Ideas Have Consequences

Recently I had a conversation with my “philosopher friend” about the nature of the mind. In an attempt to understand his angle of observation and perception of reality, I asked him a few questions related to the topic. I stated that by answering my inquiries he will help me to understand his foundational thinking and to build a framework to comprehending where he is coming from. In his response he mentioned that I had spoken of the “foundational thought and framework” in the past and wondered if I could describe a little of what I mean by them. The following was my response.

A frame-work is developed at every level of understanding. But in order to do this you must first understand the foundational thought that supports this frame work. Frame-work can be defined as, “A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality (Some people refer to this a presuppositional thinking).” Once a frame work is adopted by an individual, it will have consequences (good and bad if you will) for that individual because it will grow into the way they live on a practical level.

Every philosophical idea and thought has seed ideas or assumptions that drive it. It is important to understand the basic assumptions of a philosophy in order to really grasp the philosophy itself.

The ability to understand a new language requires an individual to develop a framework for comprehending the new sounds and their arrangements. When I studied Greek we began with learning the alphabet and then moved to the sounds the letters made. From there we began to understand the different forms and tense of the language. Once we had a basic grasp of this we started to study how the various words were formed and their definitions. We started at the foundation and then built a “framework” for comprehending the language. This is one of the best ways to understand any idea or concept.

My favorite way to describe this is more like a spider web catching the ideas and understanding them in relationship to the structure of the web that exists.

If I want to understand Islam I would not begin by studying the practice and every day life of the Muslim people group. I would start with the foundational assumptions of the people. From there I would seek understanding of how these assumptions are fulfilled or how they play out in every day life. Eventually the observation stage would occur but not before I have a grasp on the foundation and framework behind the culture.

I find that many times we jump into to teaching “practical living” techniques with out properly establishing or shaping the foundation of why we do this or believe that. I found myself doing this to a great extent as I worked with teens and young adults a few years ago. There seemed to be very little retention or life change as a result of the practical life steps I was recommending. What I realized is that individuals have already developed a framework and group of assumptions that were driving their actions and ideas. There are millions of philosophies that students encounter as they grow up into the world around them. Many of these philosophies are integrated into the way individuals live and think. This “natural” framework will often contradict or at least conflict with new ideas that are introduced on a practical level. In order for someone to fully understand and integrate ideas into their life on the practical level they must first adopt new beliefs and assumptions on a foundational level.

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For an individual to live a healthy and productive (not necessarily task or goal centered) life, one must seek understanding of foundational concepts. Foundational concepts are found in these four questions:

1. Origin - Where did I come from?

2. Meaning - What gives life meaning?

3. Morality - How do I determine right from wrong

4. Destiny - What is the "End" of life? (Purpose, focus, or Goal)

After you have answered these questions you must then measure them against the following:

a. Logical Consistency -

b. Empirical adequacy -

c. Experiential Relevance –

- The ideas above are not mine but rather drawn from a person I conceder a mentor even though I have never met him.

These concepts or ideas have natural consequences for the individual. For example, if someone determines that the universe only exists as a result of chance they must also assume that life has occurred by chance. Therefore they must conclude that if their life is the result of chance it can have no ultimate purpose. If an individual answers the questions as their life has no ultimate purpose then this will determine that there is no true meaning for their life (or that they themselves are the only reason for life and this individual will become narcissistic). The determination of the meaning question will result in a corresponding morality which in the given situation is usually self-serving. The destiny question is linked to the origin question in that, if the beginning was the result of random chance then the end can not be determined or stopped and will end in chaos. In this scenario there is no hope for improvement or a better world and in the end there is only death.

An example of a life that reflects this concept would be Adolf Hitler. Hitler was a man that was disciple of Nietzsche and the Death of God movement. The concepts that Nietzsche asserted were lived out in the life of Hitler. At the foundational level he divorced himself from the concept of God and this resulted in a narcissistic center for moral judgment. In turn Hitler created one of the darkest stains on human history that has ever occurred.

This is one extreme example of how important frame work development is. I believe that in our hearts we are all bent to do what is dark and evil. If we do not answer these questions (which are questions I believe all people ask at some level and should ask) with accuracy they we will find ourselves guided by our passions, lusts, and instincts. In the end all that will separate us from animals is that we can think about the evil that we produce and invent new ways to do evil.

Follow Up:

Can you think of any foundational ideas that have resulted in profound or devastating events?

What was the progression of this seed thought to its devastating end?

Deep Thoughts on a Real Life Level

Can you be an intellectual and be a real person?



I have lived in a university environment for a long time now. In fact it is going on 10 years. Honestly I love the intellectual energy and stimulation of university life and if it were up to me, I will always live close to a university. Now my wife has me beat. Her record for living amongst the “intellectuals” is closer to…, well let’s just say her whole life.

While living here, I have discovered or encountered rather, many different types of people. Personalities ranging from the intellectual hermit (who never strays into the real world) to the intellectually deprived “Frisbee Guy” (that never reads, never studies and by second semester very one is asking “hey where is that one guy, you know the one with the Frisbee).”

But forget Mr. Frisbee for a moment. I would like to pose a question. Can an intellectual be a real person? My fear is that in some way as I soak in the world where ideas are thought, that I will some how loose touch with reality. I am afraid that as I learn and grow the knowledge I gain will never make its way into the world that truly exists or at least that it would have no right or claim to reside there in. What if when I am away from my study and I visit Wal-Mart I will or have begun to forget how to love, care, and focus on the people in the real world (the ones who all my study was for in the first place).

I am afraid of becoming the intellectual who strays into the real world and does not realize he has nothing in common with it.

But that doesn’t happen, does it?

Oh yes. After living so long in this setting I have seen this happen over and over. Yester day I was reading the blog of someone who was an acquaintance of mine while I was an under graduate student. He is wrapping up his masters and doctoral work while I am still in the planning stages of mine and wrapping up my kids in their diapers. As I read his logs I found myself disheartened and some what jealous that I have not been able to continue in my schooling at this point and yet I noticed a since of frustration and disconnect building in me as I read. Was it good writing? Absolutely! Were the thoughts consistent and mature? Beyond a doubt! But what I noticed was that this individual had separated himself from the practical, measurable, average, and seemingly mundane “real world”. I found myself saying “great thoughts, but where are you?” “What do your ideas mean to the Hindu, existentialist, or the agnostic” of the real world?

I believe that this is were many “intellectuals” end up. Whether it is good or bad I can not say. But I can ask, what is the goal behind what we do? What is the purpose? Is it possible that we get so caught up in attaining the knowledge that somewhere along the way we forget what our focus is and begin focusing on the knowledge itself? I assert that knowledge for the purpose of knowledge is useless, knowledge for the purpose of others is wisdom, and knowledge for the purposes of God is worship.


Follow up questions:

Is it the base personality that drives some one to become an intellectual hermit or is it the intellectual study itself?

Is it possible to avoided the disconnect between the real world and the intellectual world? Is there a possible merging of the two?

Today’s Reflection

Today I watched a short clip on a video game that allows the player to populate and subdue the earth (Land, and Sea) and then the stars as well. This game is limited only to human imagination. It is an economic and society based game that begins with and evolutionary process rather than creation but the goal in the end is to expand the territory and property of a society or world. There are a variety of means through which this is done which are: Warfare, Delegation, Economic, Population…

As is I watched this video, it ignited my imagination and I began to ponder the following question, “Where does man’s drive to achieve, learn, grow, develop, overcome, and conquer or possess come from?” Wherever I turn I can see this drive being perused and fulfilled in all functions of society and at every level. This appears to be a theme of life. So why are we so bent on the pursuit of more and is this an evil or noble desire?

The Sixth Day

In Genesis 1:26-31 we learn that God’s first mandate for man (after humanity was blessed by God) was to populate the earth and rule over it. This is an amazing charge. God had blessed man with the capacity to expand himself and grow a human society. Man was not only called to be an explorer he was called to be the developer and ruler of the earth. These roles are noble and good as God’s mandate for humanity. With that said I believe that this answers the riddle to some extent.

The word “populate” implies that God’s vision is not just a charge for Adam or for a single individual but instead it is a corporate charge for all humanity. We have observed throughout history individuals bent on ruling the world, conquering and trying to actually subdue humanity. Notice that the phrase God uses includes every animal, all plants and land but it does not say rule over one another. I believe the reason for this is that man was not intended for such a role. The headship or ruler of humanity was intended to be God Himself. I am not claiming that there is not a need for government or leadership but what I am saying is that humanity was originally designed to have God as the authority (But this is a discussion for another time).

The Problem of Babel

According to this story, several hundred years after the creation event the population of the earth had grown extensively and decided to settle into one area. As they did this they began to devise a plan of building a great city with an enormous tower. This in itself is not a problem but as anything else it is the motivation behind the action that causes the action to be good or bad. In Genesis 11:3-4, we learn that the driving force behind this action was two fold. First of all they wanted to make a name for themselves and secondly they wanted to “not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” This is where we begin to see what is wrong with the plan, it was flawed at the foundational level. If a building (or city in this case) is begun with a flaw in the foundation then the building itself will be flawed and instable.

When the heart or foundation of an idea starts with Man as the focus it is flawed. In the garden God was the starting point and the foundation of all things. Humanity was separated from God in the fall and from then on began exalting himself to a place of authority and glory instead of God. This is exactly what happened in Babel, we see that man has devised a plan to cause all people of the earth to look at them instead of God. Secondly, this group planned to gather into one place rather than populate the earth and rule over it.

As a result of these two decisions God chose to separate the people rather than allow them to continue communication.

Genesis 11:5-7

5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

God has gifted us with the capacity to learn, grow, change ourselves and the world around us. However, as long as our motivation is self interested we will never be able to fulfill Gods original mandate for us. We were created with the drive to fulfill this directive on earth but possibly even further maybe into the stars. In a video game we are only limited to our imagination but in reality, if our lives surrendered to God, we are only limited to God’s. And Gods imagination is limitless and borderless.

Topics for another time:

The Role Imagination or Dreaming in the pursuit of Dominion

The Role of Technology in the pursuit of Dominion – Tool Formation

Dominion or Invasion (The Desire to Conquer)

Reflecting on Life Purpose (First Draft)

On Sunday mornings I lead an edgy (or at least wanna be edgy) worship service at our local church. At some point during these gatherings we have a small group discussion time where individuals have the opportunity for greater community development and relational interaction. One particular Sunday a few weeks back I asked a question about “life purpose”. As part of this intro I asserted that individuals who have no connection to God have no life purpose.

As a result of this statement I seemed to stir the minds of the group and what is more interesting I seemed to touch the emotions, nerve, and intrude upon the opinion of several individuals. When this happened I had the attention of the individuals who were stepped upon as well as the rest of the group who felt the energy exuding from those individuals. Their claims were that people live lives of purpose every day with out knowing God. They said that people use work, children, passion, study and a variety of other things to fill their lives with purpose every day.

I would agree with this statement but would call this an example of a life filled with obligation and duty but lacking purpose and meaning. The term purpose in its truest sense implies fulfilling the design for which something was made. For an individual to find purpose the individual must first understand why they are here. This is a question that is raised by all people at various stages of their life. An individual can have things to do in life and even have direction in their life but this does not mean that they are fulfilling their life purpose. Ultimately life purpose can never be derived from “self” as the center. It is your task to discover why you are here but it is never your task to assign purpose to yourself.

Purpose comes from the outside.

When it comes to the design of a tool a designer never says, “hmm, hey look at this THING it would be great as a shovel or a hammer or a hair brush" (Not that these things are synonymous). The designer never starts with the tool and assigns purpose after it has been created; he starts with the idea of a need or a purpose for the tool and then creates a design that will best suit the purpose. Once the plan has been laid and the tool has been created it has a reason for being, not as a thing but as a tool. The tool can never say to “itself I would like to be this or that” or “I am this or that”. The tool can only be what it was made to be. A hammer would never do as a screw driver just as a screw driver would make an awful hammer. Now you may say, “I have used a screw driver as a hammer” but you will never claim that it worked great nor clam that it was better than a hammer. The designed purpose for the tool is always the best fit.

Humans are not mindless tools but we often try to do things that we were never intended to do. Or rather do things that are outside of our purpose. Also, like tools we can not assign our own purpose or give our own life meaning. Purpose comes from outside of us and is assigned according to a plan. If we try to assign our own purpose we realize that life ultimately has no meaning and no ultimate fulfillment. If we assign our own purpose we learn that we are the centre of life and the beginning of our life and that Death end. This is exactly the path and philosophy which naturalism has caused our world to believe. Naturalism in its essence claims that there is only the physical universe and that there is nothing outside of it.

Origin and Eternity

We come to an understanding of our purpose by asking and answering three questions, which are as follows: 1.Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? It is imperative that we understand the first and the last question to understand the middle question “Why am I here?”

The first place an individual looks when trying to derive meaning or make since of life is “origin” The idea of origin manifests itself in the first question, “Where did I come from?” If this question is answered accurately then an individual should be able to move on the destiny question which is “Where am I going?” If the origin question is answered with an understanding of purpose and design the individual will be able to understand the purpose and design of destiny and eternity. But if the origin question is answered with randomness, chance, and chaos then the destiny question will be answered with the same conclusion. Embedded within these two answers is the answer to the purpose question. If we are to understand life as having purpose then we must understand purpose in the first cause or origin. Like wise in understanding that there is eternity rather than death we ca understand that there is no end.

For a long time in the Western context, naturalism has dictated the understanding of reality. What I mean by this is that if naturalism is the ruler by which we measure reality, we understand or view the universe as defined by the parameters and rules that govern naturalistic philosophy. Naturalism says that the origin of the universe was chance. Therefore by this parameter we have to then say that all life is chance. If all life is chance then human life is chance and as chance it has no design or purpose.

With an origin based on chance, humanity can not answer the question of purpose. However, if he tries he has to come to the conclusion that the only role he has to play in life is the role that he chooses for himself. Once again I might add that purpose can not be assigned to self it is something that is derived from a design or plan. So even in a human attempt to infuse purpose into his life the reality is that at best life is random combination of often contradictory objectives which have no unity or coherency for the individual. With that said asking the question “what am I here for?” is futile. Naturalism give humanity has no reason for being. If the end of all things is only death and chaos then we can draw no meaning from the ends or the question of destiny.