Human / Behaviour
Essentialism: Basing decisions on beliefs
“The pleasure we get from all sorts of everyday objects is related to our beliefs about their histories.” — that’s a line from Paul Bloom’s…book, How Pleasure Works. ¶ It’s so obvious, yet I’d never thought of it like that before — not so precisely. Our pleasure with respect to objects is tied to beliefs. Just imagine how much you appreciate a Van Gogh painting after finding it to be a forgery — no matter how accurate — no matter how beautiful you thought it was before you found out. ¶ Or, say you lost the wedding ring (and imagine it’s a mass-produced variety) — you would probably find that both you and your partner wouldn’t go…
Jon MountjoyOct 18, 2015
What’s commonplace is unthinkingly right
Some parts of daily life seem so natural, benign, and commonplace that we don’t consider them to be as awful as they really are. Perhaps we…so easily believe something is right, just because it has always been so. Take for example, circumcision. ¶ Male circumcision ¶ To be clear, I’m referring to male circumcision here, and circumcision performed outside of a medical necessity. ¶ For many years, I considered being circumcised, and the act of circumcision, to be relatively benign. It’s ubiquitous, it’s commonplace. I’ve not heard a man complain, nor sue his parents, because of it.Jon MountjoyOct 18, 2015