Quote: (07-13-2017 12:02 PM)JohnSmith Wrote:
I do not need a bloody model to *understand* the world
Why are you getting so hostile John? Members here are just trying to help you understand Dr. Peterson's value.
And you're wrong about your not needing models. Everyone needs them. Robert Pirsig proved this in his classic book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" (ZAMM).
When you set about repairing a motorcycle, you have to use your sensory awareness to see the bike in her current state so you can diagnose problems. In this sense you are seeing the bike as she is in reality. However, in order to perform repairs and maintenance effectively, you have to be able to use your imagination to see the bike in a "perfect" state, a state that must be a model in your mind. In this sense you are seeing the bike as she could be in what philosopher Immanuel Kant would describe as her a priori state. The word "model" is simply a synonym for Kant's "a priori" concept.
Your contention that you never require models is an empiricist approach to thinking which is more in line with the philosophy of David Hume than that of Kant and being a realist certainly has its merits (I have been accused of being one a few times myself), but Pirsig does a good job of proving the value and indeed the necessity of a priori thinking in ZAMM. We need both the left and the right hemispheres of our brains to figure out the world John.
It's easy for an engineer to feel morally superior to and sneer at a mild-mannered psycho-therapist like Dr. Peterson, but the engineer may one day find that he is all thumbs when his teenage daughter turns out to be suicidal for reasons he cannot fathom. The engineer might say to himself, "What's her bloody problem? Why is she so depressed? I give her everything she NEEDS don't I?" And then he might discover his faith in God (because there are no atheists in foxholes) and then proceed to get down on his knees and thank God when a quality psycho-therapist like Dr. Peterson saves his daughter's life. Because what the quality psycho-therapist did for the engineer's daughter mystifies him and seems to him to be proof of the very exisitence of God.
Just a little a priori thought experiment for you there John.
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