What I've Learned Trying to Learn about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

[conuly]

1. Everyone out there is biased. It doesn't matter how detailed their statistics, how well-designed their webpages, they're omitting some information from how they write about their statistics, hoping you won't notice it.

2. To make things worse, hardly anybody is willing to do their own research. If you use one search criteria, you find a thousands sites which all get their information from one site. If you use another set of criteria, they use a different site for their information, but they're just as copycatting. On, and on, and on it goes.

3. Most of these sites don't have information more recent than two years ago.

4. I have a headache.


Seriously, though, I suspect there's this one real lesson to be learned: All sides (I suspect it's far more complicated than just two sides) think they're right, and they probably are, at least in a few important ways. Unfortunately, this information probably won't go over very well with anybody. I should keep it to myself.

I wonder if this applies to other situations in life?

Comments

[the-cynic.livejournal.com]

It applies to EVERY situation in life.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

"I wonder if this applies to other situations in life?"

It does. Almost all of them. Our society has trained us to see all situations as having two sides, and led us to believe that one side is always "wrong" and the other one is "right", and no matter ho much people talk about thinknig in shades of grey, we still are trained to initially view things this way and usually have to force ourselves to think otherwise.

stupid society.

[conuly]

You sure? Because that sounds complicated. Can I just pretend we didn't have this conversation? I'd feel better knowing that I'm right and you're wrong, nyah-nyah.

[conuly]

Oh dear. That sucks.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

what sucks the most is that, knowing what we know now, there really is no way to simply re-write society in a way that will make it function better and without the errors that we have now. society cannot be rebuilt, it has to evolve.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

You can. go right ahead, feel free to. But in opting to do that, you're choosing to remain voluntarily ignorant.

There are types of ignorance I can tollerate, but voluntary ignorance isn't one of them.

I'm pretty sure that you can't either.

[conuly]

Psst - that was sarcasm, as you well know.

[stejcruetekie.livejournal.com]

Of course it applies to other situations in life.

That said, I suspect the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is perhaps one of the *best* examples of it. Sad of an example though it may be.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

I had cought that - for once - but there are people who would feel that way without any hint of sarcasm...

I don't like those kind of people.

[conuly]

*hugs*

[dkmnow.livejournal.com]

From the firing of a single neuron, all the way up to a concept of "objectivity," bias is the fundamental building-block of all human cognition. To ignore this fact - or to "acknowledge" it while failing to heed it's call to action - is to be enslaved by one's own biases. For the de facto disease of habitual and reactionary "monkey-mind" bias, the only antidote is the continual cultivation of humility and self-awareness.

Just call it my bias against unchecked biases.

[maelorin]

as in any ideological stouch, everyone is 'right', everyone else is 'wrong', and it's all a game of pissing in each other's pots.

the same analysis fits with many, probably all, such conflicts.

everyone is convinced they're right. and expect to convince you with their righteousness, etc.

[rantinan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you pegged it.

[the-cynic.livejournal.com]

It applies to EVERY situation in life.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

"I wonder if this applies to other situations in life?"

It does. Almost all of them. Our society has trained us to see all situations as having two sides, and led us to believe that one side is always "wrong" and the other one is "right", and no matter ho much people talk about thinknig in shades of grey, we still are trained to initially view things this way and usually have to force ourselves to think otherwise.

stupid society.

[conuly]

You sure? Because that sounds complicated. Can I just pretend we didn't have this conversation? I'd feel better knowing that I'm right and you're wrong, nyah-nyah.

[conuly]

Oh dear. That sucks.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

what sucks the most is that, knowing what we know now, there really is no way to simply re-write society in a way that will make it function better and without the errors that we have now. society cannot be rebuilt, it has to evolve.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

You can. go right ahead, feel free to. But in opting to do that, you're choosing to remain voluntarily ignorant.

There are types of ignorance I can tollerate, but voluntary ignorance isn't one of them.

I'm pretty sure that you can't either.

[conuly]

Psst - that was sarcasm, as you well know.

[stejcruetekie.livejournal.com]

Of course it applies to other situations in life.

That said, I suspect the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is perhaps one of the *best* examples of it. Sad of an example though it may be.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

I had cought that - for once - but there are people who would feel that way without any hint of sarcasm...

I don't like those kind of people.

[conuly]

*hugs*

[dkmnow.livejournal.com]

From the firing of a single neuron, all the way up to a concept of "objectivity," bias is the fundamental building-block of all human cognition. To ignore this fact - or to "acknowledge" it while failing to heed it's call to action - is to be enslaved by one's own biases. For the de facto disease of habitual and reactionary "monkey-mind" bias, the only antidote is the continual cultivation of humility and self-awareness.

Just call it my bias against unchecked biases.

[maelorin]

as in any ideological stouch, everyone is 'right', everyone else is 'wrong', and it's all a game of pissing in each other's pots.

the same analysis fits with many, probably all, such conflicts.

everyone is convinced they're right. and expect to convince you with their righteousness, etc.

[rantinan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you pegged it.