Does anybody knows where it came from? AUTHORITY AND AGREEMENT There are two ways in which Man often accepts information as truth, neither of them very good. One of these ways is to accept a statement as truth because an “authority” says it is true and must be accepted. The other way is by preponderance of agreement amongst other people. A study in “Authority” A Greek by the name of Galen at one time dominated the field of medicine. He upheld the “tides of the blood” theory, as did his contemporaries, knowing nothing about heart action. Centuries later another man by the name of Harvey, working at the British Royal Medical Academy, found, by animal vivisection, the actual function of the heart. Harvey made his announcement, and upset Galen’s time-honored position with the new theory of blood circulation... and dead cats, rotten fruit and pieces of wine jugs were hurled in his direction! Harvey raised such a commotion in medical and social circles that, in desperation, one doctor made the historic statement, “I would rather err with Galen than be right with Harvey!” Man would have made an advance of exactly zero if “Galen-said-so-so-it- must-be-true” had been the only method of testing evidence. And, every so often, there have been rebels who were not satisfied with the decree of “Authority.” These men have tested facts for themselves; observed, accepted the data of their observa- tions; and tested again. These are the men who have provided us with progress. Popular opinion equals “truth” Possibly the first man who made a flint axe looked over a piece of flint and de- cided that the irregular stone could be chipped in a certain way. When he found that flint would chip easily, he might have rushed to his tribe and enthusiastically tried to teach his fellow tribesmen how to make axes in the shape they desired, instead of spending months searching for accidental pieces of stone of just the right shape. The chances are, he was stoned out of camp. Indulging in a further flight of fancy, it is not difficult to imagine that he finally managed to convince another fellow that his technique worked, and that the two of them tied down a third with a piece of vine and forced him to watch them chip a flint axe from a rough stone. Finally, after convincing fifteen or twenty tribesmen by forceful demonstration, the followers of the new technique declared war on the rest of the tribe and, winning, forced the tribe to agree by decree! BASIC STUDY MANUAL 68 BSM DATA EVALUATION You might say that a datum is as valuable as it has been evaluated. And a da- tum cannot be evaluated until it is compared with the objects to which it applies. For example, the datum, “A student will become sluggish when he goes by a word he does not understand” has been of value to you to the extent that you observed what happened when you actually did go past words you didn’t understand. A person who couldn’t read would find difficulty in evaluating this datum. It would also be of little value to him. Data is your data only so long as you have evaluated it. Test it for yourself and convince yourself whether or not it exists as truth. And if you find that it does exist, you will be comfortable thereafter; otherwise you are likely to find (previously unrecognized) down at the bottom of your information and education, an unresolved question which will undermine your ability to assimilate or practice anything in the line of a technique. Your mind will not be as facile on the sub- ject as it should be. FUNDAMENTALS When a man tries to erect the plans of a lifetime or a profession on data which he, himself, has never evaluated, he cannot possibly succeed. Fundamentals are very, very important, but first of all one must learn how to think, in order to be absolutely sure of a fundamental. Thinking is not particularly hard to learn. It consists merely of comparing a par- ticular datum with the physical universe as it is known and observed. Authoritarianism Authoritarianism gives you learning which is forced, using the threat of some form of punishment. A student is stuffed with data which have not been individually evaluated, just as a taxidermist would stuff a snake. Such a student will be well in- formed, but, unfortunately, he will not be very successful in his chosen profession. Do not make the mistake of criticizing something on the basis of whether or not it concurs with the opinions of someone else. The point which is pertinent is whether or not it concurs with your opinion. Does it agree with what you think? Study a subject for itself and use it exactly as stated. Then form your own opinions. Study it with the purpose in mind of arriving at your own conclusions as to whether or not the tenets you have assimilated are correct and workable. Compare what you have learned with the known universe. Seek for the reasons behind a manifestation, and postulate the manner and in which direction the manifestation will likely proceed. Do not allow the authority of any one person or school of thought to create a foregone conclusion within your sphere of knowledge. Only with these principles in mind can you become a truly educated individual.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 18:39:17 +0000
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