Empiricism and Modern Entertainment

“Our observation employed either about external sensible objects, or about the internal operations of our minds perceived and reflected upon by ourselves, is that which supplies our understanding with all the materials for thinking. These two are the fountains of our knowledge, from whence all the ideas we have, or can naturally have, do spring.”

 -John Locke, "Essay Concerning Human Understanding" 

Fully subscribing to empiricism, we are only what we experience. Although we may be able to create new experiences, they have to be based on some reflection or foundation of something that we’ve already come to know. For us to understand how it feels to walk on the moon, we have to understand how gravity affects us here on Earth. 

I would submit that the majority of our problems as a human society come from a simple lack of knowledge to a blind misunderstanding of how the world around us works. But, although identifying the root of our problems might be simple, the remedy is not. We just don’t live long enough or learn fast enough to absorb everything we would need to fairly treat those around us. We can only have so many conversations, go so many places, and see so many sights. If Locke is completely right, then we’ll never be able to fully solve our problems.

However, our modern entertainment can help us get a little closer to this unreachable goal. Good entertainment pulls us out of our day to day lives and allows us to experience other points of view. Through a movie, you can fill your blank slate of a mind with complex moral and ethical decisions without having to leave the couch. When used right, our entertainment can help us practice how to be human before being human has real consequences.

Image credit to Diraen