 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
No one has a lock on uncovering things unless we let them by
closing our own eyes and minds to the world around us. To have
a revelation, all we need do is lift a rock and see what we've
revealed. Every person has so much more potential than that, so
we shouldn't think that only special people have revelations in
special moments. We uncover things every minute of our lives
when we are attentive and aware, and sometimes accidentally.
Events perceived as personal revelation can often be misleading,
and therefore need to be linked firmly with the testing of what we
perceive in order to verify our notions, Such careful discovery
allows us to step beyond the control of political and ideological
authority and discover things for ourselves. Learning to discover
things about the world around us and in our minds through our
experiences, and then testing those discoveries through
reasonable analysis, is one of humanities most empowering
skills. This freedom of exploration is also what makes us able to
contribute to society through our own decision-making, and by
adding to humanity's common body of knowledge.
Using reason to analyze and explore literature, social structure,
and our own way of thinking can lead to great insights. This
process reveals things about our world on which we can take
action or find enjoyment. Part of critical thinking is not just testing
what we discover, but testing our own assumptions. Using critical
thinking in a self-reflective way allows us to grow intellectually, and
take more responsibility for becoming who we want to be.
Science is one of the best ways so far that we apply critical thinking
to the natrual world. By exploring the universe through this
rigorous system, it can reveal a better understanding of how we
are related to other living things, and where we are in the cosmos
in terms of both time and place. Such revelations (awareness) of
our environment lets us more clearly see what challenges face
each of us personally, and what great challenges face humanity as
a whole.
Studying the literature and the cultural traditions of the world is a
great place to reveal (discover) valuable social information. MOR
encourages such research to be done with a critical and yet open
mind. Speculation and assertion of authority or accuracy of cultural
literature is understood to be just speculation, and not a validation
of accuracy of such assertions or documents. Trusting any
authority completely, living, dead, or personified, is inappropriate
because with such trust we relinquish the responsibility to use our
own reasoning to make decisions and we bypass the opportunity
to understand. By using our own critical analysis, we have a much
greater opportunity to discovery things of value worth sharing with
humanity.
The value of a moral habit or a moral request is in the results it
produces for those involved and for the larger society. MOR does
not simply present moral convictions and then demand that they
be followed as absolutes. Instead, morality is treated as an area
where we can all grow in understanding and practice. Each
person can contribute to this analysis and use it for their personal
growth, and for the development of the societies and institutions in
which they participate.
MOR actively promotes taking personal moral responsibility, and
encourages the societal implementation of moral requests based
on clearly justified results-oriented testing and analysis.
Whenever we have moments of insight, "rapturous" discoveries, or
when we get a sense that we have come to understand or know
something, this might be called revelation. Yet the assumption
that such experiences suddenly become unquestionable
mandates is a fallacy. Many people over the ages have been so
sure that they know something that they become ideological or
military tyrants, persecuting generations on an emotional fancy
from a dream or moment of emotional "revelation.". When we
come to such moments, the best thing to do is step back and
apply a reasoned approach to testing our ideas. We need to test
the ideas that we intend to apply in terms of their results before we
affect people. We need to test new ideas about reality to see if they
hold up, or if they don't. Without this rational testing, we all have
the potential to become ideological tyrants. If ideas are presented
as untestable, then we should realize that we're always better of
acting based on what we do know than throwing that away for
mere speculation.
Like a good scientist, if we have a dream of another planet in our
solar system that inspires us, or if we read it in a book and
somehow begin to believe the planet exists, then we feel we've
had a revelation of some kind. It then becomes important not to
start convincing others immediately, but to begin to look for
evidence, engage in disinterested analysis, and test the
hypothesis to develop a self-aware level of surety. This is so much
better than considering a feeling of joy or inspiration to be proof for
an idea, as has happened so often throughout history.
Reason™ is a non-profit corporation of the state of Colorado, U.S.A.
Text and images falls under the copyright of the author when indicated.
