Philosophy, opinions needed!!!!

[AdnanHfuda]

‘we see and understand things not as they are but as we are'

Im writing an essay about this quote and the nature of the topic requires other peoples opinions any help appreciated

[AdnanHfuda]

[Brokinarrow]

To me that says that everyone has their own point of view. Even if an event happens a certain way, 4 different witnesses will have 4 different stories about what happened, all of which may be accurate.

[Xanthos]

Thats the entire basis of my theory on religion (comparative theology is a hobby of mine). All perception is tinted by a persons past experiences, cultural upbringing, etc. Not because we intentionally prejudice our perceptions, but because we are culturally trained how to interpret the things we see, hear, etc.
- X

[AdnanHfuda]

something along those lines yah. heres one of the examples i gave in my essay so far:

Lets have a subject A, Subject A is a teenager with a grudge against the world. As subject A is listening to the radio the words ‘have you ever been hated or discriminated against?’ come up and subject A thinks that the songwriter is a genius. Now lets have a subject B, subject B is a successful businessman and upon hearing the same lyrics as subject A he thinks that the song writer is pathetic and angry. These two completely different ideas came about by the same stimulant but due to the way that the subjects were themselves they thought differently of the song writer.


but i need different examples. how about the perception of the camaro how do you percieve the camaro? i think I need the opinion of a stang fanboy over here

[The_Blur]

The way we see the world is a reflection on ourselves. If we are miserable people, then we will see a miserable world. Furthermore, we will contribute to that misery. In our selfish search for happiness, we will hurt others. If we are good, happy people, then we will see the good in the world, even when the good is only potential. We will seek out opportunities to make good things happen for the benefit of others, enhancing the good in the world.

[AdnanHfuda]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

The way we see the world is a reflection on ourselves. If we are miserable people, then we will see a miserable world. Furthermore, we will contribute to that misery. In our selfish search for happiness, we will hurt others. If we are good, happy people, then we will see the good in the world, even when the good is only potential. We will seek out opportunities to make good things happen for the benefit of others, enhancing the good in the world.

true true, ill try to incorporate that into my essay. how about the perception of something you know very little about? like how green hybrid and electric cars realy are as opposed to 'gas gussling muscle cars'

[AdnanHfuda]

‘as we are’ also includes what we know so far which has a deep impact on what we will perceive something to be, for example: people who have not done their homework on electric and hybrid cars believe that they are better to the environment then a normal car when In fact they harm the environment more then fueling an Hummer H2 for a few years. This harm comes about due to the way the batteries are made and disposed of. The person who knows this would buy a classic American muscle car over a Toyota prius any day seeing as the prius would then have no advantages to it over the American muscle. Even though in truth the person driving the American muscle car he may still be seen as a higher contributor to the global warming issue then a person driving a Prius

i think im guna need proof of this or my teacher wont buy it

[PQ]

We have extremem prejudices and biases.

For example.

I was arguing politics with my Father In Law. And understanding that we'll never change each others minds as far as beliefs and opinions, he was complaining about the fact that George Bush changed the law so you couldn't claim your mortgage interest as a deduction. I told him that it was so untrue. He argued and argued. And brought it up a number of times. Well, I claimed mine the following few months later and looked up the law. Then they were in to visit and I showed him the law on the books and my documentation. He looked at it and fully admited that he was mis-informed. About 5 months later, he brought it up again. AS IF I NEVER SHOWED HIM ANYTHING!!!!!!!

My point is that our perceptions can be shaped in such a profound way, that we are blinded by anything to the contrary of our perceptions, even if we don't want to be.

I'm no angel. I've done this before as well.

[AdnanHfuda]

Thanks looks like i got another paragraph down (Y)

[Iwantone2]

How about the consequentialist who only sees the "end result". I think the argument I learned in school is:

Person A and person B see dog laying on it's side on the side of the road. They stop and Person A tried to pick it up and by doing so, the dog dies. Person B tells Person A that they killed the dog, therefore they did something wrong. Person A says that they were trying to help the dog, therefore doing something right."

does that help or not even close?

[AdnanHfuda]

Originally Posted by Iwantone2

How about the consequentialist who only sees the "end result". I think the argument I learned in school is:

Person A and person B see dog laying on it's side on the side of the road. They stop and Person A tried to pick it up and by doing so, the dog dies. Person B tells Person A that they killed the dog, therefore they did something wrong. Person A says that they were trying to help the dog, therefore doing something right."

does that help or not even close?

actually thats perfect, all my other examples have to do with the way of knowing of hearing and seeing and being told, etc. this is through logic and both make sense but are on two different ends of the good bad spectrum. much appreciated

[Iwantone2]

Glad I could help

[AdnanHfuda]

‘we see and understand things not as they are but as we are’. This statement is true since humans perceive things differently to each other, each slightly different than the one before. This logic can be applied to anything that is open to perception, from something as simple as interpreting song lyrics to something as big as believing in god.

Lets have a subject A, Subject A is a teenager with a grudge against the world. As subject A is listening to the radio the words ‘have you ever been hated or discriminated against?’ come up and subject A thinks that the songwriter is a genius. Now lets have a subject B, subject B is a successful businessman and upon hearing the same lyrics as subject A he thinks that the song writer is pathetic and angry. These two completely different ideas came about by the same stimulant but due to the way that the subjects were themselves they thought differently of the song writer.

Two different subjects attend a religious speech and the speech giver is giving proof of god. Subject A is religious and Subject B is atheist. When the speech giver says that the world is too perfect to have just spontaneously come into existence Subject A agrees without arguing while Subject B is reluctant and even angered by a claim that is to him completely outrageous. Remove the religious speech giver and put in an atheist speech giver saying that the world is not perfect and can easily have come into existence of its own accord. To this subject A is angered and subject B agrees.

‘as we are’ also includes what we know so far which has a deep impact on what we will perceive something to be, for example: people who have not done their homework on electric and hybrid cars believe that they are better to the environment then a normal car when In fact they harm the environment more then fueling an Hummer H2 for a few years. This harm comes about due to the way the batteries are made and disposed of. The person who knows this would buy a classic American muscle car over a Toyota prius any day seeing as the prius would then have no advantages to it over the American muscle. Even though in truth the person driving the American muscle car he may still be seen as a higher contributor to the global warming issue then a person driving a Prius

A man arguing with his grandson about mortgage laws says that George bush has made it so that a citizen cant claim his mortgage interest as a deductable. The grandson firmly does not give up and come back to the grandfather sometime later with proof that the deductable can be made. The man admitted to being misinformed yet got into the same argument again a few months later. This example show how perception can be shaped in a way that is so profound even we can no longer control it even with evidence of being wrong. Our minds eventually convince us of being right again despite the facts.

All these examples have had to do with perception through seeing or hearing. An example of different views on something moral would be the following. A dog is lying on the ground in the middle of the street. Two people see it. Person one convinces person two to move it. As they are moving it the dog dies. Person two thinks that they killed it so moving it was a bad thing. Person one thinks that they were trying to help the dog so it is a good thing. This example shows clearly our lack of understanding and definition of what good and bad truly is giving the human mind room for different views.


done the draft which is due tomorow, seems broken up though any advice