[ExI] authoritarianism

[William Flynn Wallace]

This is the epistemological system most people are comfortable with.

Growing up we are told what to do by parents, teachers, preachers, older
kids and so on.  Then the kid reaches 18 and gets tossed into college.

Where is the motivation to think for one's self?  Critical thinking in
schools is a good start but I think not a lot is done with it.

So the reasons for one's behavior comes down to:  Mama said do it. Jesus
wants me to do it.  If I don't do it God will punish me, if everyone does
it, it must be right, and so on.

No wonder so many people are just lost in college and jump to every kind of
different sets of beliefs.  Different authorities.  They are not equipped
with the mental tools to separate out and judge different systems.

They are just not comfortable with being on their own, deciding their own
morals.  They want some authority as backup.  Science does not give them
that.

"Who told you that was right."  "No one. I decided it for myself."  Most
people do not have the ego strength to say that.

There are parents who tend to let their kids decides things for themselves,
but do not give them the mental tools to be able to do so, again leaving
the kid thrust into the world expected to be independent and is lost.  Some
find new authorities, the more different from their past ones as possible.

Morality is way too important to be left to parents, teachers, preachers
and so on, but just where do we want to them to go?

bill w
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