R8

Quote: "Relativist’s are less concerned with how we see objects than with how we categorize them: how we sort our experiences into conceptual categories like birds, tools, and people” (Pink, 2002, p. 201).

Question: Postmodern theorist expose us to examples of social constructivism (received truth) and its influence on perceptions of various groups in the world, however based upon their observations how would one explain the complex relationship within and between groups with a historical root of privilege and oppression in society?

Connections: According to Pinker, language is important to cognitive development because it is a way to communicate your experiences in the world. The reading was interesting as it reminded me of a message from our pastor last Sunday. In his message he advised the college age youth of our church to be mindful of the postmodern age that we are living in particularly during their educational training when they begin to learn of various theories of how we came into existence. He shared his thoughts on how we have moved from a pre-modernism age and the spread of Christianity, to the modern age of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution that resulted in the creation of atheist groups or non believer of Christ. The pastor warned the youth to become more frightful of the postmodern age because the perspective on history is worse compared to the modern age. During this age it is conceivable to question the truths of the world that have been proven scientifically or not. His main point was this postmodern age is a shift in worldviews and theories of knowledge making it easier for Christians to become complacent and accepting of non Christ like activities of the world.

Another interesting point from the reading implies that relativists believe that “reality is socially constructed by the use of language, stereotypes, and media image” (Pinker, 2002, p. 199). Pinker suggests that postmodernist believe that meaning is constructed by an identified social group and their language not by the individual. “Postmodernists and other relativists attach truth and objectivity because they feel it is the best way to pull the rug out from under racists, sexists, and homophobes” (Pinker, 2002, p. 202). Overall, I interpreted the reading to suggest that during this new age old truths that are challenged based upon a specific social group’s perspective of how they perceive true democracy in the world according to their cultural values and beliefs outside of the Westernized norms.