Nice post. As Thomas Ligotti concludes in "The Conspiracy Against the Human Race", “If truth is what you seek, then the examined life will only take you on a long ride to the limits of solitude and leave you by the side of the road with your truth and nothing else.” Some feel a drive to pursue it anyway (given we are human, none of us ever captures the full truth, merely subjective facets of it).
Rolo Slavsky comments sometimes with wonder at his innate desire to pursue truth despite having the capabilities to fool the retarded masses to cash in, which is just giving them what they want, to be told that all will be OK and the world is a good place where Truth and Justice (tm) naturally prevail without their own effort or risk -- but the drive for it, when the truth is generally dark and depressing, leaving a knot in your gut, is a curious thing...
Great post. I think Aristotle is very helpful here. In Book I, chapter 5 of Nicomachean Ethics, he discusses those who make honor their highest good. What happens to these people is that their reason becomes enslaved to the validation of other people. I think this captures well the drives to fit in and get ahead that you mention in this essay. Psychology, not logic, takes over.
Cognitive decline driven by the pursuit of lies is definitely a thing. First, conscious dissembling places an additional cognitive load which reduces performance in the moment. Second, and more perniciously, over time the lies have a destructive effect on the coherence of one's mind both internally, and with the external environment. People who believe lies become stupid; also for societies that demand belief in lies.
This is why it is so very dangerous for belief to be moralized. People should be encouraged to speak their minds, to say what they think is true, even if (others think) they are wrong. Under such circumstances they will perform at their best. Further, it will encourage true things to proliferate in the social shared mind, increasing coherence with the world and making all participants smarter and more effective.
Of course, rationality is just one aspect of this. Intuition, inspiration, and instinct also speak the truth, albeit without the ability to explain themselves.
Nice post. As Thomas Ligotti concludes in "The Conspiracy Against the Human Race", “If truth is what you seek, then the examined life will only take you on a long ride to the limits of solitude and leave you by the side of the road with your truth and nothing else.” Some feel a drive to pursue it anyway (given we are human, none of us ever captures the full truth, merely subjective facets of it).
Rolo Slavsky comments sometimes with wonder at his innate desire to pursue truth despite having the capabilities to fool the retarded masses to cash in, which is just giving them what they want, to be told that all will be OK and the world is a good place where Truth and Justice (tm) naturally prevail without their own effort or risk -- but the drive for it, when the truth is generally dark and depressing, leaving a knot in your gut, is a curious thing...
Great post. I think Aristotle is very helpful here. In Book I, chapter 5 of Nicomachean Ethics, he discusses those who make honor their highest good. What happens to these people is that their reason becomes enslaved to the validation of other people. I think this captures well the drives to fit in and get ahead that you mention in this essay. Psychology, not logic, takes over.
Cognitive decline driven by the pursuit of lies is definitely a thing. First, conscious dissembling places an additional cognitive load which reduces performance in the moment. Second, and more perniciously, over time the lies have a destructive effect on the coherence of one's mind both internally, and with the external environment. People who believe lies become stupid; also for societies that demand belief in lies.
This is why it is so very dangerous for belief to be moralized. People should be encouraged to speak their minds, to say what they think is true, even if (others think) they are wrong. Under such circumstances they will perform at their best. Further, it will encourage true things to proliferate in the social shared mind, increasing coherence with the world and making all participants smarter and more effective.
Of course, rationality is just one aspect of this. Intuition, inspiration, and instinct also speak the truth, albeit without the ability to explain themselves.