Be Wary of "The Green Book"

In his 1943 lectures and subsequent book (published in 1944 and reprinted many times) The Abolition of Man C. S. Lewis recalls the observation of a waterfall recorded in a contemporary English grammar which he calls “The Green Book” which is authored by “Gaius” and “Titius.” (He was referring to a real grammar used in English schools but desired to disassociate the authors from his critique by using the imaginary title and pseudonyms for the authors.)

In this section of the first chapter, he locks into the response of Gaius and Tatius to the pronouncement of one who observes a waterfall. The observation is simple, “the waterfall is sublime.” This statement, Lewis observes, tells us nothing about the waterfall. It simply tells us how the observer feels about the waterfall.

For Lewis this kind of statement is problematic. It is a subjective rather than an objective observation. It teaches that values -- the observation of the sublimity of the waterfall -- are subjective. He writes, “The schoolboy who reads this passage in "The Green Book" will believe two propositions: firstly, that all sentences containing a predicate of value are statements about the emotional state of the speaker; and secondly, that all such statements are unimportant.”

This story becomes the foundation for the Abolition of Man. Lewis believes that under the influence of "The Green Book" the boy is being “conditioned” by a certain view of the world, one which does not touch on the real world outside of himself but is bound by how he interacts with the world and how he feels about the world. Therefore, he comes to believe that there is no meaningful way to come into contact with the world outside of himself and thus no way to meaningfully speak about said world. As Bradley Green observes, “The boy thinks he is simply being taught grammar, but really, the young boy is being catechized, in a sense, into a certain fundamental metaphysic [the nature of reality] and epistemology [the nature of knowledge] without knowing it.” (parenthesis mine)

The result is that he begins to think, act, and speak in a way that is a result of the influence of the worldview of "The Green Book," without even knowing what is being done to him. This problem rears its ugly head as the boy grows into a man and participates in society -- starts a career, gets married, raises children, votes, participates in the community around him, etc. All of his life is influenced by factors which he may not have even considered at any point. Yes, he learned grammar, but he has unknowingly learned so much more.

It is easy to conclude from these observations that we must be wary of what we are taking in. Unfortunately, it is equally easy to conclude that it is other people -- usually those with whom we disagree -- who need to be more careful of what they read and watch than we do. To point the finger at all those out there who watch liberal news agencies, follow woke influencers online, or read articles published by the 'left-wing crazies’ at BBC, CNN, or worse, the CBC.

We must, however, make sure that we are as critical of what we consume as we are of others and what they consume. The reason is simple. Every single person who reads, watches or follows anything is subject to confirmation bias -- the underlying tendency to notice, focus on, and give greater credence to evidence that aligns with our existing beliefs. The internet browser we use and the social media apps we are on figure this out and feed us more and more stuff that confirms our bias. Thus, we gobble up our version of "The Green Book" all the while thinking we are free-thinkers, rational, and objective. But are we really?

As I said in my sermon on John 4:43-54, all of us default to what we know, and we fit the things we discover or are shown to us into the grid of our previous knowledge. Thus reality, the truth, and our beliefs are all distorted by what we think we already know. This often then leads us to seek out and assign greater value to information that fits with our previously held beliefs rather than to information or evidence or arguments that offer a new idea that doesn’t fit w/ how we think. In other words, each and every one of us are in danger of falling prey to "The Green Book."

What’s the solution? It’s simple really. Be a critical realist. A realist believes that there is an objective world out there, including objective truth, that can be discovered. A critical realist is aware of her limitations in discovering said world / truth so she works hard to overcome her boundaries so that she can grasp more of the objective world around her. We need to open ourselves to self-critique. Knowing in part, or knowing only what we know is very dangerous. It’s as dangerous for the woke, feminist, transgender activist as it is for the conservative, Christian, complementarian, heterosexual, father of two.

In the words of Tom Nichols we need to be humbler -- be honest about what we know and don’t know; be ecumenical -- read widely, including those with opposite opinions than your own; be cynical -- not only toward those with whom you disagree, but also toward those with whom you agree; be more discriminating -- not everyone you watch or read deserve your audience, nor are many of them good for you.

Let’s observe more. Let’s listen to others. Let’s think deeper. Let’s critique our side as much as we critique the opposite perspective. Let’s be more demanding of those to whom we give our ear (and eyes). Let’s reach higher intellectually. Put simply… let’s be better.

Soli Deo Gloria