Friday, June 03, 2011

Who are you listening to?

I was reminded last night how much there is right now to listen to and how formative your "source" is.  Someone showed me some prophecy literature with a strong KJV only tendency talking about how heretical the NIV2011 is.  Whaaaaat?

But it could be that you're doing a web search on sabbath... what perspective are you going to get from the overwhelming number of sites?  The Seventh Day Adventist perspective.  Why?  Because they're the ones most interested in the topic.

Do you listen to Rachel Madow on msnbc or Rush Limbaugh?  What email lists are you on?  Do you read blogs by Ken Schenck.

What's the solution to the way this feast of information threatens to entrench existing tribalisms?  I suppose education in everything--let's all go get doctorates in every field of knowledge.  Or, since that won't do, we have to develop a "hermeneutics of suspicion"--question everything and develop massive critical thinking skills.  We develop a tentativity about new info, especially in areas where we're not experts.

12 comments:

::athada:: said...

The information glut makes confirmation bias all the easier. Even as we have the opportunity, so it seems, to narrow in even closer on the Truth.

JohnM said...

Wait..listening to Rush Limbaugh is like reading Ken Schenck?? ;-)

Ken Schenck said...

Probably on some days... the trick is knowing which ones ;-)

Angie Van De Merwe said...

"existing tribalsims"? I agree that tribalisms are what separate and divide, as they make for distinctions....but what is the alternative? Uniformity?

Is uniformity to be desired? What would that accomplish? a social norm of compliance with whatever the "rulers" want us "know" or "think"? Does this suggest that rulers are to be trustworthy and not politically motivated? Or is the political motivation the issue?
Is "one world" ever to be a goal? or is "one world" an idealized dream that might make for the propaganda that lulls us to sleep, while others choose everything for us, from what we are allowed to eat to whether we can get the needed healthcare at a point in time...how much liberty is one allowed to have when it causes these differences? Is liberty expendable for the "goal" of "one world"? Those that have the power to control others don't have to worry about being controlled themselves....as the would be making the decisions and holding power over the media, so "the people" or "masses" would be controlled...is communism the goal of "one world"?

Angie Van De Merwe said...

I thought that our Founders understood that power corrupted, and how is that understood with the empowered class?

Isn't there a move to circumvent the uniformity of our healthcare choices? And leave these decisions up to the States?

Angie Van De Merwe said...

John Adams wrote what happens to a Republic when the people and government are corrupted...as both are necessary for a healthy society! To see what he says;

http://americancreation.blogspot.com/2011/02/john-adams-on-virtue.html

AND

http://americancreation.blogspot.com/2011/05/john-adams-bases-constitutions-success.html

Rick said...

So maybe now your sidebar links can include those from other camps such as Justin Taylor, Kevin DeYoung, and Michael Patton.

;^)

Ken Schenck said...

Is Ben Witherington close enough? ;-)

Angie Van De Merwe said...

I forget that religion is what draws the "public" on this blog... So ritual is what it's "about", I suppose...hopefully, no one is OCD with a religious bias ;-)!

Christopher C. Schrock said...

http://mashable.com/2011/06/03/filters-eli-pariser/

Ken,

Filters for web content are only adding to said tribalism.

Burton Webb said...

Of course social scientists (with PhDs) have know this for decades.

What about the flip side Ken. Confirming tribal thinking is one thing, facilitating tribal action is something else. This power might be used for good or ill...

Ken Schenck said...

You'll have to clarify. I didn't follow.