Hey Dan,
You Wrote:
"...following Struan's "right on
> the money" argument a one dollar bill and a five dollar bill are equally
> worthless (to Struan) and therefore neither is better than the other.
> While it is true that five and ten pound notes are "worthless" here in
> the States as legal tender I've yet to find any of them dumped in the
> trash can."
RICK:
Although it doesn't take away from "the Skeptic's" point, I actually
disagree that a five dollar bill has no value in England. Like you pointed
out, no one in England is dumping American currency in the garbage. They
would simply exchange it for the pounds that represent the English
equivalent of the amount of value that the dollars represent. While you
cannot usefully import the currency of one nation into another, the value
that currency represents transcends all political borders. The five dollar
bill still has its monetary value in England, the only distinction is that
in England, dollars can only be used to buy pounds of equivalent monetary
value.
However, I think you might have misunderstood what I meant when I wrote
the comment you address here (or maybe I have just misunderstood your
response). What I meant was that everyone holds some things more valuable
than others. What those things are would be different to everyone. To
Struan a five pound note is more valuable than five dollar bill, to us, it's
the reverse. To some, a stack of cash is more valuable than a Van Gogh,
others would rather have the painting. Some value freedom over security,
some value experience over education, some value comapnionship over
solitude... you get the point. Irrespective of the actual "things" being
valued, everyone values some "things" more than other "things".
DAN:
> "To answer your question, yes, I have met those who would deny some
> things are better than others. Everyone, as a matter of fact.
RICK:
EVERYONE would deny that somethings are better than others??? That's bold.
Anyone care to jump in and comment here?
DAN:
By our very act of perception we use a static filter (what Struan might call
a
> built in quality detector) to block out irrelevant and inconsequential
> data which would otherwise overwhelm our senses. It's not that the data
> we perceive is "better" than the data we do not, but rather we are
> preconditioned to perceive."
RICK:
I'm don't think I fully agree with this line of reasoning. On the contrary,
what kind of "Quality detector" would it be if didn't detect Quality
(betterness) in what it perceives. Your theory seems to make it more of a
"qualities detector", simply picking up on those qualities it has been
preconditioned to perceive. Think about the hot stove example... when you
sit on hot stove you don't pick up the fact that your flesh is being burned
because you have been preconditioned to do so. You pick up on it because
it's REALLY better not to be burned. True, there are those who can
(amazingly) train themselves not feel the pain of being burned, but these
people are so exceptional BECAUSE of their ability to tolerate such a
low-quality situation. And despite the fact that they don't "feel" the
pain, they still get burned. And almost everyone values life over death,
feeding over starving, etc....
Besides, the mere fact that humans distinguish totally on the basis of
preconditioning and not at all on the basis of "betterness", even if
accepted as accurate, doesn't refute the idea that somethings are actually
better than others. Is it so hard to believe that there are ways to be
perceive that are BETTER than those to which we are respectively
preconditioned?
DAN:
> For example, is green "better" than blue? Is the light we see "better"
> than, say x-rays or infrared?
RICK:
X-rays may not be better than infrared... light may not be better than
either... but wouldn't our perceptions be of a higher-Quality (betterness)
if we could comfortably perceive, and therefore derive the benefits from
seeing all three? It is better to be able to perceive more than less, it's
better to be able to perceive than not to.....
Thanks for you input Dan; always a pleasure...
Rick
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