I recently came across this quote by Tolstoy (1897) in Singh and Ernst’s book “Trick or Treatment”. I’ll let you decide for yourself if it has any relevance to karate.
I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabrics of their life.
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August 1, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Eric Troy
This is true for everything and it can’t NOT be true for Martial Arts. I actually wrote an article that is related to it about belief perseverance (I’ll link if given permission).
As Joe Weir stated, [many beliefs] “are like the card that’s holding the house up”. Remove the card and the whole belief system unravels.
So we can see how downright threatening it is to have certain long-held beliefs challenged.
You know, this is a common psychological bias and when it comes to “learned men” and great thinkers, I’ve noticed that many such people do not realize that they themselves are prone to the same thinking traps as any human being.
August 1, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Robert Miller
Mr. Troy,
Feel free to post the link. You may also be interested in Gillian Russell’s article “Epistemic Viciousness in the Martial Arts at https://tkriblog.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/epistemic-viciousness-in-the-martial-arts/
Thanks,
Robert Miller
August 1, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Eric Troy
Thank you for the link! GREAT paper. I will link to that in some fashion later, lots of parallels in strength training. Loved it.
Here is the link to the article I spoke of: http://www.gustrength.com/critical-thinking:explain-the-opposite
August 2, 2009 at 11:50 am
I am not Mr. Karate
even after UFC and 9/11 happened, there are still stalwarts who wish to be masters of fantasy than students of reality.