Dear Dr. Tiwari,
"I thank you for asking several very good questions on my paper. It has helped me to know the difficulty that a reader may face in understanding the paper."
You are right; my purpose was to ask good questions, and not to criticize your theory. Thank you for your appreciation.
By trying to understand how my mind works, I observed long time ago that one of its ways is to proceed by successive adjustments. This implies that my mind is always biased. If I make the assumption that everybody's mind works similar to mine, I can presume that many of us are biased in one way or the other. The one biased to the left will consider the one less biased to the left as being biased to the right.
When I realized that my mind is biased, I started to think that maybe the opinions which are different from mine may be equally justified. So I realized that I might not know as much as I supposed. Instead of having a clear opinion for each thing, I started to admit that I don't know. When somebody asks me something and I respond that I don't know, it is because I know that I may answer influenced by my own bias. When I remember that I am biased, in most of the cases I have to admit that I don't know much. The person who asks me usually replies that I reject his idea because I am biased. But I don't reject the idea when I say "I don't know", I just account for my bias, which may make me believe that I know something when in fact I don't know. If I would consider my subjective opinions as absolute, I may have a definite answer, yes or no, for every question. The person asking me the question may be happy to agree with him, even if my agreement may come from the biased mind. Instead, if I say that I don't know, I am, in almost all cases, perceived as rejecting or criticizing.
Because I try to avoid as much as I can my own biases when taking a decision, I usually request more proves than the majority. This accentuates the impression others have about me, that I try to criticize or contradict them.
One other thing that I learned about bias is that, if I say to somebody that he doesn't understand my argument because he is biased, I should expect that he says back to me that I am the one who is biased. The argument "you don't agree with me because you are biased" always works both ways. If I really believe that he is biased, I should avoid telling him, because his bias contains a protection mechanism that makes him believing that the others are in fact the biased ones, and closes his mind against any argument. Conversely, when somebody tries to convince me that I should listen to him, since he is not biased, while I am, I ask for very difficult proofs. I am not trying to escape from my own biased mind, just to be entrapped by his biased mind.
Now you understand why I answered "I don't know" when for many others the answer is obvious. You also understand that I do not reject easily an idea, but the price is that I also do not accept it easily. You understand why I told you that my opinion is not important - it is because I know that I am biased.
Knowing that I am biased, it is important for me to know how to distinguish in an objective way between "I know" and "I think that I know". In particular between "I know that I am" and "I think that I know that I am".
Thank you for providing such an interesting discussion subject, and for the patience with which you answered my questions, good or bad.
Best wishes,
Cristi Stoica
Flowing with a Frozen River