I was recently thinking about some of the principles that I have learned about over the course of a lifetime relative to the formation of beliefs and opinions. As I try to apply these principles to myself, it occurred to me that others may find some (or all) of them useful in understanding their own beliefs/opinions. Anyway, here they are:
1 Your beliefs/opinions were shaped by your education, experiences, emotions, prejudices and perspective at the time you formed them
2 Everybody has beliefs/opinions
3 Those beliefs/opinions may or may not be true
4 It is not your responsibility to persuade, convert, condemn or punish people whose beliefs/opinions differ from your own
5 You have probably changed your mind about something in times past
6 There is nothing wrong with modifying/changing some belief/opinion based on new experiences or information received
7 It is OK to entertain the notion that you may be wrong about something – especially relative to the important stuff
8 If your belief/opinion appears to be very unique or in the minority, you owe it to yourself to take a second look at that opinion and/or take a closer look at the majority opinion
What do you think? Can you think of others that you have discovered that would be helpful to others?
1 Your beliefs/opinions were shaped by your education, experiences, emotions, prejudices and perspective at the time you formed them
2 Everybody has beliefs/opinions
3 Those beliefs/opinions may or may not be true
4 It is not your responsibility to persuade, convert, condemn or punish people whose beliefs/opinions differ from your own
5 You have probably changed your mind about something in times past
6 There is nothing wrong with modifying/changing some belief/opinion based on new experiences or information received
7 It is OK to entertain the notion that you may be wrong about something – especially relative to the important stuff
8 If your belief/opinion appears to be very unique or in the minority, you owe it to yourself to take a second look at that opinion and/or take a closer look at the majority opinion
What do you think? Can you think of others that you have discovered that would be helpful to others?
9) add nck
ReplyDeleteThat the importance of any belief or opinion or philosophy may be relative to the environment in or history of which that opinion or belief has formed or is sustained.
To give an example.
For women to be veiled might be a good thing in warm countries where mens hormones react differently to the environment. Not so in cold countries. Women might bath naked in steam rooms together with men there.
Marriage: A matter of LIFE and DEATH in socialconditions that existed only 100 years ago.
Obsolete in an environment where women make a living, are untouchable by law, where men are domesticated and war is fought for us by mercenaries far from the homestead and women cannot be kidnapped by the next warlord.
nck
What I meant to say is that a belief becomes significant relative to its context.
ReplyDeleteSo on other blogs I see people ridiculing a belief system like BI while in reality (even if mistaken) that mindset changed the course of history. I am only interested in what people believe (realism) not what ought to be. (idealism) This makes it far more easier to understand the current political landscape.
nck