{"id":152,"date":"2018-09-01T15:00:55","date_gmt":"2018-09-01T20:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barneysplace.net\/site\/?page_id=152"},"modified":"2020-03-02T16:23:32","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T21:23:32","slug":"article-14","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/barneysplace.net\/site\/article-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Article 14"},"content":{"rendered":"

BELIEF: AN OWNER\u2019S MANUAL<\/strong>
\nARTICLE 14 <\/strong>
\nA CLOSER LOOK AT VIEWPOINT<\/strong><\/p>\n

VIEWPOINT: AN ORIENTATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

The term \u201cviewpoint\u201d refers to two closely related characteristics of a belief: the nature of the phenomena the belief addresses and the nature of its relationships with other beliefs. These characteristics are most easily understood by examining the five viewpoints from which beliefs inform us about the nature of reality. In this article, we\u2019ll be focusing on how these viewpoints affect the guidance that informative beliefs offer.<\/p>\n

THE EXISTENTIAL VIEWPOINT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our most fundamental beliefs are those that answer questions like, \u201cWhat kind of person do I wish to be?\u201d and \u00a0\u201cWhat kinds of institutions, laws, regulations, assumptions, values, relationships, standards of discourse, approaches to evaluating beliefs, etc. might help me become that kind of person?\u201d Our answers to those questions reveal our ideals and determine our functioning in all higher viewpoints.<\/p>\n

Informative Existential Viewpoint beliefs affect our capacity to answer questions about what\u2019s real; what\u2019s good; what may be better; what may be perfect; the devotion and sacrifice our visions of improvement and perfection demand; and what might help us become the kinds of persons who can answer those questions honestly, compassionately, and wisely. All beliefs that affect the effectiveness and integrity with which we answer those questions are proper to the Existential Viewpoint. However, some such beliefs have a positive impact on the effectiveness and integrity with which we grapple with those questions, while others have a negative impact.<\/p>\n

Some Existential Viewpoint beliefs augment our willingness to take responsibility for our choices and their consequences, while others diminish that willingness. Some strengthen our commitments to wonder,\u00a0 objectivity, reason, prudence, creativity, communication, mastery, and love; others weaken those commitments.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re rarely wrong about whether an informative belief is proper to the Existential Viewpoint. However, we often pay little attention to the effects of such beliefs. And even if we do, our conclusions about their effects are often wrong. We\u2019ll be exploring some of the characteristics that determine the impact of Informative Existential Viewpoint beliefs on our functioning in higher viewpoints in Article 15.<\/p>\n

THE REALIST VIEWPOINT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Realist Viewpoint beliefs are those that answer the question, \u201cWhat is?\u201d Such beliefs reflect our view of objective reality. An example of such a belief is, \u201cWhile, in 2009, a little over two percent of drivers were found to be intoxicated, over a third of those who died in vehicular accidents tested positive for alcohol.\u201d This belief and other apparently straightforward reports from the front lines are proper to the Realist Viewpoint.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re rarely wrong about whether an assertion that appears to be a clear-cut fact is proper to the Realist Viewpoint. However, we often underestimate the degree to which our emotional needs and intellectual biases sully such reports. While many Realist Viewpoint beliefs are affected by those influences, we treat all too many of our observations \u2013 to our detriment \u2013 as if they were products of immaculate perception (Mahoney, 1976a), (Quine & Ullian, 1978).<\/p>\n

THE ETHICAL VIEWPOINT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Answers to the Realist Viewpoint question, \u201cWhat is?\u201d inspire questions like, \u201cIs \u2018what is\u2019 good?\u201d Answers to questions about goodness are said to belong to the Ethical Viewpoint. For example, one might be horrified by the (Realist Viewpoint) fact that over one-third of the victims of motor vehicle accidents test positive for drugs or alcohol and, in response, arrive at the (Ethical Viewpoint) belief that driving \u201cunder the influence\u201d is intolerable (or that the number of persons who drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol is intolerable).Beliefs that addressing goodness are it is likely to be\u00a0 – and to be seen as \u2013 proper to the Ethical Viewpoint.<\/p>\n

Although we\u2019re rarely wrong about the viewpoints that judgments of goodness occupy, we\u2019re often wrong about the confidence they merit. After all, beliefs that are appropriate to the Ethical Viewpoint rely on Realist Viewpoint beliefs. Thus, the confidence we are justified in placing in an Informative Ethical Viewpoint belief is limited by the confidence we are justified in placing in the Realist Viewpoint beliefs that support it. And the confidence we can place in those beliefs is, in turn, limited by the integrity of our relevant Existential Viewpoint beliefs.<\/p>\n

THE VISIONARY VIEWPOINT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Inspired by beliefs that portray some realities as better than others, we may imagine realities that are better still. Although such imagined realities may have never existed, we may believe they are possible. Beliefs that describe those inspiring possibilities are proper to the Visionary Viewpoint.<\/p>\n

Our fantasies may range from visions of modest improvement (like the vision of a five percent reduction in drunken driving) to visions of dramatic improvement (like a world free of drunken drivers).<\/p>\n

Many persons build their lives around the pursuit of Visionary Viewpoint goals. Motivated by the belief that reaching for the stars can bring out the best in us, we may envision who we might become if we broadened and deepened our experience, knowledge, competence, and\/or benevolence. Motivated by a belief in the possibility of progress, we may envision a better world. Imagining the trajectories that truth and goodness follow beyond\u00a0 our empirical and moral horizons, we may believe we can intuit the nature of the divine, conceived of as the Fullness of Truth and Goodness (Exodus 34:6-7, King James Version).<\/p>\n

Visionary Viewpoint beliefs, reflecting extrapolation from the known to the unknown, describe phenomena that have never been observed. Often, such beliefs are grounded in the assumption that if a little more X produces a little more Y, a lot more X will produce a lot more Y without having any other significant effects.<\/p>\n

In addition, Visionary Viewpoint beliefs deal with phenomena believers view as good or evil. Beliefs about the advantages and disadvantages of new railway car knuckle coupler lubricants are likely to be proper to the Realist Viewpoint. Beliefs about the impact of new railway work rules on the quality of workers\u2019 lives are likely proper to the Visionary Viewpoint. If a belief\u00a0 describes how things might be better, it is most likely proper to the Visionary Viewpoint.<\/p>\n

Visionary Viewpoint beliefs have the power to engender passion and commitment. In the extreme, that power may render us indifferent to the harm we do in pursuit of our visions. The more sublime and compelling the images of improvement or perfection that beckon us, the greater our responsibility to distance ourselves from the intoxicating effects of Visionary Viewpoint beliefs when contemplating their implications.<\/p>\n

Authentic Visionary Viewpoint beliefs rely on Ethical Viewpoint beliefs, which in turn rely on Realist Viewpoint beliefs. To make even vaguely plausible guesses about what might be better, we need to know what\u2019s good. And to know what\u2019s good, we need to know what is.<\/p>\n

While the inspiring language in which fantasies of improvement or perfection are described can alert us their Visionary character (and thus to the perils of accepting their guidance), that language can also blind us to impediments that may render those fantasies difficult or impossible to achieve.\u00a0 When determining the confidence our Visionary Viewpoint beliefs merit, it\u2019s essential to be aware that we can be no more secure in those beliefs than in the Ethical and Realist Viewpoint beliefs that support them.<\/p>\n

THE VIEWPOINT OF QUEST AND COMMITMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Provoked by visions ranging from modest and realistic to Quixotic and Utopian, we may ask, \u201cWhat do our visions of improvement and perfection demand of us?\u201d And, in response to that question, we may formulate quests. We may ask ourselves questions as varied as, \u201cHow can I play a part, however small, in the effort to reduce drunken driving?\u201d \u201cAm I committed to doing whatever may be within my power to get every intoxicated driver off the road?\u201d \u201cAm I committed to doing my part to eliminate every traffic death?\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, we might ask, \u201cHow much am I willing to sacrifice to play a part in advancing my chosen field?\u201d \u201cWhat am I willing to do to alleviate poverty?\u201d \u201cAm I willing to do whatever I can to bring about social justice?\u201d \u201cAm I willing to do whatever God may ask of me?\u201d<\/p>\n

In each case, the question, \u201cWhat am I willing to do in pursuit of [whatever goal I may be contemplating]?\u201d is accompanied \u2013 at least tacitly \u2013 by such questions as \u201cWhat am I unwilling to do to achieve that end?\u201d \u201cHow much am I willing to sacrifice?\u201d \u201cHow radically am I willing to narrow my vision?\u201d \u201cHow much am I willing to ask those I love to sacrifice?\u201d \u201cHow much am I willing to demand of outsiders, unbelievers, and others who don\u2019t share my values?\u201d \u201cWhat values am I willing to compromise?\u201d \u201cHow much pain am I willing to cause?\u201d The answers to these questions belong to the Viewpoint of Quest and Commitment.<\/p>\n

Quest and Commitment Viewpoint beliefs bring out our best and our worst. If prudence and humility temper our passion for the progress we envision, we may cautiously strive to heal the world, sensitive to the harm we may do in pursuit of our goals. However, if the Visionary Viewpoint beliefs that inspire our Quest and Commitment Viewpoint beliefs are impregnated with images of paradise, we may run headlong toward our visions, throwing caution to the wind, indifferent to the chaos and suffering our actions engender. As David Horowitz (2011) observed, beliefs that promise heaven on earth have repeatedly delivered tyranny, oppression, persecution, injustice, and slaughter.<\/p>\n

As noted in Article 6, Quest and Commitment Viewpoint beliefs explicitly rely on Visionary Viewpoint beliefs, which, in turn, rely on Ethical Viewpoint beliefs, which depend upon Realist Viewpoint beliefs, which, in a like manner, rely on commitments, attitudes, habits, and skills proper to the Existential Viewpoint.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s hard to mistake Visionary Viewpoint beliefs for beliefs proper to lower viewpoints, it\u2019s easy to view them as depositories of absolute goodness, profound meaning, and transcendent purpose. They rarely are. The commitment such beliefs merit is not unconstrained. If we are wise, it is limited by our prudently allotted confidence in the entire pyramid of lower-viewpoint beliefs that provide its foundation, as well as our (similarly circumspect) confidence that our Existential Viewpoint beliefs inspire the requisite self-transcendent integrity.<\/p>\n

In sum, our confidence in our beliefs about what our visions of improvement or perfection demand of us are rarely anything more than hunches. Those hunches are based on our fantasies about how things might be better, which are based on our subjective understanding of goodness, which is, in turn, based on fallible observations of reality. We function effectively and responsibly only when we do our best to view these visions, hunches, fantasies, judgments, and apparent facts with a skeptical eye.<\/p>\n

SUMMARY: COMMON ASSUMPTIONS AND ERRORS REGARDING THE VIEWPOINTS OF INFORMATIVE BELIEFS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why does inattention to the viewpoints of our informative beliefs matter? Because, in the absence of systematic attention to this issue, we are unlikely to give much thought to the lower-viewpoint beliefs on which our higher-viewpoint beliefs depend. Inattention to that matter can easily lead us to view our higher-viewpoint beliefs as straightforward, well-grounded facts \u2013 not as the questionable conjectures they are. And because, in the absence of attention to this issue, we are unlikely to take appropriate responsibility for the beliefs that make us who we are \u2013 our Existential Viewpoint beliefs.<\/p>\n

EXERCISE 14<\/strong><\/span>
\nINCREASING YOUR SENSITIVITY<\/strong><\/span>
\nTO THE CONSEQUENCES <\/strong><\/span>
\nOF FAILING TO ATTEND <\/strong><\/span>
\nTO THE VIEWPOINTS OF INFORMATIVE BELIEFS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1. Identify one or more beliefs that guide you in each of the areas below. Suggested areas from which to draw beliefs are:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 where you find joy<\/span>
\n\u2022 where you find meaning and purpose<\/span>
\n\u2022 your view of others \u2013 especially those whose views differ from your own<\/span>
\n\u2022 your personal life<\/span>
\n\u2022 your vocational\/professional life<\/span>
\n\u2022 advice\/guidance you offer others<\/span>
\n\u2022 political positions you advocate<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Choose five or more informative beliefs you rely on for guidance and are interested in examining. At least one of these beliefs should be proper to each viewpoint. If you have not already done so, use the questionnaire found in Exercise 7A to ensure that those beliefs are, in fact, informative.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Print the appropriate number of copies of the tool below.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Write each belief in the space containing the sentence stem, \u201cI believe that . . .\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Keeping the pertinent belief in mind, answer each of the questions in \u201cA Tool to Help You Increase Your Sensitivity to the Consequences of Inattention to the Viewpoints of Your Beliefs,\u201d below.<\/span><\/p>\n

A TOOL TO HELP YOU INCREASE YOUR SENSITIVITY<\/strong><\/span>
\nTO THE CONSEQUENCES OF<\/strong><\/span>
\nINATTENTION TO THE VIEWPOINTS OF INFORMATIVE BELIEFS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I believe that . . . <\/span><\/p>\n

1) If the belief in question is proper to the Existential Viewpoint, identify a few of its effects on your functioning. <\/span>
\na. Imagine that the belief in question was \u201cdiametrically opposed\u201d to the belief in question. How might your functioning differ?<\/span><\/p>\n

2) If the belief in question is proper to the Realist, Ethical, Visionary, or Quest and Commitment Viewpoint,<\/span>
\na. identify the actions you have taken or suspect you would be willing to take under the influence of that belief. Describe the confidence with which you might act or have acted. <\/span>
\nb. identify some lower-viewpoint beliefs that provide critical support for the belief in question. If you view those beliefs with a critical eye, how sure are you that they provide actionable intelligence? <\/span>
\nc. imagine that the belief in question was wrong. Describe the consequences of acting on that belief if that were the case.<\/span>
\nd. Is the confidence embodied in your answer to “2)a” above justifiable? If not, why not?<\/span><\/p>\n

3) What thoughts and feelings did you become aware of while doing this exercise?<\/span><\/p>\n

REFERENCES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Horowitz, D. (2011). A Point in Time: The Search for Redemption in This Life and the Next. Washington, DC: Regnery.<\/p>\n

Mahoney, M. J. (1976a). The Costs of Commitment. In M. J. Mahoney, Scientist as Subject: The Psychological Imperative (pp. 195-220). Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Company.<\/p>\n

Quine, W., & Ullian, J. (1978). The Web of Belief. New York: McGraw-Hill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BELIEF: AN OWNER\u2019S MANUAL ARTICLE 14 A CLOSER LOOK AT VIEWPOINT VIEWPOINT: AN ORIENTATION The term \u201cviewpoint\u201d refers to two closely related characteristics of a belief: the nature of the phenomena the belief addresses and the nature of its relationships with other beliefs. These characteristics are most easily understood by examining the five viewpoints from … Continue reading “Article 14”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-152","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/barneysplace.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/barneysplace.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/barneysplace.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/barneysplace.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/barneysplace.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/barneysplace.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":941,"href":"http:\/\/barneysplace.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/152\/revisions\/941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/barneysplace.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}