On Tue, 12 Sep 2000, Samantha Atkins wrote:
> I am not sure that fundamental values are unchangeable. For most people
> "fundamental" means what they are not willing to consider changing or
> questioning. They may even thing that they are unable to question
> them. But think one is unable and being unable are not the same thing.
> I have seen some people some times shift what they and most people
> thought were fundamental values.
>
given that fundamental values are the basis upon which a person
constructs ver entire world, altering these values would mean a kind of
earth-shattering cataclysm. the process would not be gradual; the inner
world of the person would simply crumble, leaving ver kicking and
screaming, helpless as a newborn ... at least for a while. during this
period, years of conditioning beckons this person to reach out for ver old
values that have given ver comfort. what kind of motivation (given that
this person has no complete value system yet) would keep ver going?
no, not impossible. but then again, it isn't strictly impossible
that water at room temperature and atmospheric pressure would
spontaneously boil -- in fact, a few lucky molecules always gather enough
thermal energy to do just that. by the same token, fundamental value
changes do happen; but afaik, they are almost always the result of some
urgent crisis, often beyond the person's control.
> If we cannot shift "fundamental" values then it could spell doom for the
> race as more and more of the environment those values were formed in and
> for changes quite radically and ever faster.
>
just as dna structure is effectively frozen in that adding a fifth
type of base would necessitate changing the entire biosphere, so
fundamental values are pinned down in that pulling one of these from under
would send the entire house of cards tumbling. while a diminishing number
of individuals gather enough momentum by sheer chance to complete a
fundamental change, to consciously arrange this for any appreciable number
of people would prove prohibitively expensive. to boil the whole pot of
water, we need to raise the temperature to 100 degrees.
as to "doom for the race," i'm sure glad that values aren't
inherited like genes.
-x
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 02 2000 - 17:37:52 MDT