Cultivating a relationship of trust in conveying information and having it accepted such that it has the possibility of opening up the internal world of the one who receives it is a difficult process in a world of cynics and of overly credulous persons. So, as you’ve pointed out, we have masses of misinformation which is accepted and defended, and truthful information which is rejected through cynicism.
But the cynicism is often the result of disillusionment with power structures - falsehood propagated in the political arena can cause fallout that results in a cynical outlook in other areas. The end product is erosion of trust across a broad spectrum. And when our educational systems are geared towards business, commerce, technology etc. and do not encompass basic principles of understanding how to process information, how to think about and contextualize knowledge, then we are set adrift without the ability to navigate the waterways of comprehension.
“testimony requires both a speaker and a listener and a shared conceptual ground. The testimony will always fall short of its goal without this shared ground.” What you’ve articulated here is too true and it takes all of the sincere artfulness and expertise of one’s proficiency with language to attempt to begin to bridge this gap.
Excellent article. Very thorough. Jim
Glad you enjoyed it, Jim. Feel free to check out the rest of Rags to Reason, there are over 40 philosophical articles to choose from 👍
Cultivating a relationship of trust in conveying information and having it accepted such that it has the possibility of opening up the internal world of the one who receives it is a difficult process in a world of cynics and of overly credulous persons. So, as you’ve pointed out, we have masses of misinformation which is accepted and defended, and truthful information which is rejected through cynicism.
But the cynicism is often the result of disillusionment with power structures - falsehood propagated in the political arena can cause fallout that results in a cynical outlook in other areas. The end product is erosion of trust across a broad spectrum. And when our educational systems are geared towards business, commerce, technology etc. and do not encompass basic principles of understanding how to process information, how to think about and contextualize knowledge, then we are set adrift without the ability to navigate the waterways of comprehension.
Excellent point, very well made.
“testimony requires both a speaker and a listener and a shared conceptual ground. The testimony will always fall short of its goal without this shared ground.” What you’ve articulated here is too true and it takes all of the sincere artfulness and expertise of one’s proficiency with language to attempt to begin to bridge this gap.