"Jarenc," said the young god Amera to his friend, "I have 9 commandments, I need one more, it will make the tablets look better, more balanced, 5 and 5. What do you think of this: 'Thou shalt not lie."
"No, no, dear friend, there is great fun in lying, in getting away with things. I wouldn't want to have to punish the People for enjoying their life. That's the purpose of life, isn't it?"
"Ok, what about: 'Thou shalt believe that the world revolves around yourself."
"No,no. The god Solar wants everyone to think the world revolves him, and I don't want to fight with Solar."
"How about: 'Thou shalt think rationally."
"Ha, ha, "chuckled Jarenc, "I don't think so. We do need some people to get into heaven, don't we?"
" 'Thou shalt not be proud'. D you like it?"
"I love it. The people wo break that commandment will be happy about what they did, and we can have the other non-proud people ostracize them. I love it. It is a great commandment. Which is why we should feel good for having thought of it."
"We? You did not think of it, Jarenc. I did. This is totally my idea, and I deserve full credit for it.. You shouldn't want to take any credit for what is my idea."
"Why not? I deserve the credit as much as you do. I want that credit. Why should you have it all to yourself? It's our game,isn't it?"
And Arema and Jarenc lost their friendship.
And so the 10th commandment came to be:
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his servant, , nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's."
Monday, August 22, 2011
LOOK OUT FOR LOOKING OUT
I thought that the hippie generation starting in the 1950's was, although I was not directly a part of it, a good thing. It was, it seemed to me, to be a call to individuality. "Do your own thing...whatever. No social restraints. Everything goes. Live YOUR life." And to some extent, that is what happened.
But then along came the internet, and...wham!...the pendulum has swung completely around, away from individuality and pointing today totally outward to a world of conformity more inclusive, more expansive, then pre-hippies ever knew or could ever imagine. From what I see and hear, youngsters today measure themseles in every imaginable way by others, by what others are doing, by what others have. It results in nonstop competition that can never be won. Making everyone, everyone, losers.
"I only have 550 friends on facebook...most kids I know have close to a thousand."
"My ipod is out of date., it only has 1200 apps...new ones have over 3,000."
"I make $9 an hour...some of the guys make nine fifty or ten".
"Check the internet. See what people are saying, the way it's done these days, the way you must do it if you want to make it in the world."
Can't win. While conformity in the old days was with the few in the neighborhood, it is now aimed toward a global standard of seven billion others.
Can't win. It is no longer a question whether the glass is half full or half empty...it is a third full and leaking.
Can't win. There is always MORE.
There are to be sure some unique benefits to being in touch with the world...but none at the cost of losing one's self. There are to be sure advantages to be gained from others, but none at the price of losing one's own identity, one's personal values.
With the help (?) of modern technology, the herd--horde--is now stampeding itself.
In the 1967 Broadway musical Hair, touting the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, one of the new age's dominant features is said to be "the mind's true liberation".
Waiting.
But then along came the internet, and...wham!...the pendulum has swung completely around, away from individuality and pointing today totally outward to a world of conformity more inclusive, more expansive, then pre-hippies ever knew or could ever imagine. From what I see and hear, youngsters today measure themseles in every imaginable way by others, by what others are doing, by what others have. It results in nonstop competition that can never be won. Making everyone, everyone, losers.
"I only have 550 friends on facebook...most kids I know have close to a thousand."
"My ipod is out of date., it only has 1200 apps...new ones have over 3,000."
"I make $9 an hour...some of the guys make nine fifty or ten".
"Check the internet. See what people are saying, the way it's done these days, the way you must do it if you want to make it in the world."
Can't win. While conformity in the old days was with the few in the neighborhood, it is now aimed toward a global standard of seven billion others.
Can't win. It is no longer a question whether the glass is half full or half empty...it is a third full and leaking.
Can't win. There is always MORE.
There are to be sure some unique benefits to being in touch with the world...but none at the cost of losing one's self. There are to be sure advantages to be gained from others, but none at the price of losing one's own identity, one's personal values.
With the help (?) of modern technology, the herd--horde--is now stampeding itself.
In the 1967 Broadway musical Hair, touting the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, one of the new age's dominant features is said to be "the mind's true liberation".
Waiting.
Friday, August 19, 2011
OR
Arema and Jarenc, two very young gods, hovered in the stratosphere, and contemplated the universe. It. was complete. They had nothing to do.
Arema was suddenly inspired.
"Let us create a new world to place in the universe, a world totally different from all others we have created. Let us infuse this world with irony, contradictions, antithesis, perversity, paradox and ambiguity. It will be fun.
"I shall begin by creating little bits of life...people, I shall call them...millions of them, to inhabit and rule this new world."
"Let us give them great intelligence, like ours," said Jarenc, "but keep from them the answer to what will be their most perplexing question: What is the purpose of life? It will frustrate them not to know, though the answer be close at hand. It is, of course, as it is ours: to be exhilarated by being alive and to rejoice."
"Let us give them more of our god-like powers. I give them the power of choice."
"And I," said Jarenc, "shall include the seemingly pleasurable choice to choose not to choose. Ha ha."
"Jarenc, you are a devil. I give them endless desire to enrich their lives."
"And I offer them laziness."
"They will have our power to create."
"And, of course, to destroy."
"To love."
"And to hate."
"To be good."
"To be evil."
"It will be fun to see how their life unfolds, what they choose or fail to choose.. We must not interfere. Should we let them come to know, Jarenc, that it is but a game?"
"No, the fun is in their thinking otherwise, they must think everything is important or they may choose not to play our game, and how then shall we spend our eternal time, Arema?"
And so it came to pass that Earth was formed, and People came to be, with the unrecognized powers of gods...and the choice not to use them..
And Arema and Jarenc saw all they had made and behold it was very good.
Arema was suddenly inspired.
"Let us create a new world to place in the universe, a world totally different from all others we have created. Let us infuse this world with irony, contradictions, antithesis, perversity, paradox and ambiguity. It will be fun.
"I shall begin by creating little bits of life...people, I shall call them...millions of them, to inhabit and rule this new world."
"Let us give them great intelligence, like ours," said Jarenc, "but keep from them the answer to what will be their most perplexing question: What is the purpose of life? It will frustrate them not to know, though the answer be close at hand. It is, of course, as it is ours: to be exhilarated by being alive and to rejoice."
"Let us give them more of our god-like powers. I give them the power of choice."
"And I," said Jarenc, "shall include the seemingly pleasurable choice to choose not to choose. Ha ha."
"Jarenc, you are a devil. I give them endless desire to enrich their lives."
"And I offer them laziness."
"They will have our power to create."
"And, of course, to destroy."
"To love."
"And to hate."
"To be good."
"To be evil."
"It will be fun to see how their life unfolds, what they choose or fail to choose.. We must not interfere. Should we let them come to know, Jarenc, that it is but a game?"
"No, the fun is in their thinking otherwise, they must think everything is important or they may choose not to play our game, and how then shall we spend our eternal time, Arema?"
And so it came to pass that Earth was formed, and People came to be, with the unrecognized powers of gods...and the choice not to use them..
And Arema and Jarenc saw all they had made and behold it was very good.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
THINKRIGHT TEST FOR OFFICE SEEKERS
I am writing a series of articles called ThinkRight...it's about good thinking, the elements of good thinking, the benefits of good thinking, and the penalties we pay when we fail to ThinkRight.
This question comes to mind: Does not a person living in a free society have the right to choose, intentionally or by default, not to engage in good thinking? And the answer, generally, is Yes, I say "generally" to limit that right to those whose thinking, whose decisions, affect only themselves.
But the answer is a resounding No when that person's thinking and decisions impact other people. And that is the case with regard to our public officials. Their ability, and propensity, to ThinkRight is critical and consequential to the rest of us. We can check the propensity part by examining their prior actions, their record. But how do we check their ability?
My suggestion: half of the LSAT exam, taken by those seeking to be admitted to law school, is Critical Reasoning, and tests their ability to think logically. I propose it be given to all those running for, or being appointed to, elected office. The voters would remain free to vote for whomever they wish, including those who fail the test...but at least the voters would have critical information about those to whom they seek to give authority to pass and regulate laws that affect, restrict and tax our lives, send our people off to combat, etc.
Thought you might like to test yourself on a Critical Reasoning type question:
Advertisement: "My doctor prescribed this new headache pill and, boy, was he right. Took one the other day and my headache went away in less than an hour. You have a headache? Take this new pill."
Identify three logical fallacies in this advertisement.
1. The fact that a doctor prescribes some medication does not mean it is the right, or a good, medicine to take. Doctors are not infallible and we DO NOT KNOW why he prescribed it (perhaps he owns stock in the company that produces it).
2. There is NO PROOF the pill cured the headache. The fact that the headache went away shortly after the pill was taken, does not prove cause and effect. The headache might have gone away even if the pill had not been take, perhaps even sooner.
3. The fact that the pill may have worked for the person in the advertisement, DOES NOT PROVE it will work for you (not all headaches are the same, not all people respond the same way to the same medication).
Wouldn't you like to know if that person seeking your vote, or to be appointed to public office, can THINKRIGHT?
Seems logical to me.
This question comes to mind: Does not a person living in a free society have the right to choose, intentionally or by default, not to engage in good thinking? And the answer, generally, is Yes, I say "generally" to limit that right to those whose thinking, whose decisions, affect only themselves.
But the answer is a resounding No when that person's thinking and decisions impact other people. And that is the case with regard to our public officials. Their ability, and propensity, to ThinkRight is critical and consequential to the rest of us. We can check the propensity part by examining their prior actions, their record. But how do we check their ability?
My suggestion: half of the LSAT exam, taken by those seeking to be admitted to law school, is Critical Reasoning, and tests their ability to think logically. I propose it be given to all those running for, or being appointed to, elected office. The voters would remain free to vote for whomever they wish, including those who fail the test...but at least the voters would have critical information about those to whom they seek to give authority to pass and regulate laws that affect, restrict and tax our lives, send our people off to combat, etc.
Thought you might like to test yourself on a Critical Reasoning type question:
Advertisement: "My doctor prescribed this new headache pill and, boy, was he right. Took one the other day and my headache went away in less than an hour. You have a headache? Take this new pill."
Identify three logical fallacies in this advertisement.
1. The fact that a doctor prescribes some medication does not mean it is the right, or a good, medicine to take. Doctors are not infallible and we DO NOT KNOW why he prescribed it (perhaps he owns stock in the company that produces it).
2. There is NO PROOF the pill cured the headache. The fact that the headache went away shortly after the pill was taken, does not prove cause and effect. The headache might have gone away even if the pill had not been take, perhaps even sooner.
3. The fact that the pill may have worked for the person in the advertisement, DOES NOT PROVE it will work for you (not all headaches are the same, not all people respond the same way to the same medication).
Wouldn't you like to know if that person seeking your vote, or to be appointed to public office, can THINKRIGHT?
Seems logical to me.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
THINKRIHT 3: WHAT IS GOOD THINKING?
Here are the 3 R's of good thinking:
REALITY...thinking deals with what is...it is intended to fundamentally answer the following questions" Is it real? What is it?
RELEVANCE...thinking about something should entail only matters that relate to, and affect or are affected by, what is being thought about.
RATIONALITY...requiring sensory proof as a condition to accepting that something is true, and avoiding the following common thinking errors:
* blurring the distinction between proven knowledge and unproven belief
* basing truth on mere assumptions
* using analogies as proof
* failing to recognize that we live in a cause and effect world, that everything that happens is the effect of some cause, or mistakenly believing that the fact that B followed A is proof that A caused B to happen
* generalizing from a sampling
* attacking the arguer rather than the argunent
* believing that was is true of the whole is necessarily true of the parts, and vice versa.
Good thinking is rooted in precision, exactitude, definiteness. What is it? What did he say? What did she mean? It offers the joy of reliability, confidence, certainty.
.
REALITY...thinking deals with what is...it is intended to fundamentally answer the following questions" Is it real? What is it?
RELEVANCE...thinking about something should entail only matters that relate to, and affect or are affected by, what is being thought about.
RATIONALITY...requiring sensory proof as a condition to accepting that something is true, and avoiding the following common thinking errors:
* blurring the distinction between proven knowledge and unproven belief
* basing truth on mere assumptions
* using analogies as proof
* failing to recognize that we live in a cause and effect world, that everything that happens is the effect of some cause, or mistakenly believing that the fact that B followed A is proof that A caused B to happen
* generalizing from a sampling
* attacking the arguer rather than the argunent
* believing that was is true of the whole is necessarily true of the parts, and vice versa.
Good thinking is rooted in precision, exactitude, definiteness. What is it? What did he say? What did she mean? It offers the joy of reliability, confidence, certainty.
.
Friday, August 12, 2011
THINKRIGHT 2: MUST YOU THINK?
No, of course, you need not .. Look around. But your life requires thinking, either yours or someone else's. It will not continue automatically. Except for a few biological functions (heart beating, breathing), decisions must be made, action (which is the physicalization of thought) must be taken. At the minimum. food must be acquired and consumed, shelter must be obtained, medical treatment may be required for survival. If you choose not to do the required thinking, it must be done for you. That is a fact of life.
Choosing not to think when you are capable of doing so places your life under the direction of, and at the mercy of, someone else, with all the risks that entails. (In the most extreme and vivid case, it was the decision by thousands of German soldiers to have Adolf Hitler do their thinking for them that allowed the holocaust to happen). But the greatest damage of the choice not to think is not in the overtly bad things that may happen, but in the good things that won't happen: the loss of the self confidence and self esteem that comes from successful personal thinking...and the consequent difficulty in acquiring and enjoying a happy life.
Why then do so many choose so often not to think for themselves, with such a large, potential downside? For many reasons, I guess, but perhaps mostly because of the fear of responsibility for making wrong, improper or less than the best of decisions, The deflation of one's balloon. Nonthinking also seems to save you time, and perhaps it does so, in the short run, In the long run, it costs you time and just about everything else of value.
Interesting to note that society promotes non-thinking by offering acceptance to those who do what is expected of them, those who "follow the rules", adhere to protocols, proprieties and the "should do's" and "must do's"....and sentences those who do not to unfavored status and expulsion. I suppose it is not surprising that society's public education stem omits this whole subject.
And that is something to think about.
.
Choosing not to think when you are capable of doing so places your life under the direction of, and at the mercy of, someone else, with all the risks that entails. (In the most extreme and vivid case, it was the decision by thousands of German soldiers to have Adolf Hitler do their thinking for them that allowed the holocaust to happen). But the greatest damage of the choice not to think is not in the overtly bad things that may happen, but in the good things that won't happen: the loss of the self confidence and self esteem that comes from successful personal thinking...and the consequent difficulty in acquiring and enjoying a happy life.
Why then do so many choose so often not to think for themselves, with such a large, potential downside? For many reasons, I guess, but perhaps mostly because of the fear of responsibility for making wrong, improper or less than the best of decisions, The deflation of one's balloon. Nonthinking also seems to save you time, and perhaps it does so, in the short run, In the long run, it costs you time and just about everything else of value.
Interesting to note that society promotes non-thinking by offering acceptance to those who do what is expected of them, those who "follow the rules", adhere to protocols, proprieties and the "should do's" and "must do's"....and sentences those who do not to unfavored status and expulsion. I suppose it is not surprising that society's public education stem omits this whole subject.
And that is something to think about.
.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
THINKRIGHT 1
Humans have a unique type of brain. It can:
Ask questions
Seek answers
Contemplate the world
Determine what is true and what isn't
Learn
Make decisions
Choose a course of action
Make judgments
Question itself
Make long term plans
Wonder
Create new ideas, new things
Turn itself on or of
We call all of that Thinking, and it is what distinguishes humans from all other living things and everything else that exists. It is, I believe, at the root of all of man's successes and progress through the ages, and for all his failures and despairs.
This is the first in a series of posts on Thinking. When you have read them, you will know why I said "I believe" in the preceding paragraph and not "I know".
This series will look at:
Do people have to think?
What type of Thinking is Good Thinking?
What are the benefits of Good Thinking in your day to day life?
What are the common errors people make in their Thinking?
What are the penalties of poor Thinking or of not Thinking at all?
Are you a Good Thinker?
************************************************************
Ask questions
Seek answers
Contemplate the world
Determine what is true and what isn't
Learn
Make decisions
Choose a course of action
Make judgments
Question itself
Make long term plans
Wonder
Create new ideas, new things
Turn itself on or of
We call all of that Thinking, and it is what distinguishes humans from all other living things and everything else that exists. It is, I believe, at the root of all of man's successes and progress through the ages, and for all his failures and despairs.
This is the first in a series of posts on Thinking. When you have read them, you will know why I said "I believe" in the preceding paragraph and not "I know".
This series will look at:
Do people have to think?
What type of Thinking is Good Thinking?
What are the benefits of Good Thinking in your day to day life?
What are the common errors people make in their Thinking?
What are the penalties of poor Thinking or of not Thinking at all?
Are you a Good Thinker?
************************************************************
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