From: Louis Newstrom (nnewstro@bellsouth.net)
Date: Tue Aug 07 2001 - 11:30:43 MDT
> Why do you believe what you do? Why do I? We'd all like to believe that we
> have arrived at the conclusions most tenable after dispassionate logical
> analyses.
I have had a few pyschology courses that pretty much stated that 90% of what
we believe is already in place by the time we are about 5 or 6. One of the
ideas of "reparenting" is that we have to go back and re-think this because
we are relying on conclusions made by a child. Even if that child is
ourselves, they are likely to be incorrect.
I agree with this view. That's why people often have a violent break-up
when they diverge from their family or their church. The ties are really
more emotional than logical. Finally when logic overcomes our assumptions
and forces us to face that we do NOT believe the way we have been acting, it
is a very emotional experience.
> The recent presidential election snafu also gave me pause in considering
why
> we believe what we do. I don't see any particular consonance between
> conservative or Republican thought and not wanting recounts, on the one
hand,
> and liberal or Democratic thought and wanting recounts, on the other. Yet
> it's my impression that a large majority of people who had opinions as to
> whether recounts should be undertaken had the opinion that was most likely
to
> aid their favored candidate's election.
I have seen this a LOT. Many people simply cannot separate hypothetical
from what is happening now. In those recounts, the majority of people
wanted rules that helped their candidate. Most of those claimed that the
rules were "logical" and that they would want the same rules even if the
candidates roles were reversed. I don't think so. I think they started
with the knowledge of who they wanted to win, and whether concious or not
liked or disliked rules based not on logic, but whether it would help their
side.
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