[Paleopsych] making gross errors

[Michael Christopher]

>>If no one knows anything, how can we possibly expect
NOT to be making gross errors, regularly?<<

--Good question. And most of us don't have direct
contact with the problems we discuss, so we HAVE to
rely to a large degree on second and third hand
information. Which introduces the element of bias,
especially at times when large groups are becoming
more and more polarized, convinced the other is evil
as opposed to merely operating out of a different set
of axioms about human nature. And axioms about human
nature are notoriously difficult to change, since they
tend to grow out of one's personal sense of identity
more than out of observation of a large number of
specific instances of human behavior. At times, the
study of human beings is actively discouraged (or
dismissed as "psychobabble" or "academic elitism") in
favor of folk theories about what human beings are and
what behavior means. We could all do with a dose of
humility. I suspect neither side in a polarity has the
full view, and the more each reacts against the other,
the less I trust either side to give me an accurate
picture of the world. It is simply assumed that doing
the opposite of what the other side does will lead to
success, and that is by no means clear, especially
when each side stereotypes the other and misreads its
motives.

Michael



		
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