ygolo
My termites win
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2007
- Messages
- 6,004
How blindly do you trust superior entities?
How much time and effort will you put in to change your mind to match what a superior entity output?
I'll clarify the poll options here:
I am asking this in a very abstract sense. If the answer is that it depends on what the entity is, how it is superior, and what is meant by the word "blind", then please expound. What are the critical factors that would change your answer? IOW, if the answer is "it depends", then what does it depend on, and how do these factors incluence the amount of trust?
Presuppositions:
1) You genuinely believe the entity in question is superior in a particular domain.
2) The statements from the entity (whether it is advice, instruction, answers, or whatever) do not make sense to you.
3) Trust in this case is meant regarding the veracity of the output of the superior entity. There may be situations where despite lacking veracity, you still act in accordance with what the superior entity outputs.
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To give an idea on how abstract the question is meant to be, I will give some concrete examples to show a variety of specifics I believe the question can cover.
Scenario 1:
The use of a calculator or computing device to calculations. How blindly to you trust the answers spit out?
Scenario 2:
Someone that you, yourself, believe to be more wise and worldly gives you advise about a situation where you believe (s)he has superior judgement. How blindly do you trust him/her?
Scenario 3:
An alien comes to Earth and explains how to create world transforming technologies (specifically in space travel and inter-species communication).
Scenario 4:
Someone that you know is better at processing emotions gives you advice about how to handle an emotional situation.
Scenario 5:
Someone you know to be more knowledgeable about a particular field tells you some facts about the field.
Scenario 6:
Someone you believe to be significantly better informed about medical issues (perhaps a doctor or nurse) gives you medical advice.
Scenario 7:
Someone significantly more knowledgeable and experienced in business, finance, and money gives you financial advice.
Scenario 8:
A health advisory board, that you have come to trust, puts out advice on diet.
Scenario 9:
A science advisory board, that you have come to trust, puts out a booklet about what it believes is true about a subject.
Scenario 10:
Someone you believe to be more spiritually aware and wise in that sense gives you advice in matters of the spirituality.
Scenario 11:
A source of spiritual doctrine (perhaps a pastor or biblical scholar reading from the Bible, a rabi quoting the Torah or Talmud, or a guru quoting the Gitas or the Vedas, or a Mullah quoting the Quran), that you have come to trust, tells you what ought to be done for spiritual reasons.
Scenario 12:
An organization that makes food, that you trust to make good food, gives you food to eat.
Scenario 13:
A mechanic you trust, and you believe knows more about cars than you, tells you what needs to be done with your car.
Scenario 14:
An organization you trust to make "ingredients" for your work gives you a product that it claims meets certain specifications.
I am sure you can come up with more scenarios.
How much time and effort will you put in to change your mind to match what a superior entity output?
I'll clarify the poll options here:
- Not at all. I only trust the superior entities in as much as they agree with what I believe, perceive, ...
- Very little. I only trust the superior entities if I can come to understand and change my mind to agree with them.
- Slightly. If I cannot understand or change my mind to agree with what the entity says, I will tentatively give the entity the benefit of the doubt, given that some sanity checks are passed. I will try to come around, but if upon further investigation, I still disagree, then I will no longer give the entity the benefit of the doubt.
- A good amount. I will give the entity the benefit of the doubt, and will continually search for ways to modify my understanding, perception, etc. to come to their point of view. However, if after a long amount of time, I cannot understand, perceive, ... what the superior entity does, I will revert to my own positions.
- Completely. I will give complete authority in the appropriate domain to the superior entity. I will try my best to modify my own thinking to match the entity's. This could be a life long pursuit.
I am asking this in a very abstract sense. If the answer is that it depends on what the entity is, how it is superior, and what is meant by the word "blind", then please expound. What are the critical factors that would change your answer? IOW, if the answer is "it depends", then what does it depend on, and how do these factors incluence the amount of trust?
Presuppositions:
1) You genuinely believe the entity in question is superior in a particular domain.
2) The statements from the entity (whether it is advice, instruction, answers, or whatever) do not make sense to you.
3) Trust in this case is meant regarding the veracity of the output of the superior entity. There may be situations where despite lacking veracity, you still act in accordance with what the superior entity outputs.
---------
To give an idea on how abstract the question is meant to be, I will give some concrete examples to show a variety of specifics I believe the question can cover.
Scenario 1:
The use of a calculator or computing device to calculations. How blindly to you trust the answers spit out?
Scenario 2:
Someone that you, yourself, believe to be more wise and worldly gives you advise about a situation where you believe (s)he has superior judgement. How blindly do you trust him/her?
Scenario 3:
An alien comes to Earth and explains how to create world transforming technologies (specifically in space travel and inter-species communication).
Scenario 4:
Someone that you know is better at processing emotions gives you advice about how to handle an emotional situation.
Scenario 5:
Someone you know to be more knowledgeable about a particular field tells you some facts about the field.
Scenario 6:
Someone you believe to be significantly better informed about medical issues (perhaps a doctor or nurse) gives you medical advice.
Scenario 7:
Someone significantly more knowledgeable and experienced in business, finance, and money gives you financial advice.
Scenario 8:
A health advisory board, that you have come to trust, puts out advice on diet.
Scenario 9:
A science advisory board, that you have come to trust, puts out a booklet about what it believes is true about a subject.
Scenario 10:
Someone you believe to be more spiritually aware and wise in that sense gives you advice in matters of the spirituality.
Scenario 11:
A source of spiritual doctrine (perhaps a pastor or biblical scholar reading from the Bible, a rabi quoting the Torah or Talmud, or a guru quoting the Gitas or the Vedas, or a Mullah quoting the Quran), that you have come to trust, tells you what ought to be done for spiritual reasons.
Scenario 12:
An organization that makes food, that you trust to make good food, gives you food to eat.
Scenario 13:
A mechanic you trust, and you believe knows more about cars than you, tells you what needs to be done with your car.
Scenario 14:
An organization you trust to make "ingredients" for your work gives you a product that it claims meets certain specifications.
I am sure you can come up with more scenarios.
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