The difference between science and news when seeking peace and joy

 

the silence within

seeking Peace and Joy doesn’t seem like a science—you know —pre-med students rarely have to pass  Developing Inner Empathy techniques and chemists rarely have human relations pre-requisites as part of their continued accreditation  CEU programs.   What types of training do  many “scientists and researchers. Have?  Well...they learn empirical research methods or “the scientific method” for short.  Now I’m not going to.write a thesis on the relative merits of quantitative methods and qualitative  methods. And the types of  observations, processes, and analysis. Needed  for both and the inferences that can be made based on either type of “research.”  This entry will encourage. You to understand peace and joy by seeing what you don’t see... What?

First this entry talks about empirical research—science if you will—and says that it’s about. Seeing what you don’t see?   Yep.   

How many times. In the course of a usual  week do we hear that  a”a study showed that  women are more likely”. Or people who  exercise are more likely..or people who smoke. Are  40 percent more likely to ..”.  the studies behind these  news statements  are  conducted using sound  science and  so these studies are  likely  valid and can be trusated as long as the scientific method including isolation of independent variables and control groups and  appropriate statistical  analysis  is performe.   Yet.... do you know what never makes the news or the journals....?

Studies that  (while using very good research methods) don’t show any significant differences between groups.   No body. Starts a newscast  with the story “A new Harvard  study shows that gender identity has nothing to do with musical ability.” Or racial identity  is not related to bladder functioning...  When difference are not found the story rarely gets told.   Now that’s significant. In itself, however  let’s dig a little deeper.   The reality is between group differences are  hard to prove when within group differences  exist.  ... In simple  language...when you try to make broad statements about a diverse group of people in comparison to to another diverse  group you are going to find that while some  obscure  between group differences might. Be found obscure differences are  just as likely within groups as they are to exist between. Groups.... 

So...  what am I saying with all this methodology  nonsense?  

Everyone has some3 unique skills and talents that  might make us different in some ways.  If we work really hard at finding a specific  comparison group we will find out that we are different just like everyone else.   If we don’t. No one will report that we can work  with each other  on sahared values because  we are more  alike than we are different most the time...but that’s  no exciting..unless you get excited by knowing you are part of something larger than you and that contributing  can almost always  make a whole far more powerful than any one part can be... you see..understanding  in seeking  peace and joy the journey means walking with others and  learning that none of us can do everything —but all of us can do something —and all of us combined can do just about anything.   

so ...let’s go all the way back to “within”...

If  one has a fear of standing alone when expressing a talent or gift because  it might  place you outside the “normal” group.understand that there are far more  within group differences than will ever  be talked about out loud so use your gifts and don’t worry about being cast away.  What you do  to seek peace and joy will be different  from some folks and yet understood by far many  more...don’t be afraid to find those  who seek things in the same way you do and don’t fret when  people don’t .   You see we don’t hear about  within group differences especially when. They are found to be greater than between group differences so always learn from what you don’t  see or hear or taste when possible...  

One more 

Within” rant tomorrow...