The blind leading the deaf

Dec 01, 2018 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

A man was having an argument with another man. He made it clear that the other person could not impose views on him without his concurrence. “I is (sic) a ‘big man’ and I can think for myself, he bellowed.”
All of us are born with our own brain and a mind of our own. We do not need anyone to think for us. We are free to determine what we will believe and what we will not.
Politicians should not therefore have to be thinking for anyone. We can each listen to their arguments and determine if what they are saying makes sense and if it accords with our own views.
Unfortunately, this is not always the case, and people more often than not allow political loyalties to determine their own opinions. It is as if the politicians, whom they support, are doing the thinking for them.
Some people are all too ready to tune in to the leaders of the political parties, which they support. And they are equally adept at refusing to consider the points of view of opposing politicians.
It is almost as if they do not trust their own powers of reasoning. They prefer to have a one-track mind and to be blindsided against anything, which allows them to think for themselves.
A good example is a recent controversial statement made by a Minister of the government, one of the main leaders of APNU. The Minister is entitled to her views and so too are members of the public. Yet, some persons slavishly would defend those statements, even though if a similar statement were to be made by an Opposition politician, it would be a different reaction.
Now, there is nothing irrational about this. It is quite rational for someone to defend a viewpoint with which they do not agree. There is nothing irrational about defending your party’s leaders when they ‘put their foot in their mouth.’
However, it is a completely different matter when a person decides that whatever is told to them is gospel and should be accepted uncritically. This is not a rational position, because the person concerned has not utilized his or her rational faculties but is prepared to be brainwashed into whatever their leaders proposition.
It is not irrational if a person decides that whenever a leader of the Opposition speaks that they will not listen. It is fairly rational for someone to make this choice. But it is not a sensible choice. It does not allow that person to form an independent opinion of a subject when they refuse to entertain all sides to the matter.
One-sidedness dominates comments on social media. The views are invariably polarized along partisan political lines and persons are scathing in their outright rejection of views, which do not accord with the position of the parties which they support.
People should form their own opinions. They should be receptive to alternative viewpoints. They should not turn off the television, radio or social media platform when an opposing leader is on. They should listen to what he or she has to say. The views of the Opposition should be given a hearing. The views of the government side should be given a hearing. Then the person should decide which position he or she agrees with.
But to refuse to listen to an opposition position reflects blind fidelity. To refuse to listen to what the Leader of the Opposition or the Prime Minister is saying reflects an absence of cognitive nimbleness.
It means you are allowing others to think for you rather than using the brain and the mind, which is yours and yours alone. The danger of having someone else think for you is that the blind may end up leading the deaf.

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