Objectivity - to be or not to be?
Hello world,
Welcome to June!!!
This week, I was reminded of an intresting observation I've made about people in the last year. We are obsessed with control and certainty. Now this isn't always shown in obvious, arrogant ways. Sometimes it's simple and unconscious, hiding behind the things we say and believe. One of the major things that made me feel this way was the way I noticed people use 'objectivity', 'facts', 'logic' and 'reasonable'. Although all these words (for some reason that's beyond me) carry with them a degree of trustworthiness... sometimes, the things we consider as objective or logical just don't make sense... to me anyway. Sometimes we say we just want the facts, but then when we get the facts we don't consider them because we don't want to believe the subject at hand. And some other times we don't have facts and we can only believe what we're being told and we discard such motions as being illogical, unreasonable and not objective. I just don't get it. I don't get how people are able to decide for themselves what's logical and objective these days. And beyond that, I don't understand why it's such a big obsession. In the last year, I've also observed people try to force a rift between emotion and 'objectivity', with objectivity being the more desirable thing. I put objectivity in speech marks there because I honestly don't think it's possible. First off, to be objective I think you'd need to know all the facts. That in itself is a huge barrier. But beyond that, you would need to be able to interpret that information objectively. I know I'm using the same word to describe it here but objective seems to mean devoid of emotion and any other thing that could influence your decision. Since it is impossible to remove our emotions or shut them down as humans... is it possible for any of us to be objective? Realistically? I guess I do agree that emotion and objectivity are separate. But I don't think that it is fair of us to say that people that have certain beliefs (especially faith and religion) are clouded by their beliefs and unable to make rational decisions because if we think about it honestly, all of us are influenced and 'clouded' by some belief or emotion of our own. If we're all clouded, then who determines who is more clouded than others?
Just some questions I've been asking lately. I think a part of the reason why objectivity is so desirable is because it feels like you have a solid argument that's based on facts and evidence instead of emotions. Emotions have been made the villain. Granted, emotions can lead us to do some pretty crazy things and I'm definitely not saying that we should let our emotions drive our actions. I just think that those emotions and our backgrounds and our state of mind can go a long way to influencing how we interpret information. And that definitely gets in the way of objectivity. So maybe we shouldn't be so quick to judge people who definitely seem clouded by their beliefs before asking ourselves whether it's possible to not be clouded. Let me know what you think!
God bless.
Dera
Welcome to June!!!
This week, I was reminded of an intresting observation I've made about people in the last year. We are obsessed with control and certainty. Now this isn't always shown in obvious, arrogant ways. Sometimes it's simple and unconscious, hiding behind the things we say and believe. One of the major things that made me feel this way was the way I noticed people use 'objectivity', 'facts', 'logic' and 'reasonable'. Although all these words (for some reason that's beyond me) carry with them a degree of trustworthiness... sometimes, the things we consider as objective or logical just don't make sense... to me anyway. Sometimes we say we just want the facts, but then when we get the facts we don't consider them because we don't want to believe the subject at hand. And some other times we don't have facts and we can only believe what we're being told and we discard such motions as being illogical, unreasonable and not objective. I just don't get it. I don't get how people are able to decide for themselves what's logical and objective these days. And beyond that, I don't understand why it's such a big obsession. In the last year, I've also observed people try to force a rift between emotion and 'objectivity', with objectivity being the more desirable thing. I put objectivity in speech marks there because I honestly don't think it's possible. First off, to be objective I think you'd need to know all the facts. That in itself is a huge barrier. But beyond that, you would need to be able to interpret that information objectively. I know I'm using the same word to describe it here but objective seems to mean devoid of emotion and any other thing that could influence your decision. Since it is impossible to remove our emotions or shut them down as humans... is it possible for any of us to be objective? Realistically? I guess I do agree that emotion and objectivity are separate. But I don't think that it is fair of us to say that people that have certain beliefs (especially faith and religion) are clouded by their beliefs and unable to make rational decisions because if we think about it honestly, all of us are influenced and 'clouded' by some belief or emotion of our own. If we're all clouded, then who determines who is more clouded than others?
Just some questions I've been asking lately. I think a part of the reason why objectivity is so desirable is because it feels like you have a solid argument that's based on facts and evidence instead of emotions. Emotions have been made the villain. Granted, emotions can lead us to do some pretty crazy things and I'm definitely not saying that we should let our emotions drive our actions. I just think that those emotions and our backgrounds and our state of mind can go a long way to influencing how we interpret information. And that definitely gets in the way of objectivity. So maybe we shouldn't be so quick to judge people who definitely seem clouded by their beliefs before asking ourselves whether it's possible to not be clouded. Let me know what you think!
God bless.
Dera
I agree! I constantly struggle with trying to be objective all the time, when discussing about social issues and pondering on them on my own! But as humans, as you've mentioned, we can never be truly objective. Objectivity is important and ought to be the bedrock of social discourse, but emotion is not a villain as you've pointed out. However, I think objectivity and emotion should work hand in hand, and emotions or sympathy should be brought in after objectivity is demonstrated. For example, a child fails a test because he/she is a lazy student. His/her parents could be objective by reprimanding the child sternly, but I guess emotion would play out if the parents also tell the child that they know school can be hard sometimes/ other words of kindness and encouragement. Of course, I know that sometimes, naturally, we tend to be more emotional before we are objective. For teenagers, this is seen mostly when it somes to romantic relationships....and a host of other things. But a conscious effort should me made to look at things differently and realize that it is ok and normal to feel, but also good to be objective. On a broader note, I've noticed that liberals tend to be more excessively emotional without being objective or at least trying to be while conservatives tend to be more objective but lack the ability to sympathise with others. Of course, this is not the case for all conservatives and liberals, but I guess it tends to be for those who garner more of the media's attention. Anyways, I'm sorry for this long monologue; it's just that I REALLY loved reading this post in particular and I appreciate your incredible insight.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Michelle!
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