A little humility never hurt anyone.

SemperFiDawg · Mar 28, 2018

Elfi posted this in the political forum, but after reading it I thought it would be a good fit here as well given our debates.

https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2018/03/28/how-ignorant-we-are-n2464699

Just makes you take a step back and realize maybe we don't have all the answers we argue so strongly over.

ambush80 · Mar 28, 2018

SemperFiDawg said:
Elfi posted this in the political forum, but after reading it I thought it would be a good fit here as well given our debates.

https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2018/03/28/how-ignorant-we-are-n2464699

Just makes you take a step back and realize maybe we don't have all the answers we argue so strongly over.

How much humility is there in saying "I don't know"?

How much hubris is there in saying "I absolutely know it in my heart that it's true"?

Only one side of our debates here says "You can't prove to me that it ain't true". The other side only requires good proof to believe. It's the skepticism of that side that advances the kind knowledge referred to in the article.

I humbly submit to you that I don't know what happens after death or how the Universe got started. I confidently assert that the means of answering those questions will be advanced by skepticism and science.

WaltL1 · Mar 28, 2018

I dont know...
Watch the old cartoons etc... Space travel, ray guns, laser stuff, Rosie the robot maid... all before those things actually existed.
So if man can imagine it but not yet have the technology to make it happen does that make him ignorant?
And the technology.... if it doesnt exist yet can you be ignorant of it?
Not sure I agree with how the point is trying to be made.
Does man have a tendency to think "we're all that"?
Sure.
For all our smarts do we really not know squat of what there is to know?
Sure.
But this is true -

Just makes you take a step back and realize maybe we don't have all the answers we argue so strongly over.

There are a number of things we argue/debate about that we only have the best available answer at the time, not necessarily THE answer.

ambush80 · Mar 28, 2018

WaltL1 said:
I dont know...
Watch the old cartoons etc... Space travel, ray guns, laser stuff, Rosie the robot maid... all before those things actually existed.
So if man can imagine it but not yet have the technology to make it happen does that make him ignorant?
And the technology.... if it doesnt exist yet can you be ignorant of it?
Not sure I agree with how the point is trying to be made.
Does man have a tendency to think "we're all that"?
Sure.
For all our smarts do we really not know squat of what there is to know?
Sure.
But this is true -

There are a number of things we argue/debate about that we only have the best available answer at the time, not necessarily THE answer.

One side of the discussion claims to. The only Christian I've ever heard say "I could be wrong" is my Mother.

ambush80 · Mar 28, 2018

WaltL1 said:
I dont know...
Watch the old cartoons etc... Space travel, ray guns, laser stuff, Rosie the robot maid... all before those things actually existed.
So if man can imagine it but not yet have the technology to make it happen does that make him ignorant?
And the technology.... if it doesnt exist yet can you be ignorant of it?
Not sure I agree with how the point is trying to be made.
Does man have a tendency to think "we're all that"?
Sure.
For all our smarts do we really not know squat of what there is to know?
Sure.
But this is true -

There are a number of things we argue/debate about that we only have the best available answer at the time, not necessarily THE answer.

"Does that make him ignorant?"

Yes. The only thing we lack in order to accomplish anything is knowledge.

Spotlite · Mar 29, 2018

ambush80 said:
One side of the discussion claims to. The only Christian I've ever heard say "I could be wrong" is my Mother.

And we have those that are so sure that something is a myth but they’re not even 100% positive that it isn’t real.

660griz · Mar 29, 2018

Spotlite said:
And we have those that are so sure that something is a myth but they’re not even 100% positive that it isn’t real.

Which myth are you referring to? There are lots of them.

Israel · Apr 1, 2018

What if I am not sure I agree with the OP's title?

What if the perfection of humility really did hurt someone...quite a bit?

But then, maybe I have caught myself in a contradiction...for a little may not hurt....at all.

But what if the very nature of humility excludes its demanding it from others?

Insofar as knowing the mere definition of humility could be so far removed from its practice as to making the knowing of it only by definition...moot? Maybe even more than useless...counter to it, entirely?

A little humility never hurt anyone.

SemperFiDawg

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