Check our facts -- yes, it takes time, and one must rely on a basic understanding of sourcing (askyahoo.com vs. Questia research, for instance); understand your source material (bias, their own issues); what words are being used and why; how reasonable and effective is the interpretation? So, what does all that "homework do?"
Well, according to McInerny, it "prepares" the mind for logic. Once the mind is ready, it is now time to put the principles into the logical matrix: relevancy, argumentation, rhetoric, comparisons, and reasoning. By utilizing this matrix, one avoids the trap of illogical thinking, and the premise that one needs someone "external" to provide answers to events, interpretations, and even the answer, to current and past events. It is our own, individual responsibility, to understand our world, and while the process may not be as quick as a "sound bite," it is certainly more satisfying.
Finally, by analyzing the patterns of illogical thinking, we can avoid being led down the "rosy" path and make the types of decisions so vital in a modern democracy. One very entertaining, yet poignant example, is the preponderance of using "so-called" experts to help us understand our world, what medicines to take, what candidates to support, even what food to eat. What do movie stars, with the exception of the dialog their screenwriters provide, know about arthritis prevention, diabetes, pain relief, international relations, or the newest bill before Congress. Imagine, if you will, that rather than Sally Field espousing the benefits of osteoporosis drug "Boniva," a professor of osteology from a major university talked about the long-term benefits of the drug in clinical trials. Would more people rush out and "ask their doctor" about Boniva?
That being said, while it is important that the bar be raised in school, the workplace, and indeed the populace regarding understanding how to form and analyze an argument, it is unrealistic to posit that everyone should analyze everything...
Allegory of the Cave: Plato: Truth and Art Allegory of the cave is one of the most interesting, enlightening and insightful example given by Plato in his book The Republic to explain such vague concepts as knowledge and truth. It appears in form of dialogues between Socrates and Glaucon and they touch upon various important concepts in connection with learning and discovery. Two very vital subjects discussed are art and truth.
Allegory of the cave can be summed up in one single sentence. It symbolizes the place of perceptions in the pursuit of knowledge. Indeed, in a preamble to the actual relating of the allegory, Plato is involved in a discussion as to who can be considered a true philosophy. The discussion meanders around attempting to answer the following enigmas: Just because someone subscribes to a specific philosophy, does that make
The discrepancy between the ideal and the real and the difficulty of arriving at the truth through deduction and induction is something that everyone must grapple with who deals with the ethics of a profession, like accounting. "Prisoners may learn what a book is by their experience with shadows of books. But they would be mistaken if they thought that the word 'book' refers to something that any of them
However, once the enchained individual is set free, we could assume that realizing his own potential could make him wiser than the person who originally helped him. Another interesting idea that Plato introduces through the allegory of the cave states that all of us can become "superior" through a process of training which evolves a lot of effort and dedication. I agree to the fact that all people can overcome
Moreover, Bacon suggests that such false foundations, if passed in time, can only ruin the world. "The Four Idols" of Francis Bacon summarizes an observation of how humans form information in their minds; same subject discussed by Plato in his "The Allegory of the Cave." According to Bacon, there are things in wherein the truth is hard to bare, thus the human mind resorts to information that are available to
S. is on its way to chaos, anarchy and a national catastrophe. The pursuit of individual freedom without respect for authority will eventually lead to these consequences. What keeps U.S. strong and independent is that free enterprise and not the illusion of a contemporary democracy. A basic difficulty in American democracy is its attempt to mitigate all the aspects of negative human nature. Criminals are given equal rights as honorable
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