4.                           Writing Criteria

Introduction

A. The Neutral Point of View

B. The “Book” of Nature

C. Worldview Benchmarks

D. Working Compass

E. Concerning Religious Beliefs

Introduction

Writing perfectly impartial concerning topics that depend in part on the writer’s point of view is impossible because no matter how much the author tries, he cannot escape his mind-forming biography. However, the writer can strive toward this ideal by carefully choosing the sources of his facts and applying them with intellectual rigor and honesty. Below, the “Neutral Point of View” is the ideal, “The ‘Book’ of Nature” is the most original and authoritative source for facts, the “Worldview Benchmarks” provide criteria, and the “Working Compass” guided the writing process from the beginning.     

A.                          The Neutral Point of View

The neutral viewpoint requires that all writing should be composed without bias so that it can offer views fairly. This is a prerequisite if we desire that both advocates and opponents of a view can agree on the truth or falsity of statements that form the basis for reasoned discussions (also see the Rules for Reasoned Discussions). Of course, agreement is a matter of degree because the truth or falsity of a statement about the real world is a matter of degree (see in Knowledge as Justified True Belief). It follows that even rational people can differ on particular matters because they all see it through the lenses of their experiences. Even encyclopedia articles are not free from bias. For instance, the free encyclopedia Wikipedia has a built-in bias on account of the demographic make-up of its writers who are mainly “computer-literate white-collar North Americans and Europeans.” Jimbo Wales, a co-founder of the noted encyclopedia, correctly suggests one way of overcoming bias and how to achieve the neutral point of view. He states:

. . . [it] is to write about what people believe, rather than what is so. If this strikes you as somewhat subjectivist or collectivist or imperialist . . . I think that you are just mistaken. What people believe is a matter of objective fact, and we can present that quite easily from the neutral point of view.

For instance, there is much disagreement concerning matters of religious beliefs as the bloody history of religiously motivated wars has demonstrated. We should accept religious beliefs as objectively existing mind states, and evaluate or know them “by their fruits” rather than by their theoretical or theological correctness. At least with respect to religion, this work has taken seriously that what people believe subjectively can be studied objectively.

B.                               The "Book" of Nature

               Nature is Humanity's Only Original and Trustworthy Text

                                All Others are Imperfect Interpretations

Although at times difficult to read, the study of nature, through the natural, social, and pure sciences, has led to breathtaking discoveries that vastly improved the quality of life for many while immensely satisfying our curiosity to know. Hence, it is astonishing that the mostly trivial books of men receive so much attention while nature, the book of books, the alpha and omega of facts and data, is neglected by most.

                                                                                           This writer

1. Enormous physical and mental suffering continues because, hungry for explanation but scientifically illiterate and superstitious, our ancestors misinterpreted The "Book" of Nature. Thus, many millions have, and billions more, will perish before their time and often after an unnecessary docile and paltry life. This ancient blunder is still with us and consists of falsely proclaiming conditions, such as suffering, social injustice, and the inferior status of women, as "permanent and divinely ordained" when they were actually contingent, transitory developments of evolution and history.

     A thousand years of medical, technological and cultural progress was lost to ignorance-- the absence of enlightenment--during much of the Middle Ages (a notable exception was the Islamic Golden Age, 8^th to 14^th century, see The Origins of Western Civilization). The wretched life of the many was accepted as divinely ordered punishment not to be tampered with. Religious ignorance blamed these innocent victims for their misery on account of an inherited "original sin" in the West and on a prior-life, self-inflicted bad "Karma" in the East. These Western and Eastern myths pacified the underprivileged with promises for a better next life, and they justified the exploited many in the eyes of the oppressing few. Needless to say, these myths protected the few who kept the many in material and mental servitude. Like fictitious stories excused the destruction of the Greco-Roman culture and ushered in the in large part dark Middle Ages whose ideology, though tempered by the Enlightenment, is still with us.

2. Tremendous material and civilizing benefits were achieved in the modern age when independent thinkers begun to correctly read The "Book" of Nature. It started in the 17th century with Galileo who initiated today's science that would through technology and engineering drastically improve the material condition. And the barbarity of the Middle Ages was further reduced in the 18th century with the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment. They demanded a better life here and now for all thru humanitarian political goals and social progress while relying on reason and experience rather than dogma and tradition. As a consequence, the average person in the industrialized world has today a better quality of life and lives much longer than the rich and powerful elite throughout most of history.

3. To achieve the benefits of modernity for all, universal education must include a mind-enabling education grounded in correctly reading and interpreting The "Book" of Nature; thus, higher learning can become a force for beneficial social change. This reading and interpreting of nature is already done by the sciences when they observe and then reason what follows from those observations. The UN: Global Human Rights Norms and most of the other chapters of this work are the conclusions of drawing rational inferences from observed facts.  The objective is to promote freedom and well being because they are basic values from which all other values and actions may be derived.

      Higher learning, which includes the world-wide unifying sub-culture of science, is too isolated from universal education. Hence, the many are deprived of the benefits that come with such an education and their thinking and actions are still grounded in pre-scientific and pre-Enlightenment assumptions. The politically and religiously powerful in most countries resist change so they can maintain social control in their favor that is usually detrimental to the large majority. If we continue to deprive the many of a mind-enabling education, future generations will condemn us for having the means but not the will to do away with the enormous physical and mental suffering still with us.

4. A reality based modern and moral worldview—an integrated view of existence that forms as an anchor for all thoughts, knowledge, and actions--can be formed when The "Book" of Nature is read correctly. Such a worldview is indispensable for creating a personal best-life philosophy and plausible ultimate belief. With such a life stance, individuals can be independent thinkers who form their own views. Thus, they will be self-directed citizens who are indispensable to a functioning democracy.

C.                                Worldview Benchmarks

                   Criteria for Evaluating a Modern and Moral Worldview

                                   Grounded in a  World-Class Education

. . . a worldview is an intellectual construction which solves all the problems of our existence uniformly on the basis of one overriding hypothesis, which, accordingly, leaves no question unanswered and in which that interests us finds its fixed place. . . . a worldview of this kind is among the ideal wishes of human beings. Believing in it one can feel secure in life, one can know what to strive for, and one can deal most expediently with one’s emotions and interests (New Introductory Lectures in Psycho Analysis). 

                                                     Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

Nothing is more dangerous than a dogmatic worldview - nothing more constraining, more blinding to innovation, more destructive of openness to novelty.

                                                Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002)

[As] Creatures of a very particular making, we need to know the cultural blinders that narrow our world view as well as the psychological blinders that narrow our view of our personal experience.

                                                           Christina Baldwin

To suffice, a worldview must be an all-encompassing framework of orientation and devotion used for living in the world and with answers to a wide range of relevant questions. Its account of the universe and humanity’s relation to it should be based on empirical evidence as presented by the continuous chain of evolutionary and historical events that started with the Big Bang. These events eventually produced the big human brain and its crowning product, the morally and intellectually civilized human mind. A worldview should be intellectually complete and psychologically compelling.

To be intelligible, a worldview must focus on its central explanatory objectives and avoid distracting details. Thus, the worldview, though it should repeat crucial info, must be a concise, unified account that is clear in exposition, neutral to the extent possible, and objective in viewpoint. To be concise, it must use brief quotations, maxims, aphorisms, etc., that express general truths, principles, or rules of conduct succinctly. They must be based on experience "the universal mother of sciences."

To make connections, a worldview must be set forth as one long deductive argument that is macroscopically sectioned but with parts sufficiently detailed. Hence, its parts must describe origins, developments over time, and how parts relate organically to the larger whole.

To be modern and trustworthy, a worldview must be derived from the best available unbiased sources because interdependent social beings owe each other nothing but Knowledge as Justified True Belief. The sciences and philosophy offer such information. Moreover, scientific knowledge is widely accepted as correct and being independent of motivation.

To be moral and embrace verifiable moral knowledge, a worldview must offer a standard of conduct. This standard must be inter-subjectively—persons agreeing on their subjective findings--acquired, be objective, verifiable, and generally suitable as a reliable guide for human life. Therefore, a standard can be neither a mysterious, intellectual abstraction nor the self-serving code of a society or an institution. Moreover, these societies and institutions can then be evaluated by such an inter-subjectively acquired universal criteria rather than their often self-serving code.

To bridge the gap between the writer and his work, the author should include his personal perspective and background (see Author's Perspective and Author’s Bio).

D.                                   Working Compass

Introduction

This part informs the reader about the ingredients or concepts that go into a world-class education organized within a worldview and how such a view is composed. It was the author’s initial compass or working hypothesis. Depending on the reader’s background, some terms are probably not readily understood, but most will be explained in sufficient detail in the text. Reading this part again after or while studying the text, should be an indicator how well the text was absorbed.  

Working Compass

                  A Rational and Moral Mind Integrates the Means Provided By

          1. Basic Assumptions   2. Science   3. Philosophy   4. Intellectual Honesty

                              To Form a Modern and Moral Worldview

A mind is rational when it thinks critically and argues soundly: It draws valid inferences from true or plausible information. Here, it applies two primary methods for connecting different disciplines and levels of explanation. A. Reduction or analysis, the dissecting of difficult, abstract concepts into simpler parts which then can be separately understood. B. Consilience or synthesis, the building up of summarizing concepts from simpler parts of relevant disciplines that together form then a comprehensive worldview.    

A mind is moral when it has the noblest qualities human beings are capable of. These traits urge us to advance for their own sake what is true, good, and beautiful while opposing what is false, bad and ugly. We do what is right for it is the right thing to do.

1. Basic Assumptions

Believed to be plausible, they are required to avoid infinite regress.

a.    The "Book" of Nature is the only original and trustworthy source for scientific, philosophical, religious, etc., writing. All others, including this one, are flawed interpretations that should be read with skepticism.

b.    Independent of our Awareness, there exists a structured and connected world that follows observed regularities and even if only in a statistical sense. It is at least in part recognizable and comprehensible through the senses. 

c.    Freedom and Well Being are basic values from which all other values/principles may be derived.

d.    Justice Demands: A. The just distribution of benefits and burdens in society. It is achieved if and only if individuals actually get what they deserve. B. Individuals should be treated the same, unless they differ in ways that are relevant to the situation in which they are involved.

e.    Patriotism is simply to keep one's country right where right, and to put it right where not.

f.     One Who Knows What is Right acts "as if" guided by or "as if" responsible to an ideal or entity that evaluates actions with a perfect, moral and rational awareness.

g.    Human Development proceeds on a tripartite path. Nature (biology), nurture (culture), and learning (informed acquisition of knowledge). What makes us distinctly human is the mind, that is, a large brain programmed by nature, culture, and the individual. 

2. Science

Achievements:

a.    The best accredited provider of knowledge.

b.    A unifying human progress.

c.    A functioning international subculture.

Objectives:

a.    The pursuit of truth

b.    To limit areas of human tragedy

Methodology:

Science is open ended, that is, it is non-dogmatic. As new data is obtained, older knowledge is revised or replaced.

Branches:

a. Natural, social, and behavioral sciences

b. Pure sciences: Logic, Mathematics

Facilitates:

The unity of knowledge and ethics, as well as a rational ultimate belief for it studies one all-inclusive reality.

3. Philosophy

In particular its three major branches and primary applications:

a.    Ethics: Setting and evaluating standards of moral conduct: personal, interpersonal, in law, in politics, in religions, and in economics.

b.    Epistemology asks: What is knowledge? What do we know? What can we know? How do we know?

c.    Logic asks: What follows from what? It conveys rational thinking skills.

Primary applications

Philosophy of almost everything: Mind, Education, Science, Religion, Law (Jurisprudence), Politics, Theology, Language, Literature, Psychology, History, Secular Humanism.

Less important are:

Aesthetics, it asks: What is beautiful? What is art? Common factors are found in subjective answers.

Metaphysics is now obsolete for its questions have been answered by the sciences. Today, metaphysics means whatever meaning an author gives it; hence, its lasting popularity.

4. Intellectual Honesty

Demands that We:

a.    Grant reason, facts, and scientific research free play.

b.    Expose self-serving ideologies and rationalizations.

c.    Consider origins, development over time, and how things are connected to the larger whole.

d.    Consider opposing points of view and alternatives. Ask what speaks for and against an issue.

e.    Speak out on harmful ideologies, for silence usually corrupts and spreads like a disease through the whole society.

f.     Synthesize all major subjects for deeper comprehension.

g.    Cannot rationally take refuge in faith or hope for subjective certainty and mystical enlightenment which is private to each mediator.

Demands that We Stop:

a.    Deception by the self and by others.

b.    Fallacious reasoning.

c.    Destructive escapes from reality.

d.    Coercion: One has a choice, but no matter what one chooses, one loses.

e.    Pre-scientific guesses

f.     Deceptive dichotomies, hegemonies, exegetics, and metaphysics.

g.    Disabling assumptions and learned helplessness.

h.    Blaming the victims and praising the perpetrators.

i.     Accepting fortuitous historical conditions as permanent divinely ordained.

j.     The imprisonment of independent thought by religious and political powers.

E.                             Concerning Religious Beliefs