Philosophy Lesson: Post-Modern Era

I have a lot of things brewing in my head. A pile of work on my desk. And a paper that I should be writing.

But tonight I am giving you a philosophy lesson. Any of you that stop by to read this.

Many of you will skip this lesson and walk right past it. Honestly, I don’t blame you. I sat in class soaking this up today. It left my mind stirring the rest of the afternoon. If I can do that for you…If I can get your mind stirring…I have done my job.

Today, I am dealing with three time periods. Pre-Modern, Modern, and Post-Modern.

In the Pre-Modern time period humanity found all of their meaning in God and God alone. The reason for living, for breathing, for being was God. At this particular time in the world Catholics held much power both politically and socially. Religion was a party of everything.

In the Modern time period science entered the scene. Soon humanity was distracted by the method of proving what was true and what wasn’t. Running experimenting and trying new things to make sense of the world. Humanity found truth and comfort in science.

We are living in the post-modern world. To define the world you live in is like defining humanity. tough. It is hard to imagine that our thought processes could change. That our actions and beliefs are shaped by our culture.

However, today I want you to focus on the way in which we find beliefs. We are now not only questioning religion but science as well. I am sure you are all well aware of the autism debate between the medical community and Jenny McCarthy’s studies. We question our doctors and their methods. We re-think before giving our children vaccinations. We are un-trusting of everything that humans before us trusted.

In fact, the first lesson I learned in college was to question everything. If you question everything what is exactly is left to believe? What can you trust? Where exactly do we find truth?

I am not sure I can answer this. My mind has been working through it all day. It took some turns and twists into other thoughts but I will leave those to be discussed another day.

*I am aware this is written much like a research paper..but sometimes that is the best way for me to lay out my ideas.