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In Reply to: Re: The family posted by Passing By on June 12, 2006 at 16:06:59:
Yes, I do see how you're being the Devil's Advocate. It's a role I also like to play, because it helps people to see the bigger picture, or context, as you put it. Your comments are thought-provoking, and that's a good thing (as Martha Stewart would say).
I don't think it's possible to be completely objective. The best we can hope to acheive is something like "fair and balanced," to quote one of the most biased news organizations in the US. To me, "balanced" means considering an issue from several different perspectives, and "fair" means examining both the pros and cons of a viewpoint.
I totally agree with this statement: "The boundaries between right and wrong are sometimes clear but most of the time blurred by our own perceptions, interests, values, preferences."
As a researcher, I work hard at distinguishing my perception of reality from the actual thing itself (reality) by constantly identifying and controlling for my biases (interests, values & preferences). One way to do that is to look at the same thing from several different points of view.
In the end, I think you have to trust ordinary people to use whatever information is available wisely and constantly work at bringing up the bar on analysis of information. People who haven't learned basic critical thinking skills are going to get suckered regardless of the information source or its contextual frame.
I would imagine there are a lot of sociopaths in TFI. The leaders are the only ones for whom I have evidence to support that claim.
