What source for self-esteem?

coberst · Post by **coberst** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 5:32 am

What source for self-esteem?

“The religious believer assigns dignity to whatever his religion holds sacred—a set of moral laws, a way of life, or particular objects of worship. He grows angry when the dignity of what he holds sacred is violated. Quote from “The End of History and the Last Man.

To what does the non-believer, or perhaps the partial-believer, assign dignity? If the non-believer does not assign self-esteem to the ability to comprehend rationality, upon what foundation does s/he stand? If the non-believer does depend upon rationality for self-respect how is it possible that so few comprehend anything about rationality?

In the US our schools and colleges are beginning to teach the art and science of good judgment. It is called CT (Critical Thinking). CT teaches the young person how to think; not just what to think.

What about today’s adult? Today’s adult was educated in a time when schools and colleges never provided universal instruction in the art and science of thinking—rationality.

For a 12 to 18 years period from the age of 6 to our mid twenties we have lived constantly in an educational system wherein we seldom if ever learned to function intellectually independent of outside direction. How is it possible for such an individual to develop the internal processes (bootstrap) that allow him or her to become an independent critically self-conscious thinker?

Like the PC setting in front of us we seem to have an automatic default position. Our default position is ‘reject’ when encountering any idea that does not fit in our already learned patterns and algorithms. Somehow the individual must find a way to change that default position from ‘reject’ to ‘examine critically’. Of course—how do we every not reject this message?

Making good judgments is an important and complex matter. There are bad judgments, good judgments, and better judgments. To make better judgments requires many kinds of knowledge, skills, and character traits all working together.

Like chess, Critical Thinking is an asset that can influence the judgments one makes in all matters in their life. It can be a strategic tool or a tactical tool—it can change ones world view. It gives in accordance to the investment made. But too often the neophyte learns the moves that each piece can make, plays a few games and wanders away bewildered as to why anyone could take the matter seriously.

Of course, everyone is a critical thinker. I call this the Regan style critical thinking—trust but verify. But I think much more than this is required. Do you think that you need to know much more about CT?

If today’s adult wishes to learn CT s/he must learn it on his or her own nickel. I think a good read to begin with is this one

http://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Educ/EducHare.htm

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 6:11 am

Other sources would be anything involving emotional intelligence (EQ).

Coberst, you seem to equate self-esteem and dignity. Self-esteem is built through successes, large and small, real or imagined. We all know the overconfident (to be kind) person who is not nearly as wonderful as he/she imagines him/herself to be. Often the person is quite undignified.

Critical thinking is without doubt a wonderful tool, critical in maturing beyond mere independence. Stripping away the emotion and fluff from a situation definitely helps the head to see the true nature of a success or failure. Convincing the heart is a more difficult endeavor.

K.Snyder · Post by **K.Snyder** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 6:17 am

Brings you to the question of "how is it possible to understand rationality, without experiencing immoral judgement first and foremost". One has to learn by ones mistakes before one can become rational. Whether that's through example, or not, the real issue is how fast it can be achieved.

coberst · Post by **coberst** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 11:24 am

Accountable wrote: Convincing the heart is a more difficult endeavor.

I do not comprehend this statement. Could you elaborate?

coberst · Post by **coberst** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 11:26 am

K.Snyder wrote: Brings you to the question of "how is it possible to understand rationality, without experiencing immoral judgement first and foremost". One has to learn by ones mistakes before one can become rational. Whether that's through example, or not, the real issue is how fast it can be achieved.

This is not my day. I do not comprehend this statement either.

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 12:31 pm

coberst wrote: I do not comprehend this statement. Could you elaborate?Glad to. One's self esteem is often heavily laden with emotion. It's flavored with what one interprets as parents' and other mentors' opinions. Emotions are "of the heart" and getting the "heart" out of the matter is very difficult.

Many brilliant and talented people have low self-esteem, despite their obvious assets. laying out factual data to prove their worth may help, but unless you can convince them to emotionally accept it (convince their heart), they will never have a matching opinion of themselves.

This is similarly true for untalented people with over-inflated self-esteem.

cherandbuster · Post by **cherandbuster** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 12:45 pm

SnoozeControl wrote: You're talking about me, aren't you?

Snoozie

That's funny

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 1:32 pm

SnoozeControl wrote: You're talking about me, aren't you? :oFinally, the fog lifts. :yh_wink

K.Snyder · Post by **K.Snyder** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 3:15 pm

coberst wrote: This is not my day. I do not comprehend this statement either.

Self esteem comes from good judgment without hesitation. Rationality comes from good judgement. You cannot have good judgement without knowing the consequences, therefore one has to experience bad judgement in order to know what good judgement is. Thus, self esteem evolving from the amount of time it takes to get over your bad judgements. (My philosophy)