Many people are familiar with the saying, “The present is the key to the past.” This was first coined by the Scottish geologist, James Hutton and further popularized by another Scottish geologist, Charles Lyell. This concept is known as the “Principle of Uniformitarianism” and stresses that in the realm of geology that understanding how nature behaves in the present will help us understand how it has behaved in the past.
Well, in the realm of self-understanding and evaluating current affairs it is the opposite. The past is the key to the present. If I want to understand why I think the way that I do or why I hold to certain beliefs then I need to delve into my past. If I want to know why some of the world’s current affairs are happening then I need to know the preceding events that have led to the present condition. – i.e. I need to understand the historical context.
A popular book about understanding trauma, The Body Keeps the Score, helps to exemplify this concept on a biological and neurological level. As we seek to understand some of our current irrational fears, expectations, anxieties, and emotional reactions it is paramount that we are able to dig into our personal past to identify what events may have helped cause these issues.
To belabor the point, this concept is seen in our daily lives when we answer interrogating questions such as “Why are you late?”
When I find myself in the state of being late to something and I want to know why I was late, I need to assess the series of past events that concluded with my untimely arrival. Did I forget to set my alarm? Did I get distracted with reading a book, playing a video game, staring at my phone, or studying the inside of my eyelids longer than I should have? Did I make a wrong turn, use the wrong map, or ask the wrong person for directions?
As I consider the historical context of my currently held beliefs some variation of that last question loves to return time and again: Did I receive information from the wrong source?
The origin of many of the ideas in my head are far outside of my control. I did not choose to get exposed to the definition of matter in my 2nd grade science course or the influence of John Dewey on the American education system in my freshman history class. As life ran its course, I continually found myself in the position of intaking information from a perceived authoritative source on the subject and being told to trust it (though also occasionally being encouraged to not blindly trust and to think for myself).
I am yet to do a deeper dive into scholarly works on the influence of authority figures on our belief-formation-faculties; however, a simple reflection on my own life experiences can be a testimony to the effects nonetheless.
For now, it is sufficient to acknowledge that I did not choose who my authority figures were for most of my life. I didn’t choose my parents, I didn’t choose my school teachers, and I didn’t choose my pastors. Granted, I could have possibly chosen to be more rebellious and questioning of those authority figures. Maybe I could have expressed more independence from my parents in high school and could have chosen to attend a different church then them.
Beyond past authoritative figures I also need to consider other potential authoritative sources. What books did I read and what media did I consume that may have implanted certain ideas into my head?
In future posts I will explore some of the more influential figures, sources, and experiences that I can identify as having a major impact on my beliefs.
Reasons For My Reason 