Truth Driven Thinking Forum

[RPS]

I enjoy your podcasts and appreciates what you are accomplishing in the area of "Truth Driven Thinking". This post is just in response to what I took as a misinterpretation of Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Jefferson was a genius and wrote in ways that often prove to be
timeless. I think you sold him a little short. I think his words can be interpreted to provide great guidance at this time. Created/Creator is just deism and poetry meaning we came about somehow. Created equal does not mean created identically, created as clones, or even created with equal potential. Obviously people have differences in regard to potential height, weight, intelligence, and other matters. (Diversity is critical to evolution.) But somehow we're at the core "equal". How can one understand that?

There is no guarantee as to what specific characteristics may help or hinder an individual in any given time and place. Being tall may be an advantage in some environments and a disadvantage in others. Similarly Einstein's brain functioning might not have been to his advantage in some circumstances, time periods and cultures. The key is that we have different traits and these traits should not be classified as greater or less than. You can't say a group is better because they are taller, lighter, smarter, faster, or whatever. Survival-wise everything has costs to go along with the benefits, the trade-offs between many characteristics will vary by environment. Surely some people will have traits that are a clear disadvantage, but still we assign them equal worth as individuals.

The key reason for talking about "created" and "equal" is later in the
sentence: the inalienable rights!!! We all have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We are equal in that we have the same rights!!! If your skin is a different color, if you are not as intelligent by some measure, if you are a female, if you are different from most people, if your eyes are blue, if you are low stress, you still have the same right as everyone else to life and liberty. Also everyone gets to pursue their own definition of happiness as they see fit (up to where they impinge on others rights). No guarantee (or expectation) that you will obtain happiness. Nor is there an expectation for you to obtain wealth, status, or self-esteem. But you have the liberty to pursue what you will, regardless of what anyone else thinks about it.

So every body gets to run the race they want. Life's races won't be
handicapped and the odds of winning any particular race will not be equal for most people. Some will have brains, looks, or connections etc. that help them accumulate wealth, power, education, friends, or status. But there are many other ways to achieve joy and have a meaningful life. Some people will be successful in many endeavors and others fail at most everything.

Again no guarantee of results but we guarantee to all: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We don't handicap people by calling them un-equal and deliberately stacking the game against them. Jefferson endorses a society with maximum liberty consistent with the rights of others. In this we all get to chart our own course but with it comes no safety belt of guaranteed results. (I.E. no slavery, no discrimination, equal opportunity, no victimless crimes.)
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RPS

[Steve Gibson]

Big fan of TJ, so let me clarify, because you are absolutely right. That said, I was not in any way meaning to attribute my interpretation of "created equal" to be his. The "boostraps heuristic" was the result of sociological, environmental, and cognitive influences under which I was raised, but that doesn't mean Jefferson actually intended that. Truly didn't mean to imply that. Was only stating what I thought I'd heard in his ideals--by way of the "bootstraps heuristic," and that I was wrong. Thanks for the clarification. Agree that the noble and worthy ideal of government, and Jefferson's intent, is equal rights to all, which we deliver pretty well from a legalistic sense. Sorry I was unclear on that.
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Steve Gibson,
Reforming emotion-driven thinker

[RPS]

You're far to humble Steve. I listen as I commute and probably was paying too much attention to traffic at some point in the podcast and honed it too much at another time.

I am working scattershot through your podcasts and am very impressed with what you are doing and how you do it. Best wishes and gratitude for your efforts.

RPS
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RPS