Description
Man is governed by beliefs. They are in some way always related to the sayings of experts, from scientists to religious leaders and economists. Despite hailing "good old times," there is the feeling that "the present knows, the past did not." It may be the way in such situations where a "truth" exists, e.g. apprehending the Earth as a globe and not a flat disk and stomach ulcer as caused by bacteria. It is more delicate in matters such as homosexuality, where the apprehension went from being the hailed Greek love, through sin and crime, then sickness and lately a variation of the normal.
Technology increases attrition on man as well as on the environment, making it crucial that the experts' advices are "right," as nature's correcting ability cannot always be relied upon. But experts can be wrong and have been dethroned. Likewise the content of moral is continuously subject to great variations. Remember the physicists' statements on the safety of nuclear reactors, the chemists' on spraying with pesticides, the physicians' on using the harmless sleeping pill thalidomide, the psychologists' on trusting witnesses, the economists' on the rating system. Yet without belief the world would be desolate and very little accomplished, but to change beliefs and perceptions is not an easy matter. This publication forms the first part of a "Discourse on beliefs and apprehensions," and treats some issues of particular concern in the West today and mostly those relevant to the formation of a united Europe and the increased communication - of people as well as information.
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