Keep Them Separated

Now, I get a lot of e-mails that I find vaguely irritating, and most of them I simply delete. However, some of them (see the Nigerian e-mail scam blog entry) become blogger-worthy rants. Some time ago (to be exact, it was February 11th), I received an e-mail that I get regularly that is supposedly written by someone I know a little bit (and know greater by reputation, as he is the President of the church I generally attend). The e-mail irritated me because it was highly simplistic and purported to add accuracy to thinking when in reality it did no such thing.

There were six "separations" that the author stated were useful in organizing what is learned. Each of these six is worthy of comment:

1. Separate the facts from mere information.

Well, in case someone has failed to consult the dictionary, information and facts are highly related. In fact (no pun intended), information is facts that are collected and from which conclusions may be drawn. Therefore if this statement were to be accurate, it should be stated: separate information from mere facts. However, even in this form the statement is unhelpful, as the diligent collection of facts to form information is quite useful in honing one's intellectual abilities. Here is one example where separation is of no help whatsoever, because having the facts together to form information, and then utilizing the information to form knowledge and then wisdom is a fundamental process in sharpening one's own intellect. Only a moron would seek to separate people from the process to developing independent thinking.

2. Separate the truth from idle gossip.

This separation principle is also unhelpful. What is truth to someone is idle gossip to someone else, and vice versa. In order for this principle to be helpful, there must be clear boundaries as to what is considered truth and what is gossip. Indeed, gossip need not be untrue. Do we trust the word of others on reputation without supporting evidence and logical presentation? If so, then even if that person is a minister or politician or boss, or other leader, then we are accepting gossip rather than truth. Determining the truth can be a very unpleasant task, and oftentimes it can only be gathered through a close understanding of gossip, as the dark truths may be impolitic to say out in the open. In this way, one may need to have a close ear to gossip in order to understand the truth.

3. Separate the good from the bad.

Again, it appears as if this principle is entirely useless if one wants to live a life in truth. The truth is the honest and unvarnished knowledge of ourselves and our world, and those around us, and that can either be good or bad. Separating out the good from the bad to focus on either in isolation does us no good in finding the balance of matters. If we focus only on the good, we become blind to the dark evil inside of ourselves and others, particularly those who do not like to deal with unpleasant truths. If we focus only on the bad and not the good, then our lives become darkened because we do not see that there is good in this world (even if there is not as much of it as we would like). If we surround ourselves with darkness, we cannot help but be corrupted by it. But if we do not deal with darkness at all we lack understanding of our world and ourselves, and cannot truly repent of who we are.

4. Separate the important from the unimportant.

This principle would be helpful if one could tell what was important and unimportant. And a further question needs to be dealt with: important to whom? If we separate matters based on what is important to us, we become rather selfish and self-centered, and that is certainly not a godly way to be. We do not always know what is important to God, though where we do know this we have an obligation to act accordingly. However, while it may be unimportant to us to play ball with our children (if we have any) in the yard, such matters may be very important to our children, as they are a sign of love and consideration. Again, unless one has defined what is important correctly, it appears that this principle is an invitation to selfishness.

5. Separate the relevant from the irrelevant.

Again, it appears as if this is an unhelpful principle of separation. What is not relevant in a particular situation may be very relevant in another situation. Also, if we have already separated the good and the bad (see above), then we may be missing very relevant information to a situation, especially if it involves the unpleasant reactions people have to certain situations. Unless we are sensitive to where people are coming from, and what background they have, we can often make little sense of their behavior, and this is certainly not going to improve our lives. Ignorance is not bliss, even if knowledge is seldom blissful as well.

6. Separate the usable from the unusable.

Again, it seems as if this principle is not a helpful one if written large. While in any given situation one may have to parce out information that can be used now from what cannot, over the long term there might be vastly more information that is usable, and if that information is lost then future decisions may be imparied by a lack of knowledge. If this author wishes to give wise advice for wise decisions, he ought to be vastly more informative and precise than he is in these rather overly simplistic maxims.

Oh, and I have class now, so I guess it is time to /rant, for now. I have another one to come if time permits later on.