on how you view the situation. I do think that in certain situations, change does favor one side [positive or negative] better than the other. Change isn't necessarily something that is bad is what I'm trying to get at.
Sorry if any of that didn't make sense. Sometimes my hands can't keep up with my mind. Good thoughts though.
My Goodness! Can you think of anything as dangerous as change? Change is the fundamental condition of humans and no one can doubt that we live in a dangerous world. That's what makes it exciting.
Change is bad only if you think uncertainty is bad - where did I say that?
As a matter of fact, I am not only content, but happy with (most) changes; which, I think, makes me somewhat unusual.
When I taught (Sociology), my classes often discussed age cohort differences. The students always complained about how crabby and unhappy with the world old folks were. I reminded them that most senior citizens lived in a world they did not understand, did not expect, and compared unfavorably with the familiar world they grew up in. I used to joke that they would probably be in the same situation someday. They assured me that they certainly would not.
That's what makes me unusual. My mother's mother was alive and kicking when the Civil War began - she was born in 1856. My father's grandfather fought in that war. That's right, my grandmother wasn't a child during World War I (1914-18), she was a child during the Civil War (1861-65). If my parents were still alive, they would both be well over 100 years old. I have personally seen a lot of history
How many other people do you know that can make that claim?
I'm now in a position to see what bothered the oldsters - it very much bothers many of my contemporary friends. Change does not, however, bother me- I like it.
What change would you most like to see? Least like?
I see now more where you are coming from than in your initial posting. My my sociology teacher called me "her little deviant" *laugh*, so I guess you can see where I am all for change! However, I agree change is scary, and ironically when you ask most people what they hate the most the answer is indeed change!
Personally for me the change I would most like to see in the world is for all people to understand a culture and everything encompassed within that culture whether they agree with it or not. The change I would like to see least is those cultures becoming destroyed because of modern war, religion, or politics.
An interesting topic to discuss would be "What changes can you think of that have made a significant impact on the world throughout history?"
Ahh Yes. The Americanization of the world.
It isn't going to happen but my fearless prediction is that all the world's cultures are going to be homogenized eventually - and the world will be the worse for it. It's happening already.
How can change be directed? Or, can it on the mega-level?
Dick,
Thanks for commenting... yes, good match the one with caviar and Champagne, although i am not much of a fan of this wine... and sorry, i don't know Stilton. My wife told me it's a cheese... i am greedy of cheese, so i'll look for it. I love port, and i can imagine it drunk with some very very strong, smooth cheese... I am going to try that match...
Why don't you try a post with your favorite ten matches? I know your good taste, i am curious of it.
Ciao
dario
This really isn't a very "socratic" answer but... I can't resist. If change is so bad, and people are so afraid of it, why is the candidate with a platform based on... change... doing so well in the Dem. primaries?
What makes you think Change is so bad?
Maybe Democrats, being liberals (well, some of them are), are more open to change than Republicans, who seem to be more conservative, not to say reactionary (well, some of them are)
@tychecat - I am not sure how change can be directed. What do you think on that front?
It is a fear to me that cultures will be destroyed early. I say early because over time most of the great civilizations have been destroyed or they have simply disappeared like the Mayan Indians.
There are so many things that happen in those cultures that make the world a more beautiful place, and I think it would be a big loss to our humanity to loose some of those cultures.
Maybe I should go into that more for my swing this week...
According to the theory of Social Darwinism, cultures/civilizations rise and fall like great trees in a forest= sprouting, struggling through the undergrowth, fighting for their place in the sun, eventually aging and decaying, being supplanted by another rising culture.
This over-simplistic view has been disproven many times but still persists. Actually, the Mayans didn't go anywhere - they are still there - I personally have a good friend of Mayan ancestry - he still speaks some Nawhatle (?). What happens to cultures/civilizations is that adaption to changing circumstances causes a change in them. This continual change proceeds at different rates. Sociologists and Anthropologists call it, appropriately enough, Culture Change.
Do you think these dangerous questions sort of lead people to stop thinking--> fear? I guess for some people (yay for cliches), ignorance can be bliss..
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