From: Wim Nusselder (wim.nusselder@antenna.nl)
Date: Thu May 13 2004 - 07:29:39 BST
Dear David B.
You wrote 12 May 2004 21:44:35 -0600:
'the more regressive worldviews tend to have less power than sheer numbers
would dictate. But the most important point I'd like to make is the 59% is
higher than we would normally see on the irrationality scale even for
Americans.'
Yes, I'm glad that the problem is thus reduced a bit. But how big is it
still in your experience?
Is this 'manifest destiny' idea rooted so strongly in your culture that it
even influences people who don't consider themselves religious anymore
(maybe only 'spiritual' in the Gallup poll Platt quoted) and is this 'end
times' thinking even popular among people who wouldn't think of going to a
church where literal interpretations of Revelations are taught?
You wrote:
'But the same ones who are among that 59% also have jobs and families and
otherwise function in a rational world.'
The world of jobs and families and maintaining society isn't predominantly
rational in my view. It is dominated by habitual behaviour rather than by
premeditated actions (that can be founded in either rational or irrational
ideas).
You wrote:
'Obviously, education is the key to solving this kind of problem. I believe
that if we it took it seriously and educated every American to know HOW to
think and allowed everyone to go as far as they wanted to go, most of our
major problems would go away and we'd be knocking down prisons instead of
building them.'
Yes, but Americans obviously ARE educated (by politicians employing
'manifest destiny' thinking, by bestseller writers employing 'end time'
thinking) to think irrationally. The problem may be how to change the
patterns of that kind of education rather than how to strengthen other types
of education that compete with it?
With friendly greetings,
Wim
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