Theos-Talk Archives (January 2002 Message tt00395)

Dear Paul, 

In fact I agree with most if not all of what you write below.

The reason I brought the apparent disagreement 
[see http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/contradictions.htm ]forward
was simply to illustrate that Brigitte's "take" on the subject was 
not the only reasonable or valid view. And that one need not be 
a "Theosophical Fundamentalist" to disagree with Brigitte's view. :)

And I was hoping some readers might glean from the apparent 
disagreement that what is really needed is to seriously explore the 
actual "thinking" and "reasoning" behind Brigitte's view or Steve's 
view or your view or Adelasie's view, etc. And to also look at what 
kind of evidence might "prove" one view versus another. 

And as I have said many times before, I don't really care that it is 
Brigitte's view or Paul's view, or ... etc. etc. Take the names off!

Label them:

Possible explanation A
Working hypothesis B
Proposed Conjecture C

etc. etc.

Let the discussion center on the reasonableness, the coherency, etc. 
of the various explanations or views. What evidence is not being 
considered in Explanation A or Conjecture C. etc. etc. etc.

I suggest that this approach might lead us to the real heart of the 
discussion instead of being sidetracked into the ad hominem 
arguments, etc. that often plague our discussions on Theos-talk.

Daniel H. Caldwell
BLAVATSKY ARCHIVES
http://hpb.cc



K. Paul Johnson wrote:

> Daniel and Adelasie, 
> 
> It strikes me as really weird that you all are using the fact that 
> Steve, Brigitte and I don't think alike as proof of something.
> Lord have mercy! We live thousands of miles apart, have never 
met, 
> don't AFAIK belong to any of the same organizations, and our only 
> connection is online acquaintance and being bashed repeatedly by 
> Theosophists for asking the wrong questions/proposing the wrong 
> asnwers about HPB. What possible reason would there be to expect 
us 
> to all think exactly alike? What possible message can you take 
from 
> the fact that we don't, other than that this is how people are?
................
> What it's a good example of is that people who don't know one 
> another, don't share the same background or knowledge base or 
belief 
> system, and don't feel the need to conform to anyone else's 
thoughts 
> on the subject, are inevitably going to arrive at different 
> perspectives and conclusions. Regardless of the subject, occultism 
> or needlepoint. Regardless of the approach, intellectual or 
mystical 
> or emotional. People aren't robots and they're not clones. Each 
> thinks independently or should. 
> It also shows that people who have quite different POVs on HPB can 
> discuss them amicably without feeling in the slightest that they 
> ought to all agree. At least non-Theosophists can!