The other day I drove around a corner and had to stop suddenly. The sun was in my face and I couldn't see where I was going. Cataracts made it worse, of course, but too much sun is a problem for anybody. That's why we have visors and sunglasses. See the poem Darkness in my previous post. I meant to say that the dazzle of what we know or think we know obscures a universe yet unknown.
For most of the people most of the time, gazing into the darkness won't get things done. To accomplish something, you have to settle for some version of the truth, even tentatively, and use that as a guide to action. However, to be sure you are doing the right thing the best way, you need to spend time and effort on a fresh look at the truth without the dazzle, and repeat that process regularly.
Unfortunately, most special interest groups, political parties, and religions exist to promote their own sort of dazzle. Agreeing to the dazzle (tradition, myth, ideology, creed, dogma, lie) is the price of membership, and often we would rather belong than be right. I choose to belong where the truth is of more value than the dazzle and the discipline of seeking the truth is practiced intentionally.
As for this blog, ye who enter here may leave with revised beliefs. Failing that, dim my own dazzle by commenting below. Tell me how I am wrong.
 |
| Photo by Dennis Ware |
One thing I always admire in a politician, or a preacher for that matter, is the willingness to admit to having changed their mind. Or to just changing their mind, whether or not they admit to it. Although there is that all-to-common tendency not to admit the change but to pretend they thought that way all along. I'm always bewildered by the major criticism campaigning politicians get from opponents or news-folk who delight in pointing out that Politician X has actually changed his or her position on something. How do we ever learn anything if we're not willing to change our minds?
ReplyDelete(Not sure what this little rant has to do with "dazzle" but there you have it anyway.)
Your rant is right on target. We don't want a political leader who does the best they can with limited evidence. We want a messiah who knows the whole truth about everything from the beginning to the end, somebody we can rely on to fix whatever goes wrong. But if things go wrong, everybody knows better than they do. A messiah's lot is not a happy one.
ReplyDeleteI just listened to François Legault, premier of Quebec, explaining how expert opinion on the pandemic has evolved during the past year, and how that has required a flexible response from government. Charges of conspiracy or incompetence will only discourage good people from seeking positions of responsibility. We need to have confidence in our leaders and follow the best advice available. The toxic alternative is to make up our minds in our ignorance what we want to happen and then seek out "experts" who agree with us.
There will always be contrarians. I know. I'm one of them. But I also know that my uninformed opinion needs to be tested rather than adopted without consideration. In a democracy, we have a say in what happens, but we have trusted certain individuals to weigh diverse opinions and make policy.