[cloud8]

I'm sure you've heard this story...

After a ball game, three umpires meet to discuss a controversial call.

The first umpire, an empiricist, says, "Some are balls, some are strikes, I calls 'em as I sees 'em."

The second umpire, a relativist, says, "Some are balls, some are strikes, I calls 'em as they are."

The third umpire is an existentialist. "They ain't nothing till I calls 'em."

So while we are all slightly askew from reality, each perceiving it in an individual way, we have--besides our native intelligence--religion, tradition, education and the law to guide us in interpreting reality. "Knowledge" is the total of all this--our awareness of the world around us plus our intellectual skills that enable us to deal with it.

Does this make sense? I not much of a philosopher, I'm afraid.

[BenLurkin]

I understood you. And, IMHO, you made a lot of sense.

[Alamo-Girl]

What an excellent post, cloud8! I consider you a philosopher!

So while we are all slightly askew from reality, each perceiving it in an individual way, we have--besides our native intelligence--religion, tradition, education and the law to guide us in interpreting reality. "Knowledge" is the total of all this--our awareness of the world around us plus our intellectual skills that enable us to deal with it.

So very true. And it appears that understanding more of "where the other guy is coming from" will help us - either in accepting our differences or perhaps in making a more persuasive argument.

[Soliton]

"So while we are all slightly askew from reality, each perceiving it in an individual way, we have--besides our native intelligence--religion, tradition, education and the law to guide us in interpreting reality. "Knowledge" is the total of all this--our awareness of the world around us plus our intellectual skills that enable us to deal with it."

Francis Bacon, the most underated philosopher of all time, described exactly this 500 years ago. He referred to them as Idols of the Cave, Idols of the Marketplace, etc. in his Novum Organum.

[Ichneumon]

The third umpire is an existentialist. "They ain't nothing till I calls 'em."

Old joke:

Holmes and Watson are traveling by train through the countryside, passing the time gazing out the window at the passing scenery, when the following conversation ensues:

Watson: "I say, Holmes, all the sheep in that field have been recently shorn."

Holmes squints at the sheep a moment and replies, "well, on the sides facing us, anyway..."