Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Zebra Thinkings

I don't think there is any true "black & white situations".
For anything I always think it is possible that there is a situation that you can't just say "This is the only thing to do...this is the only way you can think about that."

Abortion for example. I think it is awful to extinguish any life however I do think that there is some situations where it would be necessary or better to do so.

Basically, I don't think I can have any absolute values or morals. I'm more of a case-by-case person. I agree (in theory) with values such as "it's wrong to kill, lie or steal" but I don't think I could ever not make an exception.

When I was studying postmodernism in English during high school one idea that really stuck out at me. The idea of "TRUTH" and there being no real truth. I think this pretty much explains it:

"Postmodernism is a reinterpretation of what knowledge is and what counts as knowledge. According to postmodernism there is no such thing as absolute truth. ‘Reality’, rather than being something that exists independent of the language or theories anyone may use to describe it, is something constructed or made-up by society. ‘Language’ creates reality, but since language changes and word meanings vary, what is ‘real’ for one group of people may be ‘unreal’ for another. Not only is all thought merely ‘socially and historically conditioned’, but even the very ‘laws of logic’ (identity, non-contradiction and the excluded middle) are ‘Western constructs’ which must not be taken as universally valid, and certainly cannot be imposed on people of other cultures."
There is so much more to it but that really puts it succinctly.
So how does this tie in on my view of Abortion? Basically, if everything is "made up by society" then how do we know our values and how morals are "real"??? If I don't really know if a tree is actually a tree, how can I say if it is right or wrong to take another life?!?!
Hmmm, Postmodernism is interesting. I might blog a bit more on that later.
Have fun! :)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

it is believed that the only real truth is maths as no matter what language, dimension, universe 1+1 will equal 2, even if 2 isnt that languages word for 2. In spite of some people believing their is no physical thing that can exist in all dimensions, universes there does have to be a building block of something, whether it is cells quarks, or lego something has to be there because by definition if there is nothing there then nothing exists. So there are some absolute truths.

Cassie said...

hehehe lego. I wish the world was made of lego.

Hmm, well I suppose an answer to that could be....

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on"
William Shakespeare, "The Tempest"

Think about it :)

Aussie Locust said...

So, if a tree falls in a forest, but no one hears it... even if someone does hear it, but doesn't perceive it as a tree.... or does perceive it as such but does not recognise the sound as one of falling then...

Hmmm...

But the last time I walked in a forest, I observed a lot of fallen logs. So there's definitely something going on there.

Cassie said...

hmm but you say that you saw the logs....how do you know that they're really logs?

Jessmeca said...

Cassie,

I may have to call you at 2am when I can’t sleep because I have my old nemesis of thought rambling around in my head! :)

I first remember coming across this when I was about 8 or 9 in the front yard lying on the grass looking at the clouds with my cousins.. It has haunted me ever since....I’m now 21...

What if we only think we are dreaming, I mean what if what we are dreaming is really our reality but it is just that intense that we need to escape from it so we build this alternate reality where we think our reality is a dream when in fact our dream is the reality?

Or in English, what if when we are dreaming we are really awake and vice versa?