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Originally Posted by analog
*snip* The human species is naturally supposed to grow (mentally) and learn more and more. As generations pass, each new generation is naturally inclined to pass on their knowledge, so that the next generation can take that knowledge and expand on it, creating greater understandings of the world around them and to ensure the survival of the species.
So why is it that the Amish want to simply... stagnate?
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I'm interpreting this as you mean that in a technological way. If you mean in a more general way, how do we know that the Amish aren't expanding upon and passing on their *knowledge*?
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Originally Posted by analog
*snip* The Amish, however, KNOW exactly what is out there. They may not know the extent to which technology has grown, but they know of electricity, of modern medicine, and of many of the basic things we don't even blink at that leave them awe-struck. So they know all of this is out there, and that all they have to do is ask and they'll all be a part of it.
My thinking is that because they specifically refuse any change, I find it hard to respect that lifestyle choice. Shunning technology is one thing, but they specifically refuse any kind of change.
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As others have said here, they know about it, they just don't want it. You and I both don't want kids, yet I know I am sometimes inundated with judgement, both direct and implied, regarding my choice and resultant lifestyle. I see this as a similar decision.
It would be different if their choices put their children at risk, say if they needed a life-saving medical procedure and the Amish parents refused to allow modern medicine to treat the child (or any other Amish person, for that matter), then I'd have a big problem with it. But I don't think they do things that way, do they?
I can see though, that it may seem unfair in a way that they refuse to be part of, *contribute* to the society that protects them and provides for them. But I think some would say that they do contribute to society by being what they are. *shrug* To some they are a beacon of light in a dark industrial world. To others they are a living tourist attraction.
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Originally Posted by analog
*snip* Does anyone disagree with the notion that groups of people, cultures, are naturally inclined to growth in knowledge? If, then, a culture specifically says, "we will not change, we will not grow"... does that kind of intentional closed-mindedness make you think less of them, maybe? Or do you respect their desire to keep things to manual labor, to make life harder and worth more effort?
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Once again, just because they aren't growing their technology doesn't mean that they aren't growing in knowledge. And I don't think that making a choice to live a certain way necessarily indicates "closed-mindedness". It's not a choice I would make, but it's a lot better in my mind than other lifestyle choices that are far more common today.
I am very glad that they have their kids go out into the world for a year (although I don't know that that's long enough, but whatever). It doesn't seem that people are forced into that lifestyle, but I would imagine that making the choice to join the rest of modern society and in a very real sense losing their family would be a terribly difficult one. Do they really get *shunned*?
Something I've wondered about though--at some point in human history, the technologies they use now were the very cutting edge. So why chose *that* particular era? Why not go back to say, pre-columbus native American lifestyle?