Can human beings really be totally objective (1 Viewer)

Saintman2884

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I was taking a class tonight and the professor said to me that to him a human being cannot totally objective. that to him we lie, have biases, prejudices, or even irrational hatreds that can make us do things that really dont make sense at all or they are contradictory or seem hypocritical. It seems so in the politcal equation of it too. You would think that most liberals would be open-minded, open to change, freedom in essence to think the way like they want too. Conservatives are the same way to a certain extent on the other aisle of the spectrum. But that's labeling and you cannot do that and I am not going to do thst here.

No, no my question to you is: are human beings really objective in the strictest sense, believing in reason, logic, and rational philosophy? Are we really just bound by sitautional ethics and thats it.

I make a case by saying that despite me being somewhat cynical on human nature a bit, I think we can be reasonable, ethical, moral , all the rational things we would want to be.

but its only so much we only go so far, we all have biases,God forbid maybe even prejudices as harsh as that meaning sounds, we only go so far and then well we dont do better.

after all we are not perfect and we make mistakes, we are bound by that truism, no human being is always 100% tolerant of everything and everybody, their are no absolutes truths either if you want to go on that arena of thought.
 
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Thus far, there have been 35 viewings of this thread and no responses..... I do believe that it tending to prove the simple fact that thus are people are indeed "objective".
 
Thus far, there have been 35 viewings of this thread and no responses..... I do believe that it tending to prove the simple fact that thus are people are indeed "objective".

Either that or its too early to think about this. But no, no one can be completely objective. Some are MUCH more objective than others though.
 
I agree with your professor--human beings are never totally objective. We bring biases to the table regardless of whether we admit them or not. On the other hand, I'm not so sure that total objectivity is a good thing for most situations. Sure I want objectivity from referees in calling a game, but there aren't too many situations I can think of where subjectivity (or judgment) isn't an important quality.

Diversity of viewpoints keeps things interesting and forms the basis for progress. It's common that the majority of people who analyze a set of data will come to the same conclusion. However, when someone has a different interpretation of that information based on their insight, that's is the potential for innovation and progress. Insight comes from experience, knowledge and thinking.

Here's another example of how subjectivity factors into our interpretation....I've heard the top 5 politicians left in the mix mention they're an agent of Change. Since I've been using this word for the past decade I probably view Change from a different perspective than most. Most people probably think Change is always (or almost always) better. However, my experience is that Change can move us backwards, forwards, to the left, and to the right, it can even move us to the center; Change to me only means we don't do the things we currently do today the way we've always done them in the past or we don't do things tomorrow we're doing today. Change from my perspective is a means to an end; the vehicle for arriving at the destination. Where we're going is far more important than how we'll get there.

:tpenny:
 
Either that or its too early to think about this. But no, no one can be completely objective. Some are MUCH more objective than others though.
I think you're not being objective about this. Obviously *I'M* objective about this, but apparently YOU aren't. :mwink:


(j/k!)
 
I think you're not being objective about this. Obviously *I'M* objective about this, but apparently YOU aren't. :mwink:


(j/k!)

While I disagree with what you say sir I'll defend to the death your right to say it
 
Don't you hate when your professors make you think?
BTW 2884 I sent you an e-mail thru the forum let me know if you got it
 
We can't be completely objective because we require frames of reference in order to make complex comparisons. And our past experiences, biases, and emotions are what make up our points of reference.
 
Most political arguments tend to have some self interest involved. People perceive themselves to be part of a group- white, black, rich, poor, union,women, men, American, etc. When I first heard you say situational ethics I thought of the justification for the Iraq war after the fact, but I digress.

There's also a cultural bias- that things done the way you learned to do them are correct. My favorite class in school was cultural anthropology where you learn a little bit about this cultural bias. That was a mind opening experience for me.
 
lsu I don't think I got your e-mail. I want to apologize for not being here all day gentlemen I had some pretty long days here at South today.

If you want to send it again, I will get it as soon as it is made for me to see
 
It all depends on your experiences,and how you value them. I think that leads you to make a decision. No exp and most people will try to dial up a similar circumstance or ask advice to answer the question or solve a problem.

I would agree with the prof. Total objectivity is near impossible.
 
professors are morons. that is my subjective opinion. just about all have no idea what hard work is or what it is to create something. all they do is pass on ideas. i had on sociology professor aka waste of life say no one can pull themselves up by their boot straps in america. he is a total moron and can die in his fantasy world of shaping alcoholic teenagers minds and oh fight the power down with big brother attitude

rofl.
 

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