permaculture

[Lee Flier <leeflier@comcast.net>]

fdnokes@hotmail.com wrote:
> Thinking something is right or wrong because of who said it is just not using 
> our own natural intelligence.
>   
In its purest sense, yes, thinking something is right or wrong "because 
of who said it" is a logical fallacy - ad hominem.  Adolf Hitler could 
say that 2+2=4 and it will still be true. :D   Sure.

But that doesn't mean people don't get suspicious or defensive (and 
possibly with very good reason) about the sources of their information, 
if the source is somewhere way outside of their comfort zone.  I'd wager 
that if somebody came to this list recommending that you read something 
they'd heard on the Rush Limbaugh show, you wouldn't be too inclined to 
read it.  :D  Perhaps you personally have attained a sufficient level of 
enlightenment that you could read something written by Mr. Limbaugh and 
be able to sincerely appreciate something he'd written which happened to 
be true.  But I hope you get my drift here. I think the point would be 
lost on many people even if it were true.  And so, perhaps, a wiser 
course would be to find a way to express the same idea in a way that 
doesn't immediately alienate anyone. Permaculture is already challenging 
enough to people's mindsets on many levels.

I think Toby is right that a lot of folks on this list probably are used 
to preaching to the already converted (or the "willing to be 
converted"), and maybe don't have the same perspective that I do, doing 
my "suburban aid work". :D  Suffice it to say there is *no way* I could 
recommend a Seth book to the folks I deal with every day, and I don't 
think it would go over too well if I told them they "weren't using their 
own natural intelligence" if they couldn't appreciate the information, 
either.  We're talking about people who still think I'm some kind of 
weird hippie chick just because I don't use chemicals in my garden. :D  
But fortunately there's no reason or necessity to recommend sources that 
anybody would find dubious.