Theos-Talk Archives (February 2005 Message tt00513)

Hi Paul,
Thanks to both you and Bart for the links, they would be good to 
give as handouts in theosophical reading groups.
I think we are very much conditioned into two term logic and this 
locks us into a very linear and black & white type of world view.


Perry


--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "kpauljohnson" 
<kpauljohnson@y...> wrote:
> 
> --- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "Perry Coles" <perrycoles@y...> 
> wrote:
> > 
> > Hi Paul,
> > If I get the gist of what your saying its that we should be wary 
> of not accepting pat explanations or presuming one particular 
> historical perspective is correct.
> > 
> Hi Perry,
> 
> Glad you're taking the post in the spirit in which it was 
intended. 
> Sometimes when people frame things in a "false dilemma" manner 
they 
> do so deliberately, but usually it's unintentional and when you 
> reply "but hey there are far more than two alternatives here" they 
> get the point. Here's a link to a site explaining the fallacy:
> http://skepdic.com/falsedilemma.html
> 
> I'll mention a few examples of this in Theosophical thinking:
> 
> 1. Either the Adyar TS is the true legitimate heir of the original 
> TS, or its not. Problem: Maybe it both is and is not depending on 
> how you mean it.
> 2. Either HPB never told a lie in her life (in which case anyone 
> concluding she did so must be punished for sacrilege) or Theosophy 
> is a total fraud. Problem: telling some lies does not mean 
> everything you say is fraudulent.
> 3. Either every single aspect of a proposed prototype for a 
> fictionalized character corresponds precisely to that character, 
or 
> there is no connection whatsoever between the two. Problem: 
> fictionalization by definition means that the correspondence is 
not 
> exact or complete.
> 4. Either Theosophy is still relevant today, or it's an outdated 
> fossil best ignored. Problem: maybe some parts are still relevant 
> and some parts are outdated.
> 5. Either we refrain from acknowledging CWL's crimes, or we're 
being 
> unbrotherly. Problem: how brotherly is it to his victims to 
pretend 
> they weren't abused?
> 
> one could go on...
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Paul