Friday, March 20, 2009

The Anti-Snob Snob

   Today I want to talk about snobbery. What I mean by snobbery in this context is simply rejection of anything that doesn't fit your own narrow viewpoint. This sort of snobbery comes in many shapes, from the obvious; how could you possibly listen to/drink/watch that junk when my favorite is obviously better, to the near opposite; those idiots in California/New York/France really don't get us here in Peoria/Alaska/Saskatchewan and I don't think they should be telling us how to vote/dress/marry besides it's their loss anyway.

   As I said in my first post we must discriminate to live a productive life, and I don’t even have a problem with thinking that other people’s beliefs are wrong, I just feel that we need to stop discounting those opinions without reason. I am not however endorsing relativism, all “truths” are not created equal and what we believe is not reality. What I am saying is pick your battles. Does it really matter that your best friend drinks a beer that is better suited for cleaning rust off of bumpers? Can you really change the mind of the cretin at the office that believes that Strom Thurmond was far too liberal? Will anyone really listen when you rant against the latest pop-tart that can’t sing, and would it really matter if they did?

   The point of all this is, if you want to criticize make sure it is worth criticizing. If you can enlighten someone to the stupidity of the anti-vaccine movement, by all means do. But is it really worth the waste of energy to make fun of someone because they love Journey? I mean really, I like Steve Perry’s voice so just get off my back already.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

My Many Misconceptions

I am an intelligent adult, I am a skeptic, I am quick to learn and understand new concepts, and I am often wrong in how I believe things work. What I hope to do with this blog is expose my thoughts on a wide variety of topics and, through my own research and/or reader input, find the error of my prejudging ways. Everyone discriminates, by which I mean they judge one thing to be superior to another; if we didn’t discriminate we would be paralyzed by indecision. Discrimination becomes a problem if we fail to correctly process the inputs we use to come to our conclusions; therefore misconceptions are the enemy of critical thinking. I want to banish my misconceptions, one by one, to the dustbin of history and hope to enlighten others as I shed light on my own ignorance. So welcome, kick back and watch as I get my ass handed to me by people who are smarter than me.