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paul Ashton

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Are ideas more dangerous now than before?

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    James Zhang 30+

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    Jul 27 2012: New ideas have always been as dangerous as they were before. You can argue this...

    But point is, there will always be some ideas that are so radical and drastic, that some, or most people just cannot accept or too fearful of, since different people react to different ideas differently. Some ideas are just so shocking to them because if the idea were to be true, then it would feel like everything they've known up to then would have been all a joke, and then they may question, what's the point of their existence then?

    So here's a list of possible reactions to new ideas:
    Interested: "Woah... cool"
    Shocked (positive): "Wait, whut??? *mindblown* "
    Shocked (negative): "I... just... don't know what to think about anymore..."
    In Disbelief: "No way, that can't be it!"
    Complete unacceptance: "HAX, this is blasphemy!"

    But, I think society in general is better at accepting newer ideas now, than they were 1000 years ago. I mean most of us now know that killing isn't the solution to resolving everything, or anything even.
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      Fritzie Reisner 100+

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      Jul 27 2012: I tend to agree, James, that society is more inclined to give serious consideration to new ideas now than a few hundred years ago.

      Our tools for assessing the validity of claims have improved as well, though,so some ideas once they have been considered may be disproved readily now that would have remained on the table longer decades ago. And some ideas we may propose without being familiar with the counter-evidence may appear not to receive a hearing out of the closed-mindedness of a hoped-for audience when the truth is that that audience is familiar with the counter-evidence even if we are not.
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        James Zhang 30+

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        Jul 27 2012: Yeah, I also think everyone has a degree of both open-mindedness and close-mindedness. Just like the quote, the amateurs think there are many possibilities, while the master can only think of few. It's also the contrast between optimism and pessimism. Is the glass half empty or half full? But then eventually perhaps, newer studies show that it is both half-empty AND half-full. They were both right, just different ways of viewing the same thing. So teachers can learn more from children, just as children can learn more from teachers. Both close-mindedness and open-mindedness are necessary ways to think.
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          Fritzie Reisner 100+

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          Jul 27 2012: It doesn't take a study to show that if a cup is half empty it is also half full!
          I think it is a very interesting aspect of popular culture that so many people believe that "amateurs think there are many possibilities while the master can think of only a few." The pervasive anti-intellectual and anti-learning bias in popular culture is curious and to me worrisome.

        • paul Ashton

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          Jul 27 2012: Fritzie, I agree regarding the student and the master. I do believe however that there is some research to back james' comments up regarding expertise being sometimes a force of stagnation. Check it out! http://innjustice.blogspot.ca/2012/07/to-create-what-intuition-reveals.html from a noble prize winner. Of course applied scientific procedure and projecting commodities are different contexts and therefore I think you are both correct. Respect for experience and tradition and open-mindedness regarding fresh ideas are two side of the same coin and when either is affected innovation is delayed.

        • paul Ashton

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          Jul 27 2012: Shout out to Don Wesley for that link info by the way! Thanks!
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        James Zhang 30+

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        Jul 27 2012: Well I mean, I only used the glass half-full and half-empty in a metaphorical sense. I meant that sometimes the box you're in will make you focus on the important details, but if you spend too long in the box, it can also constrain you so that you may not see the bigger picture of things.

        And the amateur and master quote was just another quote that I thought was analogous to what I was talking about...
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          Colleen Steen 500+

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          Jul 28 2012: I totally agree James...everyone has a certain degree of open mindedness and closemindedness, optimism and pessimism, and we are all teachers and students in this earth school:>)
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        Colleen Steen 500+

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        Jul 28 2012: James,
        You say..."....there will always be some ideas that are so radical and drastic, that some, or most people just cannot accept or too fearful of, since different people react to different ideas differently. Some ideas are just so shocking to them because if the idea were to be true, then it would feel like everything they've known up to then would have been all a joke...."

        I agree that different people react differently to ideas, and some people may not be able to accept new ideas because they may be fearful of losing something.

        So, are you saying that some ideas may feel dangerous to some people because they are afraid of something new?
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          James Zhang 30+

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          Jul 29 2012: Yeah, essentially that is kinda what I'm saying.

          Because if a new idea were to tell some people that their old ideas were wrong, then what they would lose is the good and bad values that were built from the old ideas they believed in. And some people just can't accept that, or else everything they've worked for or believed in was simply wrong. It would have been like, "then what's the point of my existence then, if everything I was built from was from a wrong idea?"

          Well, that's what I think anyways.
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        Colleen Steen 500+

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        Jul 29 2012: I agree James!
        I prefer to clarify rather than assume I know what you are speaking about, which is why I asked. You are an insightful young person:>)

        It is difficult sometimes for some people to accept new information, and even speaking about new ideas may feel dangerous to them sometimes. I like what Paul says.... "Respect for experience and tradition and open-mindedness regarding fresh ideas are two sides of the same coin....."

        In my perception, we can build on ideas (old and new) by looking at all informaion without fear. A new idea does not have to negate old ideas, and can sometimes be integrated...do you think?
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          James Zhang 30+

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          Jul 29 2012: thanks!

          I agree, sometimes a new idea is just a different perspective to the same thing, or a clarification of a sort.

          And I agree with the last statement, we all can/should build on ideas from old/new and look at information without fear. It's how society progresses eventually and it's how society has worked since intelligent civilization. However, if there's such a radical idea that even some genius think is just way over his/her head, then maybe no one else is ready for the idea yet. I mean there are some ideas that are just way more radical even for me to believe it's true, even if it were true.

          And whether other people believe in accepting new ideas or not, I think it already happens naturally as society progresses anyways. We always have the new generation who are not as racist as the previous generations, because they didn't grow up being clouded by racist beliefs or thoughts, so they see nothing wrong with a black kid or a muslim kid, cuz to them they're just kids who like to play soccer or whatever lol.
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        Colleen Steen 500+

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        Jul 30 2012: James,
        I think/feel you are right...new ideas are accepted as society progresses, and that takes time.

        Right again.....we always have the new generation...I'm glad you are part of it:>)
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      Fritzie Reisner 100+

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      Jul 27 2012: It is widely accepted that those new to a field and particularly those in an adjacent field often can introduce a productive twist in thinking in a discipline. What worries me is only the exaggeration of the insight of the amateur and the underestimate of the insight gained from learning and experience in a field.
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        Jared Kirschner

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        Jul 29 2012: James said, "Just like the quote, the amateurs think there are many possibilities, while the master can only think of few." This only implies that amateurs "think" that there are many possibilities. That doesn't mean that there are that many possibilities, or even that the amateur thought of valid possibilities. I would also argue that most of the time an "amateur" produces a productive twist in thinking in a discipline, it is because they are not actually an amateur. Many "disciplines" have knowledge that can be applied to many other "disciplines". These divisions are artificial human constructs. But by bringing a new area of expertise to the field, someone with expert-level knowledge in another discipline also brings a new perspective that may uncover new theories or ideas.

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