A Model for the Acceptance of Knowledge in Politics

 

In today's world, most voters get their information from media sources without giving the information they are receiving serious consideration before they accept it as knowledge. I therefore developed this model for the educated mind to apply in the acceptance of knowledge in politics. 

In order to form more educated political opinions, we must seek a perspective that encompasses all the viewpoints. Consider the following teaching from Nir Hazon's Scroll of Wisdom:

8. "Bias is ignorance in the lightest sense. We can alleviate our ignorance by considering a viewpoint that encompasses all possibilities."

The lightest sense of bias is ignorance. If we have a predetermined rejection of an opposing viewpoint, it will only serve to hinder a greater understanding and prevent us from seeing the larger picture. If we want to form more educated opinions, we should approach a topic with objectivity. The more knowledge that we attain, the greater the number of new ideas that we can form. Sometimes, we will be able to find new solutions to a problem if we consider different sides of an argument. Our view of the larger picture should encompass all the possibilities.

After we realize the benefits of leaving our biases behind, we must also remember to never already have our minds made up and refuse to listen to any additional information that might change our minds as all of the information deserves serious consideration. If our goal is to form more educated opinions, we must always consider all of the options.

I would also highly recommend memorizing the following teaching from Nir Hazon's Scroll of Wisdom:

18. "The moment we believe that we are smart, we are giving away our power to continuously analyze with scrutiny."

The moment we believe that we are smart and know something with absolute certainty, we invite possible foolishness. While there are some things that we can know with absolute certainty, many things that are not facts are foolishly believed due to overlooking. We must always invite other perspectives to our consideration, search for questions that could be asked, and continuously analyze knowledge with scrutiny; otherwise, we might become just as dumb as our predecessors.

I must reiterate again that we should never already have our minds made up or think that we know something with absolute certainty and the previous quote explains the reason very clearly. In order to form more educated opinions, we must leave open the ability to listen to new information and to continuously analyze knowledge in politics with great detail.

Accepting Knowledge From Media Sources

When it comes to accepting knowledge in politics, many people just think "What source?" and soak in the information. In order to form more educated political opinions, we must think about the information that is being presented to us:

1. We must consider the intentions of the news sources.
2. We must separate the events that took place from what the news sources want us to think about the events that took place.
3. We must make an effort to seek the truth by reading multiple sources including the sources of the opposing arguments. We must then compare and contrast the information in an evaluation of the truth.
4. We must become aware of the ability of the media to use manipulation techniques in the spread of information, and we can try to recognize manipulation when we can.
5. We must never blindly accept knowledge from our authority, friends, or family members. We must reach our own conclusions based on the evidence presented and we must form our own educated opinions.

I highly encourage Americans to turn off the televisions and start reading the news.

We have politicians running based on gender and race, with no written arguments, and with no biography on themselves. We don't even know who these people are that we vote for.

For a complete theory on what knowledge we can easily accept and what knowledge is questionable and therefore up for consideration, check out the following theory:

"If we measure truth by it's existence, then we will know the truth."

Click the following link to view:

The Measurement of Existence in the Theory of Acceptance of Knowledge 

 

© 2021 Hazon, Nir 

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