Knowledge
Some people believe that knowledge sets us free. Perhaps it gives us the means and the tools to better our situation in the world; but I do not believe that it frees us. Knowledge leaves us open to all sorts of foolishness and stupidity. There is a belief that progress (or scientific advancement) is our species driven destiny but for all the good that can come from scientific advancement; a better standard of living, a longer life span- there also comes the capacity to destroy and kill on a magnitude never before imagined. We only need to look at the modern world to see the evidence of this. If you think about how we have advanced as a species you could become fearful for the future.
Plato believed that the highest form of human activity was contemplation. There was once a time when being human was not so much about changing the world but seeing it. I mean by ’seeing it’ that there is a spiritual or metaphysical component to life that needs to be understood and explained. Plato believed that we learn in this life by remembering knowledge we acquired in a past life.
Kant believed we have ‘a priori’ intuition, this is a subjective form of knowledge something we are born with and ‘a posteriori’ knowledge of sense perceptions, what we learn through experience. There is a belief that the world could not exist without our minds to make sense and order of it. If you consider a person who has severe learning difficulties, whose minds cannot develop in the natural course of human existence. You can see that there may be something to this argument. – If you are looking at the world from a purely human centric point of view. The world to someone so profoundly disabled can never make sense –Depending on the disability, concepts such as love and empathy or even objective realities such as 2+2=4 can be meaningless. At most these people live in worlds that are dictated by intuitive emotions such as anxiety and fear. Does that mean then that the world does not exist because they lack understanding? Seasons still change, leaves change colour. Life is about more than the human species and there are more aspects to the human species than the average 5/8 or the odd extraordinary thinker. To say that “people come in all shapes and sizes” is a understatement. There is a broad spectrum that envelopes the reality of what it is to be human and if humanity were to be removed from this planet seasons would still change, leaves would change colour.
Plato believed that the highest form of human activity was contemplation. There was once a time when being human was not so much about changing the world but seeing it. I mean by ’seeing it’ that there is a spiritual or metaphysical component to life that needs to be understood and explained. Plato believed that we learn in this life by remembering knowledge we acquired in a past life.
Kant believed we have ‘a priori’ intuition, this is a subjective form of knowledge something we are born with and ‘a posteriori’ knowledge of sense perceptions, what we learn through experience. There is a belief that the world could not exist without our minds to make sense and order of it. If you consider a person who has severe learning difficulties, whose minds cannot develop in the natural course of human existence. You can see that there may be something to this argument. – If you are looking at the world from a purely human centric point of view. The world to someone so profoundly disabled can never make sense –Depending on the disability, concepts such as love and empathy or even objective realities such as 2+2=4 can be meaningless. At most these people live in worlds that are dictated by intuitive emotions such as anxiety and fear. Does that mean then that the world does not exist because they lack understanding? Seasons still change, leaves change colour. Life is about more than the human species and there are more aspects to the human species than the average 5/8 or the odd extraordinary thinker. To say that “people come in all shapes and sizes” is a understatement. There is a broad spectrum that envelopes the reality of what it is to be human and if humanity were to be removed from this planet seasons would still change, leaves would change colour.
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