What truths would a wise person pursue?

What truths would a wise person pursue?

The book Beyond Alienation by Ernest Becker attempts to clarify the nature of the human problem and to provide a solution for this problem. If humanity is to resolve this problem it must find a way to instruct itself wisely in the matter of social morality.

Humanity must develop a synthesis of knowledge that can serve as a reasoned basis for constructing a moral rationality. We need to develop a means whereby secular moral science becomes the central consideration for learning.

If I had the ability I would draw a cartoon character with an Arnold Schwarzenegger-like upper torso supported on two thin, spindly, and varicose veined legs. This cartoon character would represent humanity as I visualize the human species.

The strong upper torso represents our strong aptitude for technological achievement and the supporting legs represent our weak and wobbly moral rationality that is failing to provide the foundation needed by humanity.

Philosophy and theology does deal with morality but in a fundamentally different manner. The moral philosophy Becker speaks of recognizes that knowledge is never absolute and therefore must not remain static but must be dynamic reflecting the constant discovery initiated by science. Knowledge is that which helps to promote human welfare in the here and now.

Pragmatism is a self-consistent philosophy that honors the idea that what humans value is that which is relative to what is satisfying. This did not mean just the satisfaction of human appetite but there is recognition that humans are rational creatures; meaning that a value is judged so only when it is chosen in a critical mode of careful examination. 'And it is the community of men, in free and open inquiry and exchange, who formulate the ideal values.'

Dewey's pragmatism was dedicated to the task of reconstruction. Education was considered to be 'the supreme human interest' wherein all philosophical problems come to a head. Dewey's pragmatism failed because it was a call to action without a standard for action. Education must be progressive and must have a strong critical content.

The big question then is what can philosophy and science tell education to do? 'What truths is man to pursue for the sake of man? What should we learn about man and society, knowledge that would show us, by clear and compelling logic, how to act and how to choose in our person and social life?'

Becker thinks that we must transform the university from its present vocational education institution into one leading the transformation of society. It is in this solution that I differ with Becker. I do not think that higher education will ever change its role of preparing students to become productive workers and avid consumers-at least until after the revolution.

I think that in the United States there is a great intellectual asset that goes unused. Most adults engage in little or no critical intellectual efforts directed at self-actualizing self-learning after their schooling is finished. If a small percentage of our adults would focus some small part of their intellectual energies toward self-actualizing self-learning during the period between the end of their formal education and mid-life they could be prepared to focus serious time and intellectual focus upon creating an intellectual elite that could make up a critical intellectual element dedicated toward the regeneration of our society.

All the intellectual -- or any other -- pursuits we might engage in become meaningless if we don't first survive. This would seem to imply that the highest priority "truths" are those aimed at maximizing our survival potential.

But even the consideration of which truths those actually are appears to be of secondary importance to the petty bickering that seems to dominate human behavior. Nature will let us know when it has had enough.

Such is life. No one said evolution would be pretty.

I notice wise people are good at maintaining the things that keep them well and increase their capability of doing this. They know whats good and find a way of reaching it. In brief, wise people maintain the beauty and let it grow.

It appears to me that science has accumulated a great deal of knowledge regarding human nature that would be very useful for everyone to know. Unfortunately our schools and colleges are focused almost exclusively upon teaching us what we need to know to get a good job. I think that this situation needs to be radically modified.

A person can become a self-actualizing self-learner and thus reduce the level of naïveté in the world.

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A person can become a self-actualizing self-learner and thus reduce the level of naïveté in the world

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i believe that the main problem in education systems today is that it's simply a subject to human error.

teachers that aim to "teach" end up forgetting the point of the system to begin with.

The concept of a schooling system is contradictory to begin with, i doubt knowledge is Ever truely aquired without trial and error.


Education systems have little toleration of an "error" margin, thus most students to succeed end up memorizing the contents without understanding any of it, and that's where these problems begin, each of us have our pace in the end. And usually people who don't completely understand all the contents end up with a lot of memorizing techniques that get them through the system missing the whole point of education.

the only clue onto if i actually understood something or just memorized it is if i would be able to remember it 10 years later if i needed to.

Again this would only show that learning as we portrait it in the education system is majorly flawed.

if i would wish to clarify my point further i would only say that theoretical is never practical.

i can teach someone how to live, but i can only hope they would apply those theories in life.

i do believe we most of the time forget meanings and remember words.

anyway, not sure how much this had to do with this post