Research: How to, by Undo

The Approach

TAKE NO PRIOR NEGATIVE BAGGAGE INTO YOUR RESEARCH/READING

1. the approach to researching ancient texts is extremely important. bringing preconceived or prejudicial information into the text, while reading it, hampers discovery.

2. if you must bring baggage, check it to be sure it isn't negative because negative mindset while reading anything, steels you against discovery. this is extremely important. if i had read sumerian texts while considering them nothing but mythology, i would not have discovered even a small portion of the information i currently have. i had to take the position that it was in fact a real set of events, described in terms common to the day in which they appeared.

TRUTH DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY EQUAL POPULAR OPINION FOR OR AGAINST A SUBJECT


1. world views, religions and other social group sets, can't be measured for value, lack of value or authenticity based on nothing but popular opinion even if that popular opinion is learned. mob mentality is easily manipulated. don't let a critic from 300 years ago, tell you what to believe about things today. and don't let a 1000 year old translation tell you what to believe about stuff today. let the text tell you what it means and get it as close to its original language as possible, to weed out any misconceptions/deliberate cover ups that may have wormed their way into the text via translators.

2. same thing for science. if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, is it a duck? maybe, maybe not. let's find out.

WHEN YOU FINALLY ARRIVE AT A CONCLUSION AND IF IT DOESN'T RESEMBLE A P0SITION YOU ARE WILLING TO BE COMFORTABLE WITH,
DON'T PANIC

JUST LOOK INSIDE YOURSELF TO FIND OUT WHY IT MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE. DON'T ASSUME THE PROBLEM IS THE INFORMATION ITSELF. ASSUME YOUR REACTION TO THE INFORMATION IS TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING. SUBCONSCIOUS MIND SOMETIMES FIGURES THINGS OUT BEFORE CONSCIOUS MIND DOES!

Each time a new school of learning or sect forms as an offshoot of a prior religion or world view, there are always areas in each new branch that help to clarify and expand on the truth in the prior information in a way the prior information could not because the groups involved, stagnated their positions on the subject and then cemented themselves into a sort of social standardization of the information.

while standardization protects us from quackery, even "quacks" have bits of real data that may just be construed as "quackery" because the data is outside the comfort zone of the public accepted mindset (and by comfort i don't mean that stoning and beheading and bombing people into submission is acceptable).

THE BIGGEST ENEMY OF TRUTH FINDING IS THE CRITICAL MIND COMBINED WITH A NEGATIVE APPROACH

You can critically analyze data but critically analyzing it from preconceived negatives, is not going to work.

As a result, you will not see the "bits of truth" in world views outside your own and that's not good NOR is it revealing. if you consider yourself a proponent of the truth, toss out the negatives before reading something, then re-read it as if it were telling you something important and positive. you will find it.

It's the human predisposition to make very few, if any, allowances for someone you don't like but make several for someone you do like. this same thing happens during prejudice and racism. your favorite world view will be given optimum leeway but your least favorite, little to no leeway at all. in fact, you may end up making fun of it, mentioning it frequently in a derogatory way, or even harassing people who happen to believe it. with that kind of approach to knowledge of any kind, how can the person learn anything ?

I really inspired with your thoughts. I have exactly thinking approach like you. Not religious, but researching on Koran from 20 years. I will share my work with ATS after passing 20 posts.