现代大学英语精读4lesson6GroundlessBeliefs（可编辑）

现代大学英语精读4 lesson 6 Groundless Beliefs
6But if the staunchest Roman Catholic and the staunchest Presbyterian hand been exchanged when infants doubt what the result would have been but if they were exchanged when they were infants and brought up in different homes and under different influences then the staunchest Roman Catholic would be the staunchest Presbyterian and vice versa This shows that our beliefs are largely influenced by our surroundings Presbyterian a member of the Presbyterian Church a Protestant denomination when infants elliptical when they were infants 9If we had grown up in a community where polygamy or head-hunting or infanticide or gladiatorial and perfectly moral and proper Polygamy headhunting infanticide gladiatorial fighting and dueling are practiced only in some communities or practiced in certain historical times They are considered immoral improper and abnormal elsewhere or in modern times For the meaning of polygamy headhunting etc see Notes to the Text Notice that the word community is often used where in the Chinese context it might be replaced by society Self –concern is the root of all evil Those who work with their brain rule We are now living on the eve of world revolution Once we have enough food we will have nothing to worry about Class struggle is the key link Once you grasp it everything else will fall into place Many hands make light work We must save every penny to support our national reconstruction 12Much of what passes as such is not Most people most of the time are mere parrots What passes as such what people take as thinking
According to the author most people most of the time are mere parrots They simply copy echo or repeat others ideas without question Notice that the author does not mean that we should not learn form others or benefit form the accumulated wisdom of the past The important thing is that all beliefs should be questioned reexamined and tested before we decide to accept or reject them The psychological reasons might be 1 new ideas require a great effort to discover and absorb and people have a natural tendency to be lazy the force of inertia 2 new ideas always threaten our sense of security and people usually prefer not to enter what they consider dangerous water the fear of the unknown 3 new ideas imply that our old ideas are wrong and people feel that they make them foolish They refuse to accept them in order to save their ego 4 new ideas always put some vested interests in danger and people often reject them to cling on to those interests 16But we should fully face the fact that beliefs which are merely inherited less than they know today So the fact that a belief is old is no argument in its favour One of our common mistakes is to accept beliefs simply on the merit of their long history But the author is right to say that the fact a belief is old is no argument in its favor There are many old prejudices which have been proved wrong However one might also add that the fact beliefs is new is no argument in its favor either because it has not stood the test of time and is likely to pass like many fashionable things So we might use the authors own approach to classify his proposition that the fact a belief is old is no argument in its favor according to its grounds and we might say it is well –grounded because it is true that many old ideas originated at a time when
we knew much less than we do today But we can also say that it is not so well –grounded because the fact that a belief is old sometimes does mean that it has been proved correct again and again in history 18 We should remember that the whole history of the development knowledge and reason Examples of such cases We used to regard the following as obvious truth that the sun moves round the earth the earth is flat the moon is a huge lantern in the sky the stars we see are all twinkling at this particular moment the air is weightless there is always a king there are always slaves and slave-owners men are always stronger than women war is inevitable etc To break down to cease to be useful to fail to function to stop being acceptable In the light of in consideration of as a result of 27But we may extend the term to cover also his interest and goodwill be values To extend the term to extend the meaning of the word to understand the world in a broader sense The author does not use the word interest in the material sense only He include ones concern for position popularity fame respect love etc To be continued on the next page 29Putting it broadly we should always suspect any of our material or otherwise by changing our opinion If by changing our opinions we might lose something and therefore be unhappy we must be suspicious about these opinions and try to find out whether we are not being blinded by our self interest Notice that the author uses the word suspect It means that it is always wrong to link an opinion with interest To be continued on the next page 30Somewhat similar is the acceptance of an opinion through the desire –probably not recognized by the person concerned – to justify his own nature his own position or his won behaviour We often accept an opinion
to justify or defend our weaknesses mistakes vulnerable positions or wrongdoings Here it is no longer the interest to gain but the interest to avoid losing certain things To be continued on the next page 31Many groundless opinions are held through sentimental associations The thought is associated with memories –pleasant or unpleasant as the case may be – of particular persons who held similar opinion Very often we like or dislike an opinion because it is held by somebody we like or dislike This is another common error The fact is that there is no correlation between the truthfulness of an opinion and the person who holds that opinion Nice and well –meaning people may have erroneous opinions whereas unpleasant people may hold correct opinions To be continued on the next page 32In adult life as we have often observed a bitter quarrel may change a mans opinion entirely Antagonism to a man usually produces some antagonism to his opinions Antagonism hostility dislike hatred There was a time when we believed that we should oppose whatever our enemies supported and support whatever our enemies opposed This often proved to be wrong The author has told us why here To be continued on the next page 36Once an opinion is accepted whatever be the cause of its acceptance it has a strong tendency to persist Whatever be the cause of its acceptance whatever the cause of its acceptance may be no matter what the cause of its acceptance may be To persist to continue to exist or happen Old ideas die hard Thats why it is not uncommon for a person to enter a new century while his brain remains in the old century Only a few great intellects can think ahead of their time Most people suffer from mental inertia or cultural lag To be continued on the next page 37The brain path becomes so well worn the
pattern of bran –centres becomes so well connected up by continual use that the nerve current finds a route of practically no resistance and so it always takes almost exactly the same course We tend to hold old ideas Its easy to fall into a rut because they are familiar and make us feel secure and comfortable They are comfortable because we are following the same brain path which offers no resistance and our thinking The author calls it nerve current tends to follow the easy path the way water flows along a course which has the least resistance To be continued on the next page 39Put them on to the record about the good old days or and nothing on earth can stop him until the record has run out Put them on to the record and nothing can If you put them on to then nothing can Notice that the conjunction and here introduces a clause of consequence If you start them talking about these things they will repeat themselves just like the playing if an old gramophone Good old days happy days in the past One favorite subject for many people is how everything used to be better To be continued on the next page E L B T W Lesson 7 The Greatest Invention Lesson 6 Groundless Beliefs Part One ENTER One thing we all do every day is express our views state our beliefs or discuss our ideas we say to one another I think I believe Im convinced Im sure it goes without saying it s crystal clear it s as simple as ABC no doubt etc every day and often many times a day we may not be professional thinkers but we all do thinking as a habit we may not have reached the level of grade-one thinking but we cannot avoid thinking rightly or wrongly To be continued on the next page Introduction do we really know what we are doing though do we really know what it means when we say we are thinking do we really
think for ourselves are our beliefs and ideas really well-grounded are we sure that all the beliefs we hold with intense conviction and accept without question are really true what constitutes adequate grounds for beliefs these are just some of the blunt embarrassing questions Mander an English psychologist asks in this passage taken from his book Logic for the Millions To be continued on the next page however this text is not chosen primarily for the purpose of shaking our beliefs Rather it is meant to serve as a suggestive example of a curious inquiring mind at work Mander does not say all beliefs are unreliable and silly He does not say that we should not have beliefs He simply wants us to find out how we came by our beliefs He wants us to know their bases or their grounds He wants us to see all sides of a question Above all he wants to test our beliefs To be continued on the next page Mander lists five sources for many of our groundless beliefs 1 result of early environment 2 parroting 3 self-interest4 sentimental associations5 fashion It might be a good idea for students to provide as many examples as they can of such beliefs as stem form these sources to show their understanding of the nature of these sources To be continued on the next page It is no disgrace to admit that we are all heavily influenced by prejudices And this is precisely the reason why we all need education Education according to one definition is just the progressive discovery of our ignorance and prejudices which are hidden in our mind like computer virus in a computer And unless we stay alert and check our computer constantly and wipe out all the virus we will be in serous trouble some day We will not know when and where they will hit us with serous consequences To be continued on the next page
1In future we are going to follow the practice-until it becomes a habit-of classifying propositions according to their grounds to follow the practice to take this practice as a guide to copy this practice to develop the habit of doing things in this way to classify to arrange things systematically in classes or groups propositions views ideas assertions To be continued on the next page Detailed Study The author begins by emphasizing the importance of classifying our propositions according to their grounds This is important because people very often base their judgment of propositions according to their popularity usefulness source of authority as well as to their personal taste They do not always accept beliefs because they are true Often they accept them because these beliefs because they are true Often they accept them because these beliefs serve their immediate purpose or because they sound nice or because it is easier or safer to accept them To be continued on the next page 3Probably we shall be astonished at the number of propositions met with in everyday life which we shall find it necessary to class as groundless the number of propositions met with the number of propositions encountered or experienced to be astonished at Compare to be surprised at to be alarmed at to be disappointed at For more examples see Exercise 5 in Pre-class work to class as groundless to classify as groundless For more examples of verbs followed by as see Exercise 5 in Pre-class Work To be continued on the next page 5Many of our strongest convictions were established then They are strong because they have been in our mind for such a long time They are strong because they were imprinted on our mind when we were little children before we
were able to judge for ourselves They are strong because they were passed on to us during our most formative years and often by people we trusted and loved conviction firm belief or opinion Do not confuse this word with its other meaning as in "the conviction of a person for a crime" to be established to be formulated 7It is consistent with all our knowledge of psychology to conclude that each would have grown those he holds now We can conclude based on all our knowledge of psychology that each would have grown up having exactly the opposite beliefs to what they have now to be consistent with to be in agreement with More examples This practice is not consistent with government regulations What he is doing is consistent with his basic moral principles 8The same thing is true of course of many beliefs other than those of a religious nature Not only are religious beliefs like this Many other beliefs are too Other than This expression usually means except but here it means apart from This usage however is not considered standard by many Notice the pattern to be true of sth 10Many of our beliefs –many of our most deeply –rooted and fundamental convictions – are held simply as a result of the fact that we happen to have been brought up to them Many of our deep –rooted and basic beliefs are determined by our social or cultural traditions Ask students to give examples such as the following China is a large country with abundant natural resources Man will struggle to conquer nature Money is dirty To be continued on the next page 11Of course we do not cease to adopt new beliefs on mere suggestion to take only the most striking examples the enormous influence of newspapers and the effectiveness of skilful advertising Of course it does not mean that when we grow up we
no longer have these mistaken beliefs we still do We are still easy and often willing of newspapers and advertising for example Newspapers in the West are supposed to bring the truth to the readers But actually they are often biased They often tell only half –truths sometimes they even tell bare- faced lies honest reporting is often censored or banned As for advertising political as well as commercial the purpose is to sell not to seek truth Therefore honest advertising is an oxymoron 13But as we leave childhood we tend to accept only such new ideas as fit in with the ideas we already hold To fit in with to say the same thing or follow the same principle to agree with If we tend to accept such new ideas as fit in with the ideas we already hold they are strictly speaking no longer new ideas Therefore it is often the case that when we say we are thinking we are really rearranging our deeply – rooted prejudices Experience has told us that it is not easy to develop and accept new ideas To be continued on the next page 14Propositons that are accepted simply because everybody says so must be classed under the same heading People often do this because group identity is a very strong psychological need People are afraid of being isolated They often have a tendency to follow the crowd to jump on the bandwagon It is because of this that tyrants often use group pressure to impose their views And it is because of this that we should learn to defy majoritarian tyranny if we want to stick to truth 15It may be part of the traditional belief of the people or the race A persons racial cultural national political class gender generation identity while enabling him her to see the world in a unique approach also tends to limit hisher vision Thats why we need to guard against our racial cultural
national political class gender generation prejudices and learn to be more open – minded To be continued on the next page 17when we find ourselves entertaining an opinion about which there is opinion is a non – rational one Another common mistake we make is to judge opinions according to our feelings An opinion is true because it is true not because we like it or find it desirable or useful In fact truth can often be unpleasant or painful whereas untruth can be soothing and attractive That is why opinions are often bitterly debated or enthusiastically cherished precisely because their truthfulness is not established Notice that to the author the right question to ask about any opinion is whether it is rational or whether it is true not whether it is good necessary desirable or important He obviously believes that in the final analysis an opinion that is rational and true cannot help being good necessary and desirable 22An assumed or dogmatic proposition which had been universally accepted seemed more beyond possibility or doubt This is a reference to the well – known story about Galileos experiment on the Leaning Tower of Pisa See Notes to the Text To demonstrate the contrary to prove that the contrary is a true by means of a demonstration Dogma a principle belief or a statement of an idea formerly and authoritatively considered to be absolute truth To be beyond possibility or doubt to be impossible or unquestionable 24Other beliefs are held through self –interest Modern psychology to do so This is obvious and has been proved by psychology Take for example our belief that human beings are superior to all other species We hold and cling to this belief because it is in our interest to believe that all other species are created by God only for those who
believe in God to serve our needs a view no other animals in so far as
they can have a view will accept The author does not say whether it is
possible for us to transcend our interest in forming our beliefs The answer
is yes but it is possible only when we can forgo selfish considerations
To leave no room for doubt to make it impossible for people to doubt To
pay sb to do sth to bring benefit or advantage to sb to do sth To be
continued on the next page 25But as a rule the person concerned is about
the last person in the world to be able to recognize this in himself As
a rule generally speaking usually To be the last person to do sth to
be the least possible person to do sth People who hold those beliefs
through self –interest usually will not admit this They usually try to
cloak themselves with beautiful altruistic words To be continued on the
next page 26It would be quite wrong to attribute all opinion – even
political opinions – to self – interest But it would be equally wrong
to deny that this is one potent factor Human motivations are complicated
There are other –regarding motivations as well as self –regarding ones
Therefore it is wrong to be cynical and think that all beliefs are based
on self – interest However we must admit that self interest is a very
powerful factor To attribute to to regard as resulting from To be
continued on the next page E L B T W Lesson 7 The Greatest Invention。