Our Assumptions
The following is an excerpt from a course on radical thinking
that I used to offer on one of my websites. It is not from my
book, Beyond Mental Slavery, but it addresses one of the important
issues looked at in that book: how easily we are trapped in our
assumptions when we think (or rather, when we think we are thinking).
What Are We Really Saying?
Perhaps more than the rest of us, politicians sometimes say
things in ways that hide true intentions. There are also unspoken
premises hidden in much of what people believe. Digging into
"doublespeak" and "code words" provides good
material for political cartoonists, but it is also a good mental
exercise for anyone who wants new ways to think about things.
For example, what does a man mean when he says something is
your "duty?" In my mind, he means, "do what want
or I'll make you feel guilty." You may not agree with this
perspective, but you can see that the concept of duty has a lot
of hidden assumptions (Duty to who? Why? Who decides?). What
do people mean when they use the word?
What does it mean when a soldier is called a hero after joining
the army to pay for college and then dying in an accident? What
do people mean when they use the term "social justice?"
What is meant by the "right" to medical care, education,
or a job? The word certainly has a different meaning than when
we speak of rights which only require us to leave others alone.
If you have a true interest in discovering the limitations
of your mind and how to get past them, consider getting a copy
of my book today. You can use the link here:
Click
here to get your copy of Beyond Mental Slavery |
