152 Teaching Minds

152 Teaching Minds It is not an unreasonable question to ask whether being a USS. senator prepares you to be president. It would not have been odd if Palin had asked Couric whether we ever had a president who actually was prepared for the job. Other than vice presidents who work closely with a president for 4 years or more, it is not unreasonable to assert that we have a history of unprepared presidents. But she didn’t say that because preparedness is a causative notion and Palin doesn’t seem to get causation. She may be bright enough to have been taught about causation when she was small, but apparently this didn’t happen. As a result, she seems stupid to those who do understand causation. Palin recently has made statements that make you wonder where her ideas about causation come from. This is from a 2009 interview on ABC: Walters: Now let’s talk about some issues—the Middle East. The Obama Administration does not want Israel to build any more settlements on what they consider Palestinian territory. What is your view on this? Palin: I disagree with the Obama Administration on that. I believe that, um, the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon because the population of Israel is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead. What is the problem here? Again, there is a question of causation, but it is more obvious that that is the issue. No one who hears this state- ment would fail to ask why Jews would be flocking to Israel in the weeks and months ahead. It is important to understand that determination of causation is the backbone of an intelligently thought out belief system. People be- lieve certain things. They believe that the sun will rise in the morning and that their parents will come home from work at night. Beliefs often are based on observation and generalization. People also are taught beliefs. There are many ways to acquire beliefs. Children get them from their parents mostly but also from friends and siblings. At some point, however, reality comes into play. Reality often means comparing a belief with what you know or can figure out about causa- tion. You can believe that the sun rises each morning but not know its cause. And, of course, you can learn the cause. You can believe that the HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023898