Beyond Feelings - Vincent Ruggiero [82]
When such people report something to us, we have to translate it, scale it down to realistic proportions. If they say, "He was the biggest man I've ever seen, at least seven feet ten," we conclude he was about sis feet six. If they say, "you've got to hear Sidney Screech's new record – it's the most fantastic performance he's ever given," we conclude it was a bit better than usual.
We make such translation willingly if the people exaggerating are close friends. But we may still grow weary of the superlative. If the people exaggerating are only acquaintances or if we know them only through their writing or speaking, then we tend to be less patient. We cannot help losing a certain amount of confidence in them. We cannot help seeing them as people who misjudge the world around them. Moreover, they seem to lack a balance, a necessary sense of proportion in their seeing.
If you want your judgments to stand the test of scrutiny by others, you will do well to avoid any such exaggerations. Where you cannot be certain your judgment is accurate, you should tend to err on the side of understatement rather than overstatement. In other words, you should take the more modest interpretation, the less extreme conclusion. That way, if you are wrong, as every human must sometimes be, you will at least have the saving grace of having demonstrated a sense of control and restraint.
If your judgments meet the standards explained in this chapter, you can take pride in them, for judgment carefully arrived at is the hallmark of humanity. It is the capstone to your capacity for thinking. As such, it separates you most dramatically from other creatures, enabling you to grow in knowledge and, considerably more important, in wisdom and to improve your own life and the lives of others.
1 John Leo, "In Search of the Middle Ground," U.S. News & World Report, March 6, 1989, p.30.
2 Ibid.
3 Barbara Lerner, "Self-Esteem and Excellence: The Choice and the Paradox," American Educator, Winter 1985.
P3-C22-4
SOME CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
The following applications cover not merely Chapter 22 but all the chapters in this book. In other words, they are designed to provide exercise not only in forming careful judgments but also in the various steps leading to such judgments. Each issue is or has been the subject of public debate. Each is controversial. Though some are relatively recent issues, many have a long, complex history. For most, a sizable amount of written interpretation and argument is on record.
Before addressing these applications, review the chapters briefly. Doing so will make it easier for you to remain aware of the broad intellectual context in which the issues must be discussed, to recognize and avoid the problems that impede clear thinking, and to pursue effectively the strategy you have learned.
Keep in mind that these applications identify the issues in a very general way. It is up to you not only to find and study the available information but also the select the particular aspects you will focus on. As you have seen, it is better to treat one or two aspects in depth than a larger number superficially.
APPLICATIONS
In recent years the contract negotiation of professional athletes have been give considerable attention by the news media. Better known players frequently demand and receive salaries that were unheard of ten or fifteen years ago. Numerous questions have been raised about players' salaries. Among them are the following: How much higher than the average are the superstars' salaries? Is there any thing wrong with players earning more than senators and presidents? What effects is the present trend of asking more and more likely to have