Subjectivism

Now, I have been putting off my trip to India for quite some time, primarily because I had been waiting for an Indian friend to get out of Harvard, but also because I thought it inopportune to make the jaunt without enough time. Six months is just going to have to do. I had, over the years, amassed a number of stories about the country, gathered from other backpackers. Vicariously traveling, naturally you start to make an image in your head. 

I promised myself I would not make any presumptions, and as much as possible, try to view the country ala tabula rasa. As a traveler, I have a propensity to draw attention, not because I desire it, but more due to my insatiable lust for debate. Discussions grow tedious when repeated, but as you travel, you get another local flavor of logic, usually regurgitated from similar sources, yet cooked in the each culture’s perspective.

So as an unpublished, unknown free thinker, I do not have the luxury of Sam Harris, Matt Dillahunty, or Hitchens to blow off the less-intelligent challengers. In fact, I employ the minions of god and hippy-spawn to hone those skills and references which I should keep fresh.  

So last week, I was invited by a charming Indian waiter, who felt he could not do Islam justice in conversation, as he was a Muslim by name only. Thus I was invited to go hang out with an Imam and a respected Muslim in the area. I was more than happy so long as they agreed to be cordial and honest. I typically refuse to start unless they would be willing to admit that they might be wrong, as I openly do. This sets the stage for a friendly conversation. 

Walking along the shore to our destination, with my newly-made T-shirt “There is no god” brazenly getting the message out there. I often have to clarify that it should read “there is probably no god” to be logically sound, but the letters were too expensive, and well, this is a far better conversation starter. 

It went through the typical stuff, basic philosophy, science, Al-Quran, but after five plus hours, I realized my company were being fundamentally dishonest, not only to me, but to themselves. No matter how many times I drilled the point in, and they subsequently agreed, they would go back to mantra it all up again. 

So this entry will be about what bothers me most about Asia, whether we discuss philosophy, religion, spiritualism, medicine, politics, or just about any subject asking you for an iota of thought. What I hate the most is the persistent subjectivism of this part of the world. Certainly I could gander at the causes. Perhaps the thousands of years of invasion after invasion kept the people’s minds at bay. Perhaps it was the oriental philosophies such as Siddhartha Gautama or Confucius. Perhaps it was the lack of western philosophies starting with the stoics and ending with the empiricists, which never made it past the Muhammadans. Perhaps the Monotheistic religions’ demands of this god and only this god, started the trend of accepting what our sensory perception gives us.  

Either way, that subjectivism is rooted in the minds of most on this continent.  This concept that all knowledge and moral values are based on a subjective rather than an objective truth or reality is poisonous to education, democracy, human rights, environmentalism and many more ideas. 

Taking people through the logical steps from subjectivism to solipsism seems to do little to sway the minds. Pleading for any knowledge which can be obtained this way, results in no more realization. The simple truth is, for millennia, people have been avoiding the problems of reality by shirking responsibility. You say that our problems are not your problems, you mention that you can solve any issue by inner clarity, or meditation, and you have not dealt with anything but your awareness of the issue. Recategorizing a problem as ‘solved’ in your mind does not help anyone else.  

While in a Buddhist monastery in Myanmar, I discussed at length with the monks what they hope to accomplish by meditating. In that case, the result is a majority of the population keeping their heads down in servitude while a few brave men and women desperately try to rally the people to democracy, while risking everything. 

In general, I feel it is safe to say, religion favors the poor, the simple-minded. Those in power often reap the prize of the humbled mind. Subjectivism, likewise, is the bond of the mind which disables any critical thinking or positive action. 

That said, the education systems in Asia are typically authoritarian, encouraging not participation, but results. This often does not expose methodology or thought patterns in school, and pupils are left to find their own way to solve problems. In education based on critical thinking, we see more participation, usually allowing students to correct logical errors or identify fallacies they make. 

Combine that with a society rife with superstition, unquestioned religion, and traditions and you have a brew of misapprehensions.  In my travels, most people are simply unaware they are making the most common of logical errors, but simply because no one had corrected them. 

So after a week in India, I am happy to report that the people show far more skepticism and rational thought than the foreigners who come looking for enlightenment. And I dare say, enlightenment never did Indians any good anyway, for they are the ones trying to get positions in western universities to learn.