Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Koveras]

I like it when people have unswerving beliefs - based on no evidence whatsover, or at best anecdotal, or even contradicting all available evidence - about what sort of things are needful for vigourous good health. Like a rock-firm mattress, beans for breakfast, polar bear swims, cod liver oil daily - but only from the spoon never the capsule, etc. Who's with me?

edit: and people who are willing to perform minor surgeries on themselves to avoid seeing a doctor. And I'm not talking about people who know what they're doing.

[John_ESL_White]

shut up! Kim Chi cures AIDS

[Robot_Teacher]

Hard beds are indeed good for your back and sleeping posture. I know for fact that sleeping on a couch that droops in the middle hurts my back andmakes my joints ache while sleeping on a Sealy posture pedic offers good rest that doesn't leave you aching for more rest.

Many unswerving beliefs are based on the wonderful abilities of human intellect, research, and experience, while other beliefs are based on religious beliefs, herd mentality, and conservative conformism that makes no sense to independent thinking folks.

[Rteacher]

Independent thinking is a gift from God, but when we misuse our independence we suffer (and then blame God for our own mistakes...)
http://www.prabhupadaconnect.com/Inquire_about_the_Soul.html

[Jati]

[BS.Dos.]

Yours (OP) is a positivists approach. Some might pejoratively call it the paradigm of scientism or reductionism. Everything can be explained and validated quantitatively through deductive research i.e everything falls within an objective reality, the knowledge of which can be observed and measured. Everything else is contentious and subjective.

This is the prevailing philosophical position of our times, especially in western cultures. However, many hold a contrary philosophical stance and would argue that because positivism takes a totalizing position, it is therefore biased and by extension, flawed. Scientism is incapable of describing the qualitative aspects of reality i.e interpretivism. We are part of the reality, not removed from it as is the position of the positivist.

Ultimately, people hold unanswered beliefs because there are questions for which there are no answers.

[Koveras]

What? I'm not joking, I really do like superstitious people. What do you know about my "approach"?

[Fox]

[Omkara]

You place too much emphasis on the intellect, OP.

The intellect should be used to evaluate propositions; but there is no time to evaluate everything which takes either propositional or behavioral form.

In a culture, there is much wisdom implicit. Also, a fair share of absurdity. Nevertheless, insofar as a culture is successful, the proportion of wisdom to absurdity is on the side of wisdom.

For example, the way a traditional diet evolves in a culture represents an unconscious wisdom. Many of the ratios of foods and kinds of foods suit an environment very well. Eating a traditional diet--such as kim chi or beans in the morning--does not require a scientific knowledge of diet and nutrition.

But where tradition--ie, culture--breaks down, too much so-called individual choice is given. Hence, we have the foolishness which is the diet of N.American culture as an example. Unless one has a very thorough and detailed theoretical knowledge of diet and the requirements of the human body, one will choose poorly. Moreover, very few people have the time to examine all of the claims of diet in order to feed him or herself correctly and well.

Therefore, the traditional way offers a way to address the many and complex needs of the individual such that the individual is free to apply his or her mind to specific and pressing problems which. . .etc.

So it is not wrong that one would accept much of the advice of a culture to solve many problems. It is not necessarily a bad thing. Doing so without the ability or willingness to distinguish between time-tested wisdoms and the latest fads is another issue.

As for kim chi curing AIDS, I think that is more a kind of Dave's cyber-legend than anything else. Yes, some grandiose claims about kim chi are made. Some of the claims about it are stupid. But it is a very healthy food, a food which has pro-biotic qualities which the vast majority of people who do not have the time to write a doctoral thesis on the subject still benefit from, hyperboles notwithstanding.