Wednesday 4 August 2010

Suppose there was one segment of the population that was denied baths. The other half received baths whenever they needed any, but this segment was pretty much prevented from washing themselves, due to lack of water, soap, facilities. The segment that was able to wash themselves never thought about the issue of baths. "Phoo!" they said among themselves. "Those who obsess about baths lack the faculty of cleanliness." The other segment of the population could think of nothing else. "If only we could have a bath, we could go shopping, enjoy meetings and each other's company," they said. But the other segment of society were skeptical: "Nothing would change, because it's in the nature of that segment to be dirty. If it were not so, why do they obsess about trying to clean themselves? They surely already recognise their dirty nature among themselves, whereas our segment is more than happy just the way it is."

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Cultural barriers to objectivity