A Problem of Perception
How you choose to look at the world around you plays an almost unimaginable factor in what you see, and how you make sense of it. We stop so seldom to think about this though, assuming that what we see in the world around us and how we explain it is the way it really is. Reality is not subjective, despite how desperately post-moderns would like it to be. Reality is objective. Perception is subjective. While some would argue that if you perceive subjectively, you might as well say that reality is subjective as well, but this crosses dangerous lines practically and logically, and ultimately accomplishes what the more radical fringes of post-modernism seem to aim for - the final dissolution of any sort of meaningful communication. If you and I both admit there is a reality which we may see differently, we can attempt to communicate about that reality with some reasonable chance of success (frustration notwithstanding). However, if we assert that our realities are different and separate and unique, then communication truly becomes impossible, since neither one can ever glimpse inside the reality of the other.
That being said, I don't tend to hold water with those who insist that lefties are abnormal.
As I read the article, I hear this. Lefties are a very definite numerical minority. Therefore, lefty-ism is not normal, or there would be more of them - at least 50-50 in the population. But there isn't, so they aren't normal. Which means they should have been bred out of existence over time. The only way that they survived was because they were sneaky or held some sort of edge in combat or other sorts of confrontational situations. But they really shouldn't be here at all.
Of course the article isn't advocating to exterminate lefties. But it wouldn't be inconceivable for someone else to read this article and take that next step. Our society is geared for righties. Lefties don't fit in. It would be more efficient if there were no lefties. This sort of argument becomes possible because lefty-ism is no longer something that simply is, but something that needs to be explained. That process of explaining, of trying to ascertain a why, includes with it the possibility for negative judgment against them. What if lefties were deemed more prone to be "sinister" than righties? Maybe lefties are more inclined to be bad folks. The logic continues to spiral down from there. Substitute pretty much any other numerical minority and the logic continues to hold.
If we assume that numerical superiority creates a norm, then we quickly find ourselves bogged down in some very ugly ethical and moral issues. If we assume that anything that occurs less frequently is an anomaly, an aberration, an evolutionary fluke, then we can very quickly jump erroneously to some deductions about whether or not that is a good thing or not. We quit being observers of a situation, and start becoming implementers of a supposed solution to a problem that doesn't necessarily exist.
Don't believe that we would be so crass? Think again.
Ultrasounds and developing technologies allow parents to learn about their child before that child is born. Some tests are able to test for signs of any sort of genetic minority condition. Science has defined what normal is, and so we can determine when a child doesn't match that template exactly. Then parents are presented with a decision to act on that information. Rather than observing that a child will be born different from the norm, they take life and death into their hands and decide if they really should continue the pregnancy, or if they should abort it.
Your unborn child appears to have Downs Syndrome. They aren't likely to have a very happy life - and it will be very hard for you as their parents. Are you sure you wouldn't like to abort?
The implications of this line of reasoning are somewhat disguised, since this is treated by our culture as a private issue for the parents, and it's not widely talked about. But it lays the foundation for action to be taken once the child is born. Once the child is 5-weeks old, or 5-years old. The logic is the same. The template has been created, and anyone or anything that doesn't match the template had better provide a pretty good reason why they should be allowed to continue taking up resources, or a decision will be made, and soon they won't be.
Perception is powerful.
Posted by Paul Nelson at 3/3/2009 1:49 PM 
Categories: Science, Theology, Life, Philosophy, Apologetics
Categories: Science, Theology, Life, Philosophy, Apologetics
OK, I was reading this at least two paragraphs in before realizing that you were talking about the dominant hand, not political ideology.
Don't mind me.
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Well crap. *Now* you tell me not to mind you. Now you know the importance of the links that I include! But, it's nice to know someone else visits this place every now and then!
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