The other evening I was reading my Kindle with a cup of
coffee on the little bamboo table next to my chair, the gas fire gently popping and farting in the background. All very comfy. Sainsbury's instant coffee in a Sainsbury’s mug too – no
expense spared.
Anyway, I began to wonder how I was able to reach out, hook my
index finger into the loop of the cup handle, lift the cup, swing it round to
my lips and take a sip.
“Hang on,” I thought, “I’ve no idea which muscles and nerve
signals to use here, I just do it. But how?” I took another sip just to check - works every time. Almost.
I know the words to describe all this of course – how to describe these semi-automatic physical movements we learn as we grow up. I know about that – as we all do.
But what if it went wrong?
What if I started tipping the coffee into my ear? Okay, it’s
only Sainsbury’s instant coffee, so it’s not an enormous loss, but how would I
put the situation right? Clearly if my autonomic bits failed in some way, I almost certainly wouldn’t be able to correct it
via some voluntary action or sheer willpower.
“So is it the same with opinions?” I asked myself as I took
another sip, my ear thankfully remaining free of coffee. "Is it possible for opinions to be much the same as our autonomic nervous system?"
Well I suspect there is a similarity of sorts. We can’t want our opinions,
we just acquire them as we wend our way through life. They become autonomous aspects of what we are. Not entirely
true of course, if we are blessed with a modicum of self-awareness – awareness
of how we are influenced by the outside world and our reactions to it.
Blessed?
Yes, I think so - blessed. Spinoza used the word and I think
it’s a good one. Understanding is quite synonymous with blessedness. We are
blessed with an understanding. Or not, as the case may be.
Simplicity and truth of character are not
produced by the constraints of laws, nor by the authority of the state, no one
the whole world over can be forced or legislated into a state of blessedness;
the means required for such a consummation are faithful and brotherly
admonition, sound education, and, above all, free use of the individual
judgement.
Benedict Spinoza - Tractatus Theologico-Politicus
6 comments:
All three of the means required seem to be in very short supply these days.
I reckon you are right AK, as they say 'opinions are like arseholes, everybody has one'.
But are opinions deeply ingrained? Yes I think they are - for some - so may I add Damascene Conversion (difficult these days) and prefrontal lobotomy. That reminds me, must buy some Bronco.
as they say 'opinions are like arseholes, everybody has one'
LOL.
And the cappuccino is at my side reading the post. At least I'm doing the reading or ... oh, never mind.
Demetrius - yes, some fading demand but no supply.
Roger - yet opinions are somehow much more retentive than arseholes aren't they? We'd be better off with more Damascene Conversions.
James - cappuccino?
"We can’t want our opinions, we just acquire them as we wend our way through life. They become autonomous aspects of what we are"
They only become "us", I think, as a result of us attaching to them. We filter out the stuff that does not appeal, and select the stuff that does. We grow accretionally, as coral. It probably gets harder to change as we get older, but I think it is still possible.
Sam - I think it's possible, but only at the edges. It seems to be common for politicians to firm their views early - or maybe it's just more obvious with them.
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