you’re absolutely right on a few counts. like Descartes, i failed to recognize my very basic prejudice that Reason is better than Impulse (or instinct, as you put it). darn you, Socrates, for pounding in my head that “the unexamined life is not worth living!” (clearly, i’ve already picked my poison.)

as a matter of fact, the analogy of evolution is an appropriate parallel to the points that i’m making.
i mean, we have this wonderful body that is capable of infinitely more than the marvels of [human] cognitive thought can come up with. this body is handed down to us, and we use it without thinking of it. 95% of the time, evolution is on our side, keeping us ahead of the game.
however, it is far from perfect; certain bodies have a propensity toward certain diseases (cancer, heart, endocrine, etc.), not to mention vestigial parts that, as far as experience tells us, serve no other purpose than to malfunction and kill us.
sweet! another analogy to the arsenal.

heh heh… “human sniffer.” an appropriate, if not mildly insulting, title

wait a second,…shouldn’t you be challenging that practice as well ; not letting the promise of thought convince you into out-thinking your mammalian condition? poop-stick, to do that, you’d have to be Zhuangzi or Pyrrho. and then you’d be completely useless…how useless do you want to be (mind you i use that term affectionately)? thinkers think and are free in their thinking. non-thinkers get used and are free in their non-thinking. pick your poison…

this isn’t about how i was raised or anything. it’s an observation of the consequences of not living alone.
i still believe that 95% (maybe 75% for the emotionally courageous) of our beliefs are unrecognized or unscrutinized. however, of that percentage, 95% is probably consistent enough to keep. i’m referring to the 5% that we refuse to acknowledge or challenge, but that govern a great part of our life.

you’re right, of course; vaccinations are generally perceived as good. and you’re also right that, the majority of the time, what we’re indoctrinated with as children (and, no, this isn’t about religion) is good and wholesome. it’s how we learn manners, how we learn human interaction. i tried to note this, but i guess i didn’t do a very good jearb.

you ask what the alternative is. well, it’s not a dichotomy; it’s not “either we accept everything and refuse to challenge our assumptions OR we all start from scratch”. there are many alternatives, the best one (in my opinion) is, when you are able and realize the need, examine your premises and prejudices. those that you think make sense (other than just “feeling right”), by all means keep! it’s that 5% or so of incongruous beliefs that i’m referring to building from scratch.

to paraphrase CS Lewis: people think progress is going forward, but that’s not the case – if you’re on the wrong path, progress would be to go back (to where you left it)