{"id":409,"date":"2010-05-20T19:22:00","date_gmt":"2010-05-20T19:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/05\/knowledge\/"},"modified":"2010-05-20T19:22:00","modified_gmt":"2010-05-20T19:22:00","slug":"knowledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/05\/knowledge.html","title":{"rendered":"Knowledge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It is often said that people only see what they want to see. That\u2019s frequently true, but I prefer to say that people only see what their ideas about the world will allow them to see.<\/p>\n

A few years ago when I was preparing to lead a book study of Willow Polson\u2019s The Veil\u2019s Edge<\/a><\/em> (one of the few books available on advanced Pagan practice) I came across this quote by Clive Beck, Professor of Education at the University of Toronto: \u201cKnowledge is the product of an interaction<\/em> between our ideas about the world and our experience of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

To illustrate the quote, I made this simple Venn diagram.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

From birth (and maybe before?) we learn about the world from our experiences of it, both first-hand and second-hand. But those experiences are little more than isolated data points until we compare and contrast them to other experiences and fit them into our model of Life and the Universe.<\/p>\n

Last summer I had a spiritual experience while visiting Mesa Verde<\/a>. As I stood at a canyon overlook, the wind came up, I experienced the wonder and power of nature, and I had a moment where I was a part of it all. I can\u2019t describe it except to say it felt right<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A skeptic could say I experienced a gust of wind combined with a touch of agoraphobia at a time when I was overheated and fatigued. He wouldn\u2019t be wrong. And based on his ideas about the world, that\u2019s all it was. I have different ideas about the world: that everything is connected, that God \/ Goddess \/ the Divine is found in the natural world, and that there is a purpose for life. My knowledge of that experience is different because my ideas about the world are different.<\/p>\n

A creationist can\u2019t see the evidence for evolution because his ideas about biblical literality and the age of the universe won\u2019t let him see it. A homophobe can\u2019t see the love in a committed same sex relationship because his ideas about physical attraction won\u2019t let him. A materialist can\u2019t see magic and spirituality because his ideas about quantifiability won\u2019t let him.<\/p>\n

What are you missing because your ideas about the world won\u2019t let you see it???<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is often said that people only see what they want to see. That\u2019s frequently true, but I prefer to say that people only see what their ideas about the world will allow them to see. A few years ago when I was preparing to lead a book study of Willow Polson\u2019s The Veil\u2019s Edge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nKnowledge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It is often said that people only see what they want to see. 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