Challenging Orthodoxy

This is a report I worked on about a year ago. Suprisingly I still find it interesting. It should give people an idea of where my opinions stand, though I do not think of them as opinions, but fact.

Luke Burgess
EH – 240
Prof. Daniel Schenker
Final Essay on
Challenging Orthodoxy

The Importance of Perspective

Martin Luther, Nanak, Li Zhi, John Milton, Nicolas Copernicus, Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler all made efforts to show truth to others while correcting the falsities in the set way people lived. Even today the concepts these men have taught us are still used. Because, today having methods for changing the way things are run is a agreed necessity. This is clearly stated one way or another in every work expressed by these authors. The authors show that because of the stuck narrow point of view of men, concepts they create are always suitable for critique by another point of view.

The Catholic Church did not have an easily changeable or upgradeable system during the time of Martin Luther. Though they allowed people to follow in the footsteps of St. Frances, Jesus and other Idols they still did not give the needed freedom to all the people. Instead, they used the fear of Hell as a means to get them to do what the church wanted. Explaining the new point of view he received by simply reading the bible Martin Luther said, "Because I am man and not God, I am not able to shield my books with any other protection than that which my Lord Jesus Christ himself offered for his teaching." This quote shows that his point of view would be universal if people would only read and agree with the words of Jesus.

Nanak clearly tries to explain the problem of attempting to collect all Truth or all points of view. After expressing difficulties in learning truth and knowledge Nanak says, "How then shall we know the Truth?" Clearly he knows all truth is impossible to achieve at this point in time. At the same time, he is recognizing that many people do not know Truth. In this way he is showing that the people he is correcting are not wrong but simply have less truth known to them as he does.

Li Zhi shows people that the opportunity to change must be available in the system of religion that they have. Children always receive change in their mind just as every good system should be open to change. Li Zhi concluded his work with "If the medicine worked for the disease in question, that doesn't mean we should cling fast to it - we certainly shouldn't right away make it the perfect doctrine for thousands of generations!" This explains what Li Zhi knew about correctly running systems. That is, man's perspective of things alters over time and systems of government and religion must be set up to be open to these new perspectives.

The new religious systems being set up after the growth of Protestant Churches had many errors as well. However the disagreement of the Protestant sects was overwhelmed by a dislike for the strict rules of the previous system. John Milton not only recognized the problems, but also found a solution known as freedom of speech and expression. Milton said that "[i]f it be desired to know the immediate cause of all this free writing and free speaking, there cannot be assigned a truer than your own mild and free and human government." John Milton is clearly a man attempting to understand any new perspective a man may have. This freedom can be used to inspire new perspectives on the truth that can ultimately lead mankind that much closer to the Ultimate Truth we are seeking after.

Nicolas Copernicus was a simple monk in the Catholic Church who simply observed the truth and had to share it with others. Like Luther he to was distressed that people would willing blind themselves to a perspective that clearly shows more truth. Copernicus explains that he “dared to publish [his] studies after devoting so much effort to working them out” that clearly all should understand. This shows the beginning of the need for a scientific community, because even after explaining in detail why his perspective is true people still do not believe Copernicus is telling the truth.

Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler are members of a scientific community that could not ignore perspectives on the truth that were clearly proving the current leaders concepts were entirely wrong. The scientific conclusions they drew were due to careful observation and thorough calculation. They did not have to conduct any interpretation of words in a book, rather simply observe reality and express to each other what they saw. Both Galileo and Kepler were eager to read each other’s points of view. Galileo said he has an “eager desire to read [Kepler’s] book” making it clear he has great interest in Kepler’s work. Kepler asks Galileo to “answer [him] with a very long letter” expressing his desire to hear more of Galileo’s opinion. People may disagree with what reality is but they cannot disagree with what they see from a particular point of view. This is the embodiment of the importance to perspective, clearly perspective can be altered over time and all people should be prepared for newly learned perspectives.

There is no doubt that the systems in existence long ago were flawed and the new systems after them were still flawed. However as humankind has matured new systems open to alteration have been formed. The biggest minds behind the Internet and Google have admitted the key to a successful system is not a perfect system, but an easily changeable and upgradeable system. Not to mention that our own systems of governing are set up with the ability of change. The real question is how these alterations in the system will take place, not if they should take place.

Is the America going to Hell in a hand basket?

Yeah Sure, Why Not?

This has been a question for some time now. If this is true, will the rest of the world fallow suite? It is really a question of, who would want the world to become less of what it is? Why would anyone intentionally bring down the world? Clearly there are far too many complicated answers for such a question, not to mention all the arguments saying the world is getting better. A question that is more answerable would be: Are the US citizens truly doing things worse for the nation than what they were doing many years ago? What is worse for America or Americans, what is good for them? Now that is a question of which everyone wants to know the answer.

If you have read my work or talked to me you would know that if I am not being inquisitive I am being sarcastic. Now, I will pitch my sarcastic idea. A decrease in the rate of population growth would be a good thing. Humans are absolutely useless and produce nothing for each other, much less anything for their surroundings. The idea of these pro-life people is that all humans should be given the opportunity to produce for others and their surroundings. Think about that, an “opportunity”, people have been given this “opportunity” and have created war, toxins and global warming. Given the growth rate of estrogen in water maybe we will be lucky enough to have the population die out without the need for women’s choice. The men will just stop producing like “children of men” only it’s not the women who are infertile, but the men.

So what is worse and what is better? Technology, is that better? Well I know that unless you believe in a God you must believe that the lack of technology would bring a quick end to the human race and all life on earth. Because, it would sure take a lot of prayer to God, that is, if you wanted an asteroid to move off course. Don’t be fooled look into history and observe that a lack of population results in a lack of technology. People may try and say that a growth in technology is what made the population increase; this may be true. There is one thing no one can deny: the more people there are the more likely one of these people will make a great breakthrough. This is simply the law of probability put to use in calculating reality. So as long as we have a positive population growth we will be fine.

Will Engineer With AutoCAD, MatLab or Other Software in Exchange for Food.

We might start seeing homeless signs that read this way this one day.

I might just decide to stand out there with such a sign myself. But, why should I? Would it be to make sure others understand a Technical Degree is no assurance of a job. It does not matter what you have learned unless you know how to make the right connections. Colleges try to make this happen towards the end of the education process but sometimes the employers just aren’t as eager as they make themselves out to be. So if your fresh out of college and you think an employer is ready to hire you… Go make sure you have a backup plan, but if you tell the employer about this plan they will not hire you. So make sure you are a good liar.

I recently talked to an employer about what they wanted. So, let me mark out all the details about exactly what is wanted so all job searchers can understand what they are required to do.

1. Love for the organization to the extent they will turn down all other higher paying jobs.

2. A willingness to sign a contract that could leave them jobless in less than a year if they have the attitude of only meeting minimum criterion. (Put forth effort or expect removal)

The criterion so far is only reasonable; any one can meet these expectations. In my opinion: though society has made employers this way, any one at any level should expect to get turned down or fired if they cannot fully meet these two criteria. Given societal norms I can’t see any reason to say an employer asking for such criteria is not desperate.

3. Certification, or for some a willingness to work on getting one.

4. Five years experience. (Can be achieved through internship, co-op or work-study)

Not so bad… People can get with program… Good luck liberal arts majors.

5. They must have all A’s maybe B’s in the grade books. So look for an easy program that sounds cool when you tell people you have a B.S. in ...

So I asked the employer if they were desperate for employees, I received an automatic yes. This is where things get a little complex. You see, they are desperate, but only for employees that meet those five criteria. What about the other employees, the ones who only meet the last four or three criteria? What about the employee who only meets the first four? Assuming all the employees I am talking about have been to this place called “College” and spent enormous amounts of money on mental buildup… Well they better get out there with signs and hope for the best.

Finally to answer the question as to why I would do such a thing, I need a job. Employers are clearly not looking for individuals with broad understanding and honest action, they are looking for specialized understanding and pleasing action. So keep all this in mind before you start down that road to college.