Males worry thought as they worry nothing else on earth – greater than spoil, extra even than demise. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, damaging and horrible; thought is cruel to privilege, established establishments, and comfy habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, detached to authority, careless of the well-tried knowledge of the ages. Thought seems into the pit of hell and isn’t afraid. ~ Bertrand Russell (“Why Males Battle: A Methodology of Abolishing the Worldwide Duel,” pp. 178-179)
I’ve not devoted a column to a dialogue of a quote in a very long time however I had forgotten about this previous chestnut and thought it merited remark. Let me start by saying that I doubt that folks worry thought greater than they worry, for instance, torture, most cancers, or the demise of their kids. However with these caveats out of the best way, let’s proceed.
Russell thought that most individuals don’t prefer to suppose, as one other of his quotes reveals: “Most individuals would fairly die than suppose; in reality, they achieve this.” When he says that folks “worry thought,” he’s giving a cause why many individuals don’t prefer to suppose. After all, individuals reject considering due to laziness or lack of ability or different causes too, however worry is a significant inhibitor of thought. However why?
Individuals reject considering not simply because it’s exhausting, however as a result of they fear it would undermine their long-held, snug beliefs. Having taught college philosophy for greater than 30 years I’ve seen this primary hand. College students typically dread desirous about controversial matters like politics, ethics, and faith.
However probe even deeper. When you begin considering, you could reject not solely god and nation however love, friendship, freedom, and extra. It’s possible you’ll uncover that what is known as love is reducible to chemical attraction; that friendship is mutual reciprocity; that morality is what these in energy decree; that messengers of the gods are sometimes psychologically deranged; that freedom is an phantasm; and that life is absurd. Thought breeds the worry that we are going to lose our equilibrium, that we are going to be compelled to see the world anew. We worry considering as a result of what we and others suppose issues to us.
I used to inform my college students to not imagine that concepts and ideas don’t matter—that they solely exist within the ivory tower with no significance for the true world—as if beer and soccer are extra vital. No. Ideas and concepts incite political revolutions; they encourage folks to sacrifice their lives or kill others for simply and unjust causes alike. They decide how one treats each pals and enemies, and whether or not household is extra vital than cash.
Even probably the most summary considering impacts the world. Non-Euclidean geometry or symbolic logic are about as summary as considering will get—but you may’t perceive Einsteinian gravity with out the one, or run computer systems with out the opposite. Considering issues to us, to others, and to our world. That’s one cause why we worry it a lot—it shakes our foundations.
However not simply any considering will do. If we actually love fact we are going to interact in cautious and conscientious considering knowledgeable by the perfect cause and proof accessible—our dignity consists, largely, of excellent considering.
Precisely fifty years in the past this month I entered a college the place the next inscription was etched on its library’s wall. I’ve by no means forgotten it:
“This establishment might be based mostly on the illimitable freedom of the human thoughts. For right here we’re not afraid to comply with fact wherever it might lead, nor to tolerate any error as long as cause is left free to fight it.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
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