Before reading this weeks unit readings, I thought of values as just personal guidelines and even though I am not wrong, there is so much more to the topic. The excerpt that we were required to read this week explained values to be “synonymous with personal evaluations and related beliefs” (Lewis 1990). I believe that this is a good way to think about what values are, since simply values are based on what an individual believes and follows which influence how a person behaves or how they see themselves. An individual will set their values as they grow up; this is also when they are influenced by factors in the person’s surroundings. Some of these factors may include parental upbringing, religion, school, family, and culture. On the other hand, the excerpt introduces and talks about six different mental modes; there are four basic mental modes and two synthetic mental modes. In the excerpt, Lewis explains that the four basic mental modes include sense experience, deductive logic, emotion, and intuition whereas the two synthetic mental modes are authority and ‘science’ (1990). The way I see it, the four mental modes are all internal modes and are how we think, sense, and feel whereas the two synthetic modes are things we learn and encounter as we grow up.
It is believed that the factors within a person’s surroundings will morph an individual’s value(s) by influencing the person’s mental modes. I would agree with the previous statement because a person will develop their values based on how they grow up. For example, someone who grew up with one parent, has one sibling, and is religious will most likely have different values compared to someone who grew up with two parents, five siblings, doesn’t follow a particular religion, and was home-schooled; all because of how they grew up. In conclusion, this is why everyone has their own values because no one grows up the same or has the same childhood.
The author of the excerpt claims that all six modes must be somewhat co-dominant to one another to avoid bias or one sided-values. This is true since all six mental modes together create us, metaphorically speaking. When one mental mode is made dominant over the others, the persons values will be one sided and although it isn’t technically wrong, since there is no such thing as a bad value, their value is will not be “well rounded”. Someone who balances all six mental modes will most likely have values that are well rounded because they take all parts into account when developing or choosing their values.
In the end, everyone has/chooses their own values and is entitled to those values.
I fully agree with you when you describe values as something that is gained throughout life. I enjoyed that you named all of the facets that combine to create ones personal values such as your parental upbringing, religion, school, family and culture. And I liked how you then intertwined these facets into the argument that Lewis makes in the excerpt when characterizes these influences as ‘mental nodes’. I also enjoyed that you mentioned that everyone has their own values and further named why each person is individually different pertaining to their own set of values.
I agree with you and believe that depending on your own personal experience in life, your values are unique to only you. However, I am curious about the part where you say, “the four mental modes are all internal modes and are how we think, sense, and feel whereas the two synthetic modes are things we learn and encounter as we grow up”(Values, NCHTCM). Because internal nodes are things that we sense (hear, see, touch, smell), wouldn’t these be considered things that we encounter in our surroundings in tern influencing learning within ourselves? I agree with you when you say synthetic modes are also things that we encounter, but how are internal modes something that we do not encounter and learn from as well?
Also would you agree with Lewis when he describes intuition and emotion to be two separate parts within internal modes or could you acknowledge that they are generally the same thing because they both signify having some sort of ‘ internal feeling’ towards something? My last question regarding your post reflects on my curiously as to what you consider the authority facet within the two synthetic modes. Could authority be translated to news sources, parents, member’s of high status? If this is true, what type of authority do you think influences your own set of values?
Thank you for your comment and your opinions on values and how they are developed or chosen by the individual. As far as your question goes pertaining to whether internal modes are also things that we encounter. I would have to honestly say that it’s a good point that you brought up. In the assigned reading, Lewis refers to sense experience, deductive logic, emotion, and intuition as the four internal modes where as authority and ‘science’ are the two synthetic modes. Since the internal modes involve our senses (hearing, seeing, touching, and smelling – not necessarily taste) I would also agree that these things could be seen as things that we encounter throughout our lives. I guess you could say that these modes are labeled as “internal” compared to “synthetic” because we process these things senses internally.
Moreover, I would have to say that I don’t agree with Lewis when he explains that intuition and emotion are two separate internal ideas. I would say that both intuition and emotion are two similar yet separate parts. Intuition is an internal feeling that an individual can’t control where as emotion is an internal feeling that someone could somewhat and sometimes be controlled.
I would say that whether or not something is classified as an “authority” is controlled by the person that encounters it. Everyone will have his or her own take on who or what has authority. For example, people like my parents, family elders, law enforcers, and my work supervisors are considered authority to me and may or may not influence my set of values. I would say that family members and my upbringing influence a lot of my values.