{"id":31487,"date":"2023-03-01T21:25:18","date_gmt":"2023-03-02T05:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=31487"},"modified":"2023-03-01T21:25:18","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T05:25:18","slug":"jesus-said-do-not-judge-science-says-we-kind-of-suck-at-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/jesus-said-do-not-judge-science-says-we-kind-of-suck-at-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus said, \u201cDo Not Judge\u2026\u201d, Science says, \u201cWe Kind of Suck at it.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniel Kahneman\u2019s, Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/em>, brings awareness to what is happening continually within the human brain and how it effects our judgements and perceptions. The brain is extremely efficient at processing and interpreting information rapidly, but Kahneman warns that its ability to process information quickly (system 1) can cause misjudgments and wrong associations if we’re not aware of its intuitive nature. Our quick judgements can be wrong.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always been intrigued by how the brain works. Yuval Noah Harari, in Sapiens<\/em>, mentioned that the human brain consumes 25 percent of the body\u2019s energy at rest, but only contributes to 2-3 percent of its body weight. The energy sent to our brains each day accounts for our constant analyzing of everything.[2]<\/a> Did I send that email? What did they mean by that? Is this turkey sandwich still good? \u00a0What\u2019s the meaning of life? Our awareness and capacity to reason must be one of the characteristics that supports Genesis\u2019 claim of humanity being \u201cmade in God\u2019s image.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our brain also causes us to do a host of things we\u2019re oblivious too!<\/p>\n

Kahneman\u2019s book, argues that our brain\u2019s ability to process information quickly and automatically can lead to error if we are not careful. \u201cHuman error\u201d is a dominant theme surfacing in our readings for this program. Tom and David Chivers in \u201cHow to Read Numbers,\u201d give us good reason to keep a healthy suspicion with stats in the news and media. [3]<\/a> Kathryn Schultz humbles us all by giving multiple cases of human fallacies throughout history in \u201cBeing Wrong\u201d. Land and Meyers, in our reading on “threshold concepts”, explores the idea that new arenas of understanding are always available for us to cross. We never seem to \u201carrive\u201d. [4]<\/a><\/p>\n

This must be one of the many reasons Jesus said, \u201cDo not judge…\u201d especially when it comes to people\u2019s actions and motives. We suck at it because of our limited perceptions.<\/p>\n

It would be arrogant for any of us to think we are not missing something, even something big, at the moment in any area: biology, religion, relationships, science, etc.. History has proven human\u2019s propensity for error time and time again. In the book mentioned earlier by Katheryn Schultz, Being Wrong<\/em>, there is \u201cno guarantee that we aren\u2019t as wrong about a basic perception right now as most people were for most of history about the nature of the night sky.\u201d [5]<\/a> (57)<\/p>\n

At this point in the journey of my NPO I am attempting to help build a bridge between local churches in my area and higher education regarding the Bible. Many within my faith community, like me, were taught the Bible from a certain perspective which created unnecessary tension down the road. However, many of these ideas have been challenged and reexamined in seminaries and universities through higher criticism over the last two hundred years. These discussions do have moral, political, economic, and theological implications, so they are viewed as a threat for many in my area.<\/p>\n

The goal is not to prioritize one view over another but legitimize this method of biblical interpretation in more faith communities for the sake of integrity to best discern the book that holds so much influence in our communities. The aim is also to create better relationships and conversations between people who do not see eye to eye on major issues.<\/p>\n

Kahneman notes how automatically we reject, or mis categorize information that is foreign, complex, or uncomfortable. I\u2019ve observed and experienced educators in academia devalue the transformational experiences and worldviews of those within local churches. Spiritual experiences can quickly be associated with superstition, delusion, or primitive thinking. I\u2019ve also observed Christian leaders, missionaries, and congregation members disregard valuable discussions and information within higher education. \u00a0Automatically categorizing this much needed information as dangerous, secular, or compromising. There are automatic responses and judgments on both sides.<\/p>\n

This is not just about who is right or wrong. It is about listening to others for the sake of growth and integrity. No matter how uncomfortable it is. Johnathan Haidt, in The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion<\/em>, agrees with Kahneman in that \u201cintuitions come first, strategic reasoning second<\/em>.\u201d He gives an illustration of how the brain works with morality. We \u201cfeel\u201d something is right or wrong first in the subconscious (system 1), due to multiple influences, a lot of it likely social conditioning, then our logical mind (system 2) comes along with reasons for why it is right or wrong. [6]<\/a><\/p>\n

Here is an example from my church growing up. Women wearing pants at church is wrong! (System 1) Reason 1, Reason 2, and Reason 3 of why it is wrong! (System 2)<\/p>\n

He compares our brains to lawyers who are given a case first, then<\/em> they search for evidence to support it, regardless of right or wrong. He also argues that IQ does not determine accurate judgements or discernment. It more determines how well a person can argue what they already <\/em>hold as true, not so much the reality of what is true. Once again, these are all humbling ideas.<\/p>\n

What is the best strategy in perceiving reality after reading all these books about how much we don\u2019t\u2019 know!? Throw our hands up and say, \u201cGuess we will never figure it all out!\u201d Hopefully not. I think that approach keeps us lazy (As Daniel mentions), lacks curiosity, and keeps us stagnant during times when innovation is needed. I think we do our best to articulate what we hold as true and keep putting ourselves around people and ideas that are different than our own. Then we listen, keep an open mind, and try our best to engage system 2.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/em>. 1st pbk. ed. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Harari, Yuval N. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind<\/em>. First U.S. edition. New York: Harper, 2015), 9.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Chivers, Tom, and David Chivers. How to Read Numbers: A Guide to Statistics in the News (and Knowing When to Trust Them)<\/em>. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2021.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Land, Ray, Jan H. F. Meyer, and Michael T. Flanagan, eds. Threshold Concepts in Practice<\/em>. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers, 2016.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Schulz, Kathryn, Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error<\/em>, (New York: Ecco, 2011), 57.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Haidt, Jonathan, ed. The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion<\/em>. (Vintage books ed. New York: Vintage Books, 2013).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Daniel Kahneman\u2019s, Thinking, Fast and Slow, brings awareness to what is happening continually within the human brain and how it effects our judgements and perceptions. The brain is extremely efficient at processing and interpreting information rapidly, but Kahneman warns that its ability to process information quickly (system 1) can cause misjudgments and wrong associations if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2421,1221,2663,2053],"class_list":["post-31487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-daniel-kahneman","tag-jonathan-haidt","tag-judgement","tag-thinking-fast-and-slow","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31487"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31488,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31487\/revisions\/31488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}