Response to "Rumors."

Response #1

In Jen Haley's blog, she talks about rumors and the credibility of the source. She discusses how people will rely on one news source because they trust it and don't bother to back op any news story with another source. Everyone has heard gossip or has been the subject of gossip so we must all have our opinion of the matter. Her question is "Do you think people believe a statement to be true solely because of who is saying it? Does their decision making depend on the popularity of the person saying it and/or where the statement derives from?"

I think it all depends on the person. If you are easily trustworthy of others, you may only believe in one source. Or, if you truly want to believe in something, one source may be enough. For me, I need to hear a piece of gossip or information from numerous varying sources in order to believe it. I don't like hearing gossip because I understand what it is like to be talked about, as does everyone. However, if there is a piece of information spreading or a news story, I like to hear it from a variety of people or news sources. People are easily swayed to one side so it is best to hear a story from many different point if views. I do think popularity has something to do with credibility of a source because if everyone views one news source or receives gossip from one person than they are probably more trustworthy than a not so consistent and dependable source.

My question to you is: What, in our human nature, attracts us so much to gossip and the drama of others? Why must we obsess over other people's lives when we have our own to live?

Humility.

After reading the Philosophy Toolkit, the topic of Intellectual Virtues made me think. Number five is titled "Intellectual Humility" and states that "one must have preparedness to acknowledge one's ignorance or error and proceed with inquiry." However, it is not by any means easy for a human being to admit his or her own faults. It seems as though it is in our human nature to always be right. We do not like to acknowledge our mistakes. No human being is perfect so why is humility so hard to come by? The definition of humility is the "quality or condition of being humble, modest, and respectful of others." On the contrary, we live our lives everyday witnessing arogence, disrepct and an abundance of pride. It seems as though the majority of human beings do not understand the concept of humility. There is a difference between confidence and cockiness.

We learn from our mistakes, we learn from other people, so why must we disrespect those we don't know? Why do our egos get in the way of reaching our full potential and learning from others? We need to admit we are wrong when indeed we are wrong. We don't know everything and anything can change within a blink of an eye. We aren't always right and we are rarely modest of what we are right about. The only way to learn is to acknowledge our mistakes and move forward but, in general, we can never believe other people on concepts we think we know everything about. If we dwell on what we think we know, we can never advance.

My question to you is: In general, why are humans so reluctant to admit to our mistakes when we know only good can come out of it?