Ideas and Where They Come From

Originally published on Ifunny on August 13th, 2022

A lot of people are walking around with bizarre ideas in their head. Most people have really weird ideas about how the world works. The worst part? They don't notice just how weird their ideas are. For example, the idea that history is progress. That's a perfect example of a weird idea. Its quasi-theological. We live in an age of secularization, and even when people check off the box that says "religious" on the census, most people are borderline atheistic when you get down to brass tacks. People today want the comfort that religion brings without any of the obligations that come along with it.

"I want it all in one bag but I don't want the bag to be heavy.

So why, in our secular age do we still see these weird beliefs continue to persist? Really, think about it, how is it any less weird to believe that as time passes, society inevitably becomes more egalitarian and fair - in other words, society gets better than it is to believe in demonic possession?

Why is "better" synonomous progress? Or liberty? Or equality?

You know how I know these ideas are weird? Because they haven't existed for almost the entirety of human history. If you could go back in time and explain to someone that you believed history was progress, they would probably first inquire as to what weird, foreign religion you belong to. Then they would probably burn you at the stake or crush you with boulders.

That doesn't mean all new ideas are weird, or bad. The idea that the moon causes the tides to go in and out is a weird idea, historically speaking. It's likely still weird to WatchmenWakeUp but not to the rest of us.

One way to figure out which weird ideas are valid or not is to trace them back as far as you can. Imagine the history of our ideas as a long chain that goes back hundreds, if not thousands of years, and at the end of that chain rests an anchor. Above, on the surface of the waves is a storm-pounded vessel that is our civilization. Thank God we have this anchor, and this ridiculously long chain. It keeps our fragile ship from being plunged into the dark ocean, from being a sad tale told by sailors and recovered by brave divers.

But if one day you went out, when the storm is rocking your ship, and found that the chain to the bottom felt too light, panicked, you would know that your anchor is gone. You and your ship will soon be gone too.

To wrap up my anology, if our ideas are a chain fastened to an anchor, it's probably a good idea to make sure the chain is unbroken. If you have a broken chain of ideas, that spells disaster.

In this way, what I mean by weird ideas are actually ideas that don't connect to the chain. Weird ideas are therefore dangerous ideas

Let's look at another weird idea - individual human rights.

We hear a lot about individual human rights today. Some people protest that we don't have enough individual human rights.

Some people believe you should have the right to shoot heroin into your veins. After all, if you aren't hurting anyone else, shouldn't we all be allowed to do whatever we want? That's another really weird idea. Today, its common to hear that people should be allowed to do whatever they want, as long as no one but themself is harmed in the process.

800 some years ago William of Ockham upended medieval scholasticism. Without the widespread belief in Universals, each thing was seen as merely a particular. This had profound consequences for man, because now each individual human was seen as a radically unique creation, sustained by God. In the Renaissance, this idea of the uniqueness of each individual had another profound consequence - Humanism. The Imago Dei - made in the image and likeness of God. Its here where for the first time, the idea of rights, take their form not in society as a whole, but in individuals. The idea that individuals have dignity, and are worthy of rights, has its origin in an obscure theological debate between Scholastics and Nominalists. This is to put an overly simplistic spin on the story for the sake of brevity.

So how the hell did we get the idea that people should be allowed to shoot heroin into their veins from this? This idea doesn't seem to follow at all. In other words, the damn chain was broken. We lost our anchor.

This is but one example. Really, if you're persistent you can find examples of this everwhere in our society. You will find weird, and dangerous ideas. You will find ideas that do not connect to the anchor. You will only find extensions that do not follow from certain preconditions.

Some of you guys are really smart, and what I am suggesting you do is to start searching for the origins of our weird modern ideas. If you do this, you will almost always find broken links.

You will be able to tell where others get their weird ideas from, because they themselves often have no clue. You will be able to see that they have absolutely no foundation to anything they believe.

You will be so well equipped at sniffing out bad ideas that it might even surprise some people. It might anger them. These people ususlly have really bad ideas. These are the people who have weird ideas, dangerous ideas, ideas that don't link to the chain. But if you're daring enough, you can try to reconnect these ideas and find the anchor. If you manage to do this, you might be able to hop aboard a lifeboat while the main vessel sinks, and wait out the storm until you can find solid ground.