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%UNDERSTAND PREDICT CONTROL HUMAN BEHAVIOR 840919
The aim of scientists is to understand, predict and
control the behavior of that which they study. Their
ideal is to do this without bias---by their dedication
to objectivity. They have succeeded in fulfilling
their ideal and aim as regards inanimate objects which can
be understood in objective terms; at least to a
significant extent. The possibility of fulfilling their
ideal and aim as regards animate and human "objects" is in
doubt.
It is not possible to be fully human while at the
same time treating other humans as just objects. Thus no
fully human person can succeed in understanding,
predicting and controlling human behavior. To be
consistently objective in dealing with humans---is
to sacrifice one's own humanity in treating others
unjustly. Such behavior is thoroughly biased in favor of
objectivity---at the expense of understanding humans as
humans, rather than as objects. Objectivity is not an
ultimate ideal which is appropriate to facilitating
meaningful inter-personal relationships.
Scientists view prediction and control as
demonstrations of the validity of a claim of
understanding. It is assumed that if you can not predict
the behavior of something---you do not understand it.
Thus, if Jack claims to understand Jill, the scientists is
prone to say to Jack, "Prove your claim by showing that
you can predict Jill's behavior in controlled situations,
and prove that you can control Jill's behavior in new
situations." Were Jack to succeed in such efforts at
prediction and control---Jill would most likely
contend that Jack did not understand her, and
further she would probably feel that she did not
understand Jack. They would become alienated through
Jack's "success".
It is not only the ideal of objectivity which is
questionable in the context of human relationships. The
scientists' aims of understanding which can be validated
through prediction and control---are also questionable
in the context of human relationships.
It is tragic that these aims and ideals of scientists
have come to dominate human relationships---on both
the personal and international levels---with great
costs in alienation, estrangement, frustration,
violence, and the debilitations of the arms race.
(c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in
www.essayz.com Search for Integrity and Honesty
(On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)
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