Misconceptions

While I was reading today's installment of David Rohde's experiences of being Held by the Taliban he talked about his guards misconceptions of the West. David chalked their conceptions up to being uneducated that got me thinking that he was agreeing with their conceptions that coincided with his own conceptions, but disagreeing with those that don't agree with his conception. One of the misconceptions he says they have is that the Taliban guards think that all Americans are Rich. Now maybe from where they stand most Americans they see or hear about it is true. The Uneducated he is talking about have a High School or Junior High education and are not well traveled, well most Americans fit that description. What is meant by an educated conception is learning other people's conceptions and making them your own. We all have misconceptions, things we think are absolutely true that are not true. The only thing we can do is to challenge all our conceptions by hearing out other people, looking at the issue from where they stand using reason to decide between them.

Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

My first reaction is that it is a little early there is still two major wars going on and a couple of hot trouble spots. He did make a grand speech in Cairo Egypt for international understanding. I wonder if this is more about influencing the future than about what happened in the past. What will they do if he in fact does bring peace to the Middle East give him another Nobel Peace Prize? I think they should have waited for him to bring troops home instead of sending more to war.