The Worship of Reason
(An excerpt from Chapter One of Beyond Mental
Slavery)
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind
is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors
the servant and has forgotten the gift. - Albert Einstein
"Bomb them all."
"Do you mean nuclear bombs?" the interviewer asked.
This very intelligent man sat there on national television
and said, "Yes, we should just drop nuclear bombs on them."
He was referring to Afghanistan, where the Taliban was hiding
and supporting the terrorists who attacked the United States
on 9/11/2001. The reporter pointed out that this action could
kill millions of innocent people.
"That's not our problem. Morally they're not being killed
by us but by the despots who are running the country. The blood
of the innocent would be on their hands because they're the ones
supporting the attacks on us, and we have a right to do whatever
is necessary to defend ourselves." The reporter didn't know
quite what to say.
The exact words may have varied from the above, but this is
a true story. The man was a leader in a group devoted to reason
as the most important element of their philosophy of life. He
went on to explain his position very logically. He advocated
nuclear weapons as an option in virtually any situation where
we were "defending ourselves." He was able to argue
his ideas quite thoroughly.
It's easy to suppose that there must be some flaw in his argument.
But what if there wasn't? What if he was being perfectly logical?
Having heard his explanation, I happen to think that he was being
more logical than most. He was working from certain premises
and very logically arriving at the conclusion that we should
bomb our enemies, even when this means that millions of innocent
people will die.
Most of us immediately react with revulsion at the idea of
killing millions of innocent people. We might share the premise
that we have a right to defend ourselves. We understand that
innocents sometimes die as an unintended consequence of that
defense. We might even accept the idea that a nuclear weapon
has no special moral significance compared to other weapons that
also kill people.
Yet, despite all of this common ground, we still may not arrive
at the same conclusions as the man being interviewed. Do we have
better arguments than he has? Not necessarily. It is entirely
possible that he is being more logically consistent than we are.
Why do we have a different perspective then? Because unlike him,
many of us refuse to serve logic when it opposes what we "see"
as right.
He, on the other hand, is a slave to his own mind and the
logic it produces. Some part of him may be as revolted as we
are by the killing of so many innocent people, but the reasoning
in his mind tells him why it must be that way. Unfortunately,
where that thinking leads, he follows - even if it is to a very
dark place.
What's the alternative to following the reasoning of our minds?
The idea of following one's intuition or higher self or whatever
we choose to call it, even when it contradicts the logical arguments
our minds give us, sounds dangerous. Do we really want people
to follow their feelings and...
Continues in Chapter One (The Worship of Reason) of Beyond Mental Slavery.
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