How do know if something new is worth believing? This thought experiment may seem simple, but do you always know the answer? We're offered new information all the time that we have to accept or reject. How well do you determine which one you do?
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Dhara Gupta lived all her life in a village near Jaisalmer in the Rajasthan desert. One day, in 1822, as she was cooking dinner, she became aware of a commotion. She looked up to discover that her cousin, Mahavir, had returned from a trip he had begun two years before. He looked in good health, and over dinner retold them of his adventures.
There were tales of robbers, wild animals, great mountains and other incredible sights and adventures. But what really stunned Dhara was his claim to have seen something called "ice".
"I went to regions where it was so cold, the water stopped flowing and formed a solid, translucent block," said Mahavir. "What is more amazing is that there is no state between where the liquid thickens. The water that flows freely is only slightly warmer than that which has solidified."
Dhara did not want to challenge her cousin in public, but she did not believe him. What he said contradicted all her experience. She did not believe it when travellers told her of fire-breathing dragons. Nor would she believe this nonsense about ice. She rightly thought she was too intelligent for that.
Baggini, J., The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, 2005, p. 7.
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What do you think? What new idea have you accepted or rejected recently and why did you do so?
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Dhara Gupta lived all her life in a village near Jaisalmer in the Rajasthan desert. One day, in 1822, as she was cooking dinner, she became aware of a commotion. She looked up to discover that her cousin, Mahavir, had returned from a trip he had begun two years before. He looked in good health, and over dinner retold them of his adventures.
There were tales of robbers, wild animals, great mountains and other incredible sights and adventures. But what really stunned Dhara was his claim to have seen something called "ice".
"I went to regions where it was so cold, the water stopped flowing and formed a solid, translucent block," said Mahavir. "What is more amazing is that there is no state between where the liquid thickens. The water that flows freely is only slightly warmer than that which has solidified."
Dhara did not want to challenge her cousin in public, but she did not believe him. What he said contradicted all her experience. She did not believe it when travellers told her of fire-breathing dragons. Nor would she believe this nonsense about ice. She rightly thought she was too intelligent for that.
Baggini, J., The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, 2005, p. 7.
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What do you think? What new idea have you accepted or rejected recently and why did you do so?
