Friday, March 11, 2011

Let me count the ways!

We learn by repetition. Repeat this as many times as necessary until you understand that, we learn by repetition.

Now it's not surprising that some people have learned that it is easy to manipulate others by 'thinking outside of the box', using the fact that we learn by repetition, against us.

Magicians do this all the time. We know that when someone picks up an object in his left hand, it is in his left hand, through countless instances of this being true.

Politicians, people who make commercials, lawyers, theists, philosophers and so on, know how to manipulate language in the exact same way, by using variations in the meanings of words, to their advantage.

These people know how you think, as sure as they know the next number you are going to say when you are counting numbers.

They know that how to twist the system is as easy as redefining words to suit themselves. A great example of this being the redefining the meaning of the word 'torture' to suit themselves when it suited them.

Eric, who comments on The Chronicles of Saint Brian the Godless, is a master of this kind of diverting tactics, one of his favourite tactics being to use the examples of how Moral Philosophy are not as cut and dried as we'd learned(by repetition) that morality is.

Of course it is disingenuous to piggyback your religion on the notion that you can argue against your victim's lack of understanding that morals are NOT as clear cut as we have learned they are, isn't it?

And understanding that morals are not clear cut betray this tactic as one of the 'chess openings'(if debate is seen as a kind of verbal chess) that apologists are willing to use to distract, confuse and defeat an opponent's ideas.

And it's all framed(as per Pliny's framing post) in such a way as to suggest that they're right, they know all, and their opponents are wrong, and they know nothing.

7 comments:

pboyfloyd said...

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/03/more_rethuglican_inhumanity.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+scienceblogs%2Fpharyngula+%28Pharyngula%29

Here is a perfect example of something completely out of the mothers' or the doctors' hands which is reframed to the Pro-Life agenda.

There was an abortion. In this case a miscarriage(but shh).

There were doctors there who may perform abortions. In this case they didn't(but shh).

The baby is born but left to try to breathe it's last, in a sink, or perhaps a 'caring Pro-Life' nurses arms.

And abortion is easily demonized. All the right 'ingredients' were there to be 'baked' in a nice Pro-life frame.

If you don't know that it's pro-life law that stopped the doctors from 'harming' this poor fetus' then you're easily convinced that it was the doctors' fault, 'cos they're evil abortionists don't ya know?

Saint Brian the Godless said...

They have no honor, and they expect us to believe their morality is superior. Indeed, that their moral system is the ONLY moral system. I think the fact that it's based in coercion (be good or fry in hell etc.) and dishonesty (lies, stories, fables, even santa claus) is a major reason why they have no honor. No real morality equals no honor.

Saint Brian the Godless said...

Even as a child in a christian home, you learn that lies oare not bad, that they can even be good, and that god doesn't seem to mind them, since he's apparently okay with santa etc.

Pliny-the-in-Between said...

It is amazing that so many people seem to think that the path to Truth is so populated with lies.

mac said...

Whether they admit it or not, morality is as flexible as a Romanian gymnast. Morality changes with time and cuture.
If morality were absolute, change would be impossible...yet it does change.

pboyfloyd said...

Exactly mac.

This was the gist of the argument against the 'GREAT' C.S.Lewis' disguising morality as a breakable natural law.

Deacon Duncan exposed C.S.Lewis' as a total bullshitter.

Trouble is that too many people still believe that he is a great theological thinker and would refuse to accept that he isn't.

mac said...

Happy Birthday, Peeb !