Perspectives

One of the classes that I am taking this quarter is "Epistemology." Many may know what that is immediately, but for those who do not, simply put it is, "how we know what we know." In class we talk about empiricism and the value of experience in forming justified true beliefs, but I want to talk about our personal perspectives and our own understanding of various assertions. Minnesota, like most of the country, is going through another arctic chill that has sent the mercury well below zero. So I have been thinking about how we define cold. This same type of question ruminated in my mind when I lived in Elephant Butte New Mexico many summers ago. So what is cold and what is hot? My friends who live south of the Mason Dixon line cannot even fathom what -25 windchill feels like, yet here I was this morning out running in it and feeling pretty good. On the other hand, there are those who have never experienced 115 degree heat and cannot comprehend what that temperature would feel like. The great thing that I have been pondering over the past couple of weeks is that our understanding of "cold" is able to change depending on our exposure to certain climates. Those living in Hawaii think that 60 degrees requires a sweatshirt, but us Minnesotans are wearing shorts and t-shirts if the thermometer hits 60 in March or April. Our bodies adapt to the temperatures that we are exposed to and change our perspective as we experience extreme temperatures one way or another. Is 15 degrees cold? Absolutely, but does not feel nearly as cold when you have been living with sub-zero temps day after day. This concept has great application in our personal lives and how we understand various sins. The more we are exposed to a compromising situation or activity the more we accept it as normative and worthy of our participation. Our minds ability to centrize various positions and classifications of things that are or are not permissible or acceptable for their participation. What are somethings that we have thought were "bad" or "unacceptable" at one point or another, but as we have been around them more we have loosed the negative classification? Just some thoughts on our perspectives.