I certainly don't mean to imply that face-to-face communication is perfect, goodness knows it isn't -- or that there can even be perfect communication. (Which is certainly borne out if anyone gets the impression that i AM implying that above!!)
But i do think that there is more of a chance for thorough (and compassionate!) understanding of someone else that way than any other way.
You bring up examination of historical texts and this launches all kinds of thought trains for me, largely because of the amount of time i've spent examining ancient religious texts. I'm bothered by the modern approach which blithely -- and deliberately -- overlooks the socio-political context of religious writings. I read a terrifying essay by Karl Barth essentially justifying the deliberate erasure of historical context from biblical scholarship.
Generalizing is a fine art. It makes things too cluttered to always tack on the disclaimer, "there are exceptions of course" to every single statement one makes. I explicitly refuse to do this, because i assume that anyone able to follow my trains of thought is also capable of remembering without being told that any generalization has exceptions.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-01-05 08:38 pm (UTC)But i do think that there is more of a chance for thorough (and compassionate!) understanding of someone else that way than any other way.
You bring up examination of historical texts and this launches all kinds of thought trains for me, largely because of the amount of time i've spent examining ancient religious texts. I'm bothered by the modern approach which blithely -- and deliberately -- overlooks the socio-political context of religious writings. I read a terrifying essay by Karl Barth essentially justifying the deliberate erasure of historical context from biblical scholarship.
Generalizing is a fine art. It makes things too cluttered to always tack on the disclaimer, "there are exceptions of course" to every single statement one makes. I explicitly refuse to do this, because i assume that anyone able to follow my trains of thought is also capable of remembering without being told that any generalization has exceptions.