"Life's meanings come from subjective as well as objective truths."
Professor Jensen encountered this kinid of knowledge when studying hte easrly existentialists, Martin Heidigger (1889-1976) and Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1885) in a seminar with graduate students.
These early existentialists, who are known as deep thinkers, talk in complicated ways about the most simplest things. These two existentialsists have helped scholars realize that there is a different way to view the world and to gain
knowledge. There is a subjective type of knowing that is more
fundamental, than a scientific analysis of what Kierkegaard calls
objective truth.
This experimental type of know is for Heidigger, the most important way to find meaning in both material objects and ourselves.
So, for students who want, need and maybe demand an academic base for this, we will use this insight from existential philosophy.
Existentialism is concerned with both the nature of knowing and also the nature of being a person.
Now, also consider what is probably the most profound statement ever made by a philosopher. It was set forth as the foundation of his work by the father of philosophy, Rene Descartes (1596-1640).
He was searching for the one truth about which a person can be absolutely certain. His conclusion was that he knew for certain, that he existed. In other words, one can only be certain of one's own existence. Thus his famous statement, "I think therefore I am". Even a child knows this to be true. First we accept that we exist, and then we explore what we become.
"Know thyself", "To thine own self be true", "Just be yourself", are a sampling of advice you have undoubtedly heard.
Why must you consciously work to accomplish the obvious? Who else could
you be, and aren't you always aware of just who you are.
Who else would you know you better than yourself? For are you not with yourself 24 hours each day and everyday? Maybe it is easier to understand the popularity og these sayings if you remember the popular phrase, "The unexamined life is not worth living!"
The conclusion to all this is that to be the best possible marriage partner, friend, person you can be, you must know "What are we?" Then, use the most sensible and appropriate methods to understand the illusive and hard to observe spirit of your partner. Omitted is an even more important way to respond to the spirit of the one you love.
Showing posts with label I Can Directly Know What Is True and Good. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I Can Directly Know What Is True and Good. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Experimental Learning
At
one point in time, Professor Jensen was helping one of his students
find a journal were they could submit research. He was surprised to find
one called, "The Journal Of Experimental Education". After he published
the article, he realized that this kind of learning is the basis of
what we refer to as common sense. It is important to call this learning
to your attention. It should not be overlooked.
Same daughter: Mom, how much help were those books you read and the classes?
Same mother: Of course they helped but, experience or learning from day to day has proven to be the most valuable kind of learning.
Do you think there were no good parents or marriage partners before there were classes and books on understanding each other?
Daughter: But, is this kind of learning reliable and valid?
Mother: Well, thousands each day make life and death decisions based on this kind of knowledge ans do so with equal or more confidence than decisions based on academic information. I use this knowledge first and even doubt other information if it is not in harmony or consistent with what I know from my years of experience.
Daughter: Do you think that what you said is a little self aggrandizing?
Mother: Now that you mention it, yes, it sounds that way. Sorry, but wasn't it you who told me that Dad thought I understood him best? I never found your dad in anything I read!
There is a kind of knowledge which comes from experimental living. This is the living we do from infancy to death. We live and interact with people. We learn from meeting them and accepting them in a way which they become part of our experiential world.
Experiential refers to the way that we interpret everyday objects. events, and people as they appear and as they present themselves to us. This is definitely informational learning. Perhaps it is the most important type of learning that brings about an understanding of others and our self.
In addition tot he direct experiential living we have, one on one with the objects of the world and other people there are interactions with the knowledge and truth statements that exists in our culture. Here we find information by reading literature,listening to wise people, reflecting and introspecting on our daily observations, paying attention to our traditions, recalling and observing interactions of people with each other, reading, religious practices and instruction, and all the other ways we learn in our jobs, schools, churches, and private lives.
These interactions and learning gradually accumulate to tell us much about who we are and the people we live with. We come to know individuals directly, but we also acquire certain abstractions and concepts about people in general. Some of us are much better attuned, interested, and intellectually capable of benefiting from this kind of learning, and usually such people share what they have learned. Thus we learn from one another and from our own experiences a type of truth and knowledge which is unequaled and irreplaceable for optimal understanding in your marriage.
Same daughter: Mom, how much help were those books you read and the classes?
Same mother: Of course they helped but, experience or learning from day to day has proven to be the most valuable kind of learning.
Do you think there were no good parents or marriage partners before there were classes and books on understanding each other?
Daughter: But, is this kind of learning reliable and valid?
Mother: Well, thousands each day make life and death decisions based on this kind of knowledge ans do so with equal or more confidence than decisions based on academic information. I use this knowledge first and even doubt other information if it is not in harmony or consistent with what I know from my years of experience.
Daughter: Do you think that what you said is a little self aggrandizing?
Mother: Now that you mention it, yes, it sounds that way. Sorry, but wasn't it you who told me that Dad thought I understood him best? I never found your dad in anything I read!
There is a kind of knowledge which comes from experimental living. This is the living we do from infancy to death. We live and interact with people. We learn from meeting them and accepting them in a way which they become part of our experiential world.
Experiential refers to the way that we interpret everyday objects. events, and people as they appear and as they present themselves to us. This is definitely informational learning. Perhaps it is the most important type of learning that brings about an understanding of others and our self.
In addition tot he direct experiential living we have, one on one with the objects of the world and other people there are interactions with the knowledge and truth statements that exists in our culture. Here we find information by reading literature,listening to wise people, reflecting and introspecting on our daily observations, paying attention to our traditions, recalling and observing interactions of people with each other, reading, religious practices and instruction, and all the other ways we learn in our jobs, schools, churches, and private lives.
These interactions and learning gradually accumulate to tell us much about who we are and the people we live with. We come to know individuals directly, but we also acquire certain abstractions and concepts about people in general. Some of us are much better attuned, interested, and intellectually capable of benefiting from this kind of learning, and usually such people share what they have learned. Thus we learn from one another and from our own experiences a type of truth and knowledge which is unequaled and irreplaceable for optimal understanding in your marriage.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Loving Service
As I have mentioned in prior writings, we have established that we are not static electricity randomly "floating" through space and time. We all have a soul, or a spirit and we all have individual value with more substance than just being placed here. Agreeing with this or knowing this can further help us understand each other and our spouses or loved ones in greater depth. In keeping with this topic and while reading the following, keep that in mind.
Here is a story that has taken many times, many places, in different languages and cultures. The issues, surroundings of the individuals might change, but the message will remain the same.
Daughter: Dad said you understand him better than anyone in his life. How do you do it? In fact, you understand me better than anyone else. Mom, what is your secret? Tell me how you do it.
Mother: Well first, you should realize that there are many ways and I use them all. But, there is one way that is a sure thing. By far it is the best way.
Daughter: Well, tell me, but first, let me get a pen. I want to write it all down.
Mother: A pen isn't necessary, in fact it is so simple and basic, but many people don't think about it. If you could sum up understanding someone into one word, it would be "Service". In one sentence, I would say, "Begin each day with your spouse with loving service".
Daughter: Do you have plans and goals when you do this?
Mother: Oh, no, nothing like that. It is almost like happiness. If you seek happiness, it will elude you. However, if you live right, happiness will find you. So it is with loving service. When you serve another person you just come to know that person in a way that can not be equaled.
Daughter: Maybe that is why so many wives understand their husbands better more than they are understood by their husbands.
Mother: (chuckle) That is a humorous way of looking at it. But the principle also works with for the men whom I have met. When they care, help, and see their lives as being the the service of their families, they become men with more understanding. You naturally come to understand those whom you serve.
When students are asked, "Who knows you best?", they do not say, "My Therapist." Usually they say, "My mom", and secondly they say, "My dad". The mother and the father are examples of someone who has served them, loved them, or has shared their life with them first. They are not the people who are particularly astute in knowing laws and abstractions about human behavior. They are people who have lived, worked, loved, and shared a world together. How artificial is it to try to understand someone else in an office. To best understand another person, you need to do things together like: eat, work on a job, share stories, take care of one another when sick, and live with them in a loving, serving and unselfish way. Does this not sound like marriage? Does this not tell you about another way to truly understand people, especially those who you love the most? This conclusion is just the opposite of what we usually think is the way to precede with helping and understanding.
Here is a story that has taken many times, many places, in different languages and cultures. The issues, surroundings of the individuals might change, but the message will remain the same.
Daughter: Dad said you understand him better than anyone in his life. How do you do it? In fact, you understand me better than anyone else. Mom, what is your secret? Tell me how you do it.
Mother: Well first, you should realize that there are many ways and I use them all. But, there is one way that is a sure thing. By far it is the best way.
Daughter: Well, tell me, but first, let me get a pen. I want to write it all down.
Mother: A pen isn't necessary, in fact it is so simple and basic, but many people don't think about it. If you could sum up understanding someone into one word, it would be "Service". In one sentence, I would say, "Begin each day with your spouse with loving service".
Daughter: Do you have plans and goals when you do this?
Mother: Oh, no, nothing like that. It is almost like happiness. If you seek happiness, it will elude you. However, if you live right, happiness will find you. So it is with loving service. When you serve another person you just come to know that person in a way that can not be equaled.
Daughter: Maybe that is why so many wives understand their husbands better more than they are understood by their husbands.
Mother: (chuckle) That is a humorous way of looking at it. But the principle also works with for the men whom I have met. When they care, help, and see their lives as being the the service of their families, they become men with more understanding. You naturally come to understand those whom you serve.
When students are asked, "Who knows you best?", they do not say, "My Therapist." Usually they say, "My mom", and secondly they say, "My dad". The mother and the father are examples of someone who has served them, loved them, or has shared their life with them first. They are not the people who are particularly astute in knowing laws and abstractions about human behavior. They are people who have lived, worked, loved, and shared a world together. How artificial is it to try to understand someone else in an office. To best understand another person, you need to do things together like: eat, work on a job, share stories, take care of one another when sick, and live with them in a loving, serving and unselfish way. Does this not sound like marriage? Does this not tell you about another way to truly understand people, especially those who you love the most? This conclusion is just the opposite of what we usually think is the way to precede with helping and understanding.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Resoning
This post was written by Professor Jensen and revised and posted by Dena Jensen
It is good to be called rational, but don't be satisfied with the compliment.
The following story will help yeild some light and clarification about the power and limits of reasoning.
Bright Student: I just detest the debates I have with you. Through your cleverness your logic make up, seem down, black turns to white, and good becomes bad.
Professor: Well, don't take is seriously. It is a game and a good game with rules. I just know how to play it better than you.
Bright Student: But, It isnt a game for me. I want to use my mind to find truth. I want to think clearly. I want to use logic to find truth and prove it to others.
Professor: Well, you might think you are proving something to another if you find them a little less intelligent. Of course, don't plan on really disovering truth with your logic.
Bright Student: Why?
Professor: Well, because for thousands of years the best minds have tried and failed You are not doing yourself a favor if you use reason alone. Don't rely on reason by itsself to find the final answers to the big questions.
Bright Student: So?
Professor: Be happy. Be happy you have a good mind, that you can use your thinking skills so well, that you can use your gifts to enhance and improve you personal life. But, remember to be humble. Humility is the gift that is limited in what it can give you and more limited in convincing others.
To understand what this professor is trying to convey, it is important to think logically. It is useful to consider two types of reasoning. The first is scientific, which has for it's basis sensory data. The other kind of reasoning has for its foundation fundamental propositions or premises that are believed to be infallible. Some call them different things, we can call them assumptions. In this case, we begin with these acceptable premises, or propositions, then proceed with mental calculations which supposedly guide us to knowledge and truth. It must be obvious to you that the conclusions reached through the most careful and astute reasoning can be no better than the propositions upon which they rest.
In the case of scientific reasoning, the conclusions will be wrong if the sensory data is incorrect to start with. As with the other kind of reasoning, the conclusions will be false if the fundamental permse or preposition was in error. For example, if you begin your reasoning with a fundamental belief that people are basically good or people are basically bad, the conclusions reached will be different. Reasoning is a tool used to supplement and expand what may or may not be true beginnings. Furthermoreit can be easily shown that the mental calculations used in reasoning can lead to inaccurate conclusions through falty reasoning. Problems in reasoning are easily demonstrated in introductory courses in logic.
Now, with this realization that there are problems inherent in both sensory and rational approaches to knowledge, you will still, like most people, use and trust each. So, when you believe that you are a practical person you simply mean that you are capable of employing your senses and reasoning to come to better conclusions. So, what if you use both reasoning and sensory observations together, at the same time? This is scientific reasoning.
For an interesting discussion on Scientific Reasoning click here.
It is good to be called rational, but don't be satisfied with the compliment.
The following story will help yeild some light and clarification about the power and limits of reasoning.
Bright Student: I just detest the debates I have with you. Through your cleverness your logic make up, seem down, black turns to white, and good becomes bad.
Professor: Well, don't take is seriously. It is a game and a good game with rules. I just know how to play it better than you.
Bright Student: But, It isnt a game for me. I want to use my mind to find truth. I want to think clearly. I want to use logic to find truth and prove it to others.
Professor: Well, you might think you are proving something to another if you find them a little less intelligent. Of course, don't plan on really disovering truth with your logic.
Bright Student: Why?
Professor: Well, because for thousands of years the best minds have tried and failed You are not doing yourself a favor if you use reason alone. Don't rely on reason by itsself to find the final answers to the big questions.
Bright Student: So?
Professor: Be happy. Be happy you have a good mind, that you can use your thinking skills so well, that you can use your gifts to enhance and improve you personal life. But, remember to be humble. Humility is the gift that is limited in what it can give you and more limited in convincing others.
To understand what this professor is trying to convey, it is important to think logically. It is useful to consider two types of reasoning. The first is scientific, which has for it's basis sensory data. The other kind of reasoning has for its foundation fundamental propositions or premises that are believed to be infallible. Some call them different things, we can call them assumptions. In this case, we begin with these acceptable premises, or propositions, then proceed with mental calculations which supposedly guide us to knowledge and truth. It must be obvious to you that the conclusions reached through the most careful and astute reasoning can be no better than the propositions upon which they rest.
In the case of scientific reasoning, the conclusions will be wrong if the sensory data is incorrect to start with. As with the other kind of reasoning, the conclusions will be false if the fundamental permse or preposition was in error. For example, if you begin your reasoning with a fundamental belief that people are basically good or people are basically bad, the conclusions reached will be different. Reasoning is a tool used to supplement and expand what may or may not be true beginnings. Furthermoreit can be easily shown that the mental calculations used in reasoning can lead to inaccurate conclusions through falty reasoning. Problems in reasoning are easily demonstrated in introductory courses in logic.
Now, with this realization that there are problems inherent in both sensory and rational approaches to knowledge, you will still, like most people, use and trust each. So, when you believe that you are a practical person you simply mean that you are capable of employing your senses and reasoning to come to better conclusions. So, what if you use both reasoning and sensory observations together, at the same time? This is scientific reasoning.
For an interesting discussion on Scientific Reasoning click here.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Can Science Know All?
The modern world is built upon science that cannot know all.
The difficulty is that science has proven itself to be the most powerful method of finding truth ever conceived, and this may lead to some to turn their backs on all the other methods.This can put you in a disadvantage when it comes to understand people.
Think for a bit of a (possible) conversation between a Psychologist Professor and a Parent.
Professor: You would like to know which Parenting Theory is best?
Parent: Yes, but not just which one is best, but true. Which theory has the most scientific proof?
Professor: Actually, you are asking at least three questions:
What is best?
What is true?
What is scientific?
I think you will have an answer to all three when you consider that no credible, informed and honest scientist will claim that his methods can adequately study what cannot be observed or measured.
Thus, when you expressed a belief that each person has a spirit and that spirit has something to do with directing, then science will not be able to adequately nor fully explain what you need to know.
Parent: So are you saying that I can not turn to science for my answers to my parenting questions?
Professor: Not quite. Sure, you can turn to science for such answers; many will be very good. But don't expect to find a scientific theory that is adequate to explain, predict, or completely inform you with all you want to or need to know about parenting.
Parent: So, where do I turn?
Professor: Turn to science for important information about regularities in behavior, growth patterns, correlations between behaviors and environment. Science provides many good insights about such matters. But now knowing this, also realize that in psychology alone there are hundreds of theories. It would be foolish to select one theory on the basis that it is scientifically true. A genuine scientist will not pretend that he can adequately study the most important aspect of a person, which is that of the will, soul or spirit or . whatever you call it
Again, the greatest and most dramatic illustration of truth finding through the sensory, is the use of sensory of information and reasoning through science.
Everyone must be impressed with the undeniable achievements of science in the physical world. Scientific disciplines are staffed with men who have proven themselves exceptional in using the scientific method to uncover truth and knowledge.
Therefore, without dispute, science is the foundation for truth and knowledge in our technically based society. However, you should be aware honest scientists will tell you directly that they cannot, and in fact do not, want to use this method to tell you about things that are not based on empirical observation. If you believe that people are more a material body, then you must turn to other methods for a complete and understanding of your marriage.
The difficulty is that science has proven itself to be the most powerful method of finding truth ever conceived, and this may lead to some to turn their backs on all the other methods.This can put you in a disadvantage when it comes to understand people.
Think for a bit of a (possible) conversation between a Psychologist Professor and a Parent.
Professor: You would like to know which Parenting Theory is best?
Parent: Yes, but not just which one is best, but true. Which theory has the most scientific proof?
Professor: Actually, you are asking at least three questions:
What is best?
What is true?
What is scientific?
I think you will have an answer to all three when you consider that no credible, informed and honest scientist will claim that his methods can adequately study what cannot be observed or measured.
Thus, when you expressed a belief that each person has a spirit and that spirit has something to do with directing, then science will not be able to adequately nor fully explain what you need to know.
Parent: So are you saying that I can not turn to science for my answers to my parenting questions?
Professor: Not quite. Sure, you can turn to science for such answers; many will be very good. But don't expect to find a scientific theory that is adequate to explain, predict, or completely inform you with all you want to or need to know about parenting.
Parent: So, where do I turn?
Professor: Turn to science for important information about regularities in behavior, growth patterns, correlations between behaviors and environment. Science provides many good insights about such matters. But now knowing this, also realize that in psychology alone there are hundreds of theories. It would be foolish to select one theory on the basis that it is scientifically true. A genuine scientist will not pretend that he can adequately study the most important aspect of a person, which is that of the will, soul or spirit or . whatever you call it
Again, the greatest and most dramatic illustration of truth finding through the sensory, is the use of sensory of information and reasoning through science.
Everyone must be impressed with the undeniable achievements of science in the physical world. Scientific disciplines are staffed with men who have proven themselves exceptional in using the scientific method to uncover truth and knowledge.
Therefore, without dispute, science is the foundation for truth and knowledge in our technically based society. However, you should be aware honest scientists will tell you directly that they cannot, and in fact do not, want to use this method to tell you about things that are not based on empirical observation. If you believe that people are more a material body, then you must turn to other methods for a complete and understanding of your marriage.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
We Must Know More Than We Observe
Post Written By Professor Jensen and Dena Jensen
Businessman: It is truly amazing that you can fool my sense like that. Making things appear and disappear like that.
Magician: Actually such illusions can and do happen all the time. I just stage things to fool the senses of sight, touch and hearing in order to impress. I don't use my knowledge to deceive.
Businessman: But, I could be deceived so easily. I see or should I say, I know that now.
Magician: But, if you are aware of the possibility of your senses fooling you, you can then be on guard not to be fooled but still trust your senses because you must use them daily to wisely deal with the world we live in.
Businessman: Yes, but my most important problems are about my family. I want certainty. I want what I see and hear to be true. Can I also be deceived there?
Magician: Of course. In fact, you have less assurance that what you se and hear when observing people is true. People are much more difficult to observe than physical sight and sounds! Beware!
Businessman: So, what then?
Magician: To be successful with your family you must see and hear more than what you observe.
Rarely you are warned about your senses deceiving you.
Instead you hear things like, "I have to see it to believe it", "I'd have to hear that from the source." These two common phrases are associated with the belief that the most certain knowledge is what we can see or hear.
However, anyone that is acquainted with psychology or philosophy in the early part of the 20th Century knows that what comes to the eyes or ears is not what exists in nature. All sensory input is altered, changed and interpreted by the mind. The popularity and skill of the magician is based on the fact that our senses do not give us an exact certain representation of the physical world.
Bertand Russell (1872-1970), philosopher of science, explains that the color, texture and shape of a table may be very different from what we actually receive through the senses and yet we always know it to be the same table.
We usually admire the man that says, "Show me or prove it to me first." Proving something, or "proving it" means to provide sensory evidence that something is there. And yet, there are many times in our existence where we must act with out this kind of knowledge to survive and prosper. We need to be aware that our hard to observe feelings are a part of reality. Unobservables do guide us to appropriate actions with our marriage partners, especially our feelings and emotions, which are very important in a marriage.
A high level of observable objectivity is of great value, however, it alone cannot answer life's questions about another spirit, feelings and emotions.
Sometimes we must make subjective judgements in the absence of sensory data. It is necessary to add reasoning, to go beyond what we observe.
Here is a good quote about knowledge, "To be successful with people you must first know more than you can observe"
Here
we have a fictitious Father, who was self employed, self made
Businessman. He was very serious and never had time for nonsense. He was
impatient with his cousin, whose employment was an avid magician. Let
us get a glimpse of conversation they are having about what can be
trusted. Let's see how the remarks ended:
Businessman: It is truly amazing that you can fool my sense like that. Making things appear and disappear like that.
Magician: Actually such illusions can and do happen all the time. I just stage things to fool the senses of sight, touch and hearing in order to impress. I don't use my knowledge to deceive.
Businessman: But, I could be deceived so easily. I see or should I say, I know that now.
Magician: But, if you are aware of the possibility of your senses fooling you, you can then be on guard not to be fooled but still trust your senses because you must use them daily to wisely deal with the world we live in.
Businessman: Yes, but my most important problems are about my family. I want certainty. I want what I see and hear to be true. Can I also be deceived there?
Magician: Of course. In fact, you have less assurance that what you se and hear when observing people is true. People are much more difficult to observe than physical sight and sounds! Beware!
Businessman: So, what then?
Magician: To be successful with your family you must see and hear more than what you observe.
Rarely you are warned about your senses deceiving you.
Instead you hear things like, "I have to see it to believe it", "I'd have to hear that from the source." These two common phrases are associated with the belief that the most certain knowledge is what we can see or hear.
However, anyone that is acquainted with psychology or philosophy in the early part of the 20th Century knows that what comes to the eyes or ears is not what exists in nature. All sensory input is altered, changed and interpreted by the mind. The popularity and skill of the magician is based on the fact that our senses do not give us an exact certain representation of the physical world.
Bertand Russell (1872-1970), philosopher of science, explains that the color, texture and shape of a table may be very different from what we actually receive through the senses and yet we always know it to be the same table.
We usually admire the man that says, "Show me or prove it to me first." Proving something, or "proving it" means to provide sensory evidence that something is there. And yet, there are many times in our existence where we must act with out this kind of knowledge to survive and prosper. We need to be aware that our hard to observe feelings are a part of reality. Unobservables do guide us to appropriate actions with our marriage partners, especially our feelings and emotions, which are very important in a marriage.
A high level of observable objectivity is of great value, however, it alone cannot answer life's questions about another spirit, feelings and emotions.
Sometimes we must make subjective judgements in the absence of sensory data. It is necessary to add reasoning, to go beyond what we observe.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Use Many Ways To Find Truth and Knowledge
This post is a collaboration by Professor Larry Jensen and Dena Jensen
I
worry about a very limiting belief. It is that there is only one source
of knowledge. As many of us already know, the standard for truth in
modern society is science. Science defines truth as a standard in courts
of law, legislation, public and private debates, and just about
everything else. When we want to understand the material or natural
world, we must use this unequaled method. We need science. We loves
science. But, must we sometimes look beyond science for other source of
truth and knowledge?
We are then faced with these questions:
- How much do I trust my senses?
- How much do I trust my reasoning?
- How much do I trust science?
- How much do I trust my consequences?
- How much do I trust my general abstractions?
- How much do I trust common sense?
Please ask yourself to consider this; "How much do I trust the different paths to knowledge?" This question must weigh in your knowledge and must be considered before accepting what you know to be truth.
We propose to over the next couple of weeks find an opportunity to consider how you trust the different ways you come to know things.
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