Power doesn't come from weapons, violence, money, or anything external.
It stems from one thing and one thing alone.
BELIEF.
Do you believe that the money I am offering will improve your life? If so, you have just given me power. Thank you. Now finish cleaning the toilet.
Do you believe that death is bad? (In case you've forgotten, we all die.) If so, I can control you through violence. Or I can control you by offering conditional protection from violence. You need me, that is if you WANT to keep living. Thanks for the power. Now get to work. I need tax money to continue protecting you.
Ok, I agree, but I'd like to add that ADD is just another way of blaming children when they refuse to 'sit still' and do what we tell them to do.
When I went to school, I had to sit still for hours at a time. This was INCREDIBLY boring. Or I was given INCREDIBLY BORING WORK to do. And I was expected to sit in a class with lots of other kids and not talk to them?! For hours and hours. I wouldn't do it. Any of it. It didn't make sense to me then, and it doesn't make sense to me now.
My teachers tried to figure out WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME. It never occured to them that what they were asking me to do was UNREASONABLE in the first place.
The question was always "What's wrong with this child?" as opposed to "What's wrong with this situation?"
If a child is bored, and doesn't want to do assigned material, the teachers focus shifts away from LEARNING and towards COMPLIANCE.
Years and years of compliance training adds up. It turns curious, questioning and thinking children into passive and apathetic adults who are afraid of the unknown: after years of being punished for mistakes, kids learn to stick to what they know.
Never called a cop a sadist. Never stereotyped, but suggested that "If you ever want to know what kind of culture cop-life is like, get to know a cop," followed by some personal experiences.
A female cop assaulted me once. She arrested me for being drunk. During the drive in, she swerved from lane to lane, turned corners real fast like, causing me (handcuffed in the back) to roll around violently, occasionally striking my head against the window. Jee whiz, maybe she forgot I was in there...
Is there a correlation between education and better cops? I'd like to see more info on this.
Would cops be happy if drugs were legalized? It would mean less violence and less police.
Does having a docile, stupid, compliant, citizenry make a cops job harder or easier? Does it improve democracy or hinder it?
I think these are important questions since they reveal a serious conflict of interest.
So, what's the difference between "an innocent protestor" and "a beligerant thug"?
Innocent protestors do not wear dangerous *looking* atire. They also comply indiscriminately to police requests. If you ask them to do something they will do it, indicating an excellent education, as well as evoking a comforting feeling of trust from the police officer. He can trust you to be subordinate to him, to be predictable and easy to control. Innocent protestors do not use profanity. They treat the police with grateful respect, and are especially polite, since the police work towards a safer America, an America where one day, police may not even be needed! I bet they can't wait to start cutting down their numbers! Imagine the honor: to be the first police officer retired early due to a safer America! "We are happy to announce that your services are no longer required. Congratulations and thank you."
But do the police work for a safer America? No. They work for a more dangerous America. For example, the police lobby for stronger drug laws. This puts more pressure on the black market, pushing drug prices higher, creating a greater incentive for drug dealers to use violence, creating a greater demand for more police. Hmmm.... I've heard that the police are considered (in certain circles) business parteners. They keep an eye on pushers, and if someone gets sloppy, they get busted. Kind of like how wolves might cull the weak or sick from a herd of buffalo. By doing so, they make the herd stronger, and the wolves get fed. It's a win win.
If you ever want to know what kind of culture cop-life is like, get to know a cop. Get to know a young cop, whose too stupid and green to keep his mouth shut and will inevitabley brag about his exploits over a few beers. Like that time when a junkies arm "got broken" while he was "resisting arrest". The junkie, who was passed out at the time, wouldn't do what he was told. He would not comply. Resistance is futile! *Crack!* (Insert chuckle here...heh heh...)
Go out for a night on the town with a bunch of cops when they're off duty. Don't be surprised if they start a couple of fights while they're drinking. (They don't know who they're messing with! Insert chuckle here...)
I'm not saying cops are supposed to be perfect, but if the people in control are stupid, if they refuse to examine the reality of their situation, if they insulate themselves from critical information and thought, if they make up their minds based on status quo friendly TV shows and newspapers, if they were well 'educated' (AKA behaviorally conditioned) as children, and if their image of police is the one they've been preserving since they were first introduced to 'Officer Bob' at the age of six, what do you expect????
A kid is strapped to a chair. His mouth is being forced open. First he is fed raw ground beef, with the feeder nearly sticking his whole hand in the kids throat, forcing the food down. Then a mouthful of flour, some salt, a piece of lettuce, a piece of tomato, some kethup is squirted in, a little water. "Did you enjoy that hamburger?" Hmmm... he doesn't seem to like it. "Anybody have any ideas what I should feed him? Something he might actually enjoy?"
Well I got news for you. ITS THE WAY YOUR FEEDING HIM THAT HE DOESN'T LIKE!!!! YOUR ACTUALLY TURNING THE KID OFF FOOD!!!
Education imparts information and knowledge, but at the same time implicitly enforces conformity. Is conformity good? To a large extent, yes. It means that the society is more efficient, is more united and less likely to segregate into subgroups, and therefore less likely to have social problems. Is conformity dangerous? Absolutely. Too much conformity leads to a general apathetic social attitude.
From my perspective, society is dangerously apathetic. I mean, half of society doesn't vote and most of the other half votes on the basis of vague or misleading TV ads.
Unity and efficiency have no inherent value. Unity should be achieved through discussion and debate. Achieviving unity through twelve years of behaviour modification is a bad idea. Conditioning can encourage certain behaviours, but it cannot instill a rational basis for those behaviours. Teaching kids under duress does more damage than good.
I've reread your post, and you make statements like "For the most part I think people will agree more education is better than less education in our society.." I think you assume that if something is called education, then it is good, and more is better. But there are many ways to educate. Using behaviour modification is a bad way to educate.
[Educations] chief goal is about integration...
I think children naturally integrate into society. I don't think they need to be isolated, segregated, organized, and punished/rewarded into it.
I agree that mass marketing and growing corporate power is potentially dangerous. But certainly not as dangerous as an education system that fails to teach us to think critically. Critical thought is an essential tool in making sense of things. Ever wonder why public schools don't teach it? In other words, the fact that we are so vulnerable to mass marketing is a major failure of the education system.
In a democracy, deliberately homogenizing the intellect of the masses seems to me to be an act of political manipulation. By controlling what and how society at large thinks, and by instilling in them common assumptions that suit the your purposes, you gain the ability to loosely control or steer a democracy.
Corporatism vs Education: Corporations have the power to permeate manipulative propaganda throughout society. The government OTOH has twelve years of legally obliged access to future voters/consumers while they are young and vulnerable. I think the two work in tandem. (Fuzzy voting advertisements only work because society is easily manipulated due to poor education. Same with Disney ads.)
Which problem is larger is therfore not relevant. I believe that if we 'fix' the education system, we will simultaneously weaken the power of propaganda.
Some of you might do it - those who the $500 is nothing at all - but most probably wouldn't (including me), because the effect is not tangible.
I wouldn't donate $500 because I don't trust NASA to spend the money wisely. Same reason I don't like paying taxes. However, if I was asked to donate $500 to a non-profit space-corp (space-trust?), and I could actively participate in and discuss all aspects of the project with the other participants, I would consider it.
I don't donate to charitys for the same reason. Once I give them the money, I have no idea what's being done with it. I'm just a source of income, not a participant. I have no say! And I have no way to monitor their actions effectively.
Well, state sanctioned lottery has a couple of things going for it: it's (easily) taxable, and it is usually toward a good cause (education...
Education a 'good cause'?
The structure of our education system produces subordinate conformists, and discourages critical/creative thought. It's obedience training in a socially palatable form. It's social engineering on a grand scale. Do you want YOUR children socially engineered by the gov't?
I don't.
Here's a portion of a letter I've been passing around to the kids in my neighborhood...
When I'm training my dog Trish, I often make her sit. She doesn't like to sit, but she does it anyway, sometimes with great dismay. Strangely there is usually no apparent reason for her to be sitting like that. But there is a hidden reason: I am communicating to her that I am in charge. I am letting her know that she is subordinate to me and that she is to do as she's told.
So next time you are bored and trying to sit still while waiting for some bell to ring in your ear, know that you are being trained in obedience and subordination.
Slashdot Mirror
Power doesn't come from weapons, violence, money, or anything external.
It stems from one thing and one thing alone.
BELIEF.
Do you believe that the money I am offering will improve your life? If so, you have just given me power. Thank you. Now finish cleaning the toilet.
Do you believe that death is bad? (In case you've forgotten, we all die.) If so, I can control you through violence. Or I can control you by offering conditional protection from violence. You need me, that is if you WANT to keep living. Thanks for the power. Now get to work. I need tax money to continue protecting you.
James.
Nobody seems to be asking relevant questions.
What happens when geneticly modified pollen 'infects' wild strains?
Could this be the end of coffee as we know it?
James.
Ok, I agree, but I'd like to add that ADD is just another way of blaming children when they refuse to 'sit still' and do what we tell them to do.
When I went to school, I had to sit still for hours at a time. This was INCREDIBLY boring. Or I was given INCREDIBLY BORING WORK to do. And I was expected to sit in a class with lots of other kids and not talk to them?! For hours and hours. I wouldn't do it. Any of it. It didn't make sense to me then, and it doesn't make sense to me now.
My teachers tried to figure out WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME. It never occured to them that what they were asking me to do was UNREASONABLE in the first place.
The question was always "What's wrong with this child?" as opposed to "What's wrong with this situation?"
If a child is bored, and doesn't want to do assigned material, the teachers focus shifts away from LEARNING and towards COMPLIANCE.
Years and years of compliance training adds up. It turns curious, questioning and thinking children into passive and apathetic adults who are afraid of the unknown: after years of being punished for mistakes, kids learn to stick to what they know.
Thanks for the education.
James.
How would it be possible to use the PS2 as a peripheral for a computer? What for? Any ideas on this?
(Was Carmack getting at this in his speech?)
Never called a cop a sadist. Never stereotyped, but suggested that "If you ever want to know what kind of culture cop-life is like, get to know a cop," followed by some personal experiences.
A female cop assaulted me once. She arrested me for being drunk. During the drive in, she swerved from lane to lane, turned corners real fast like, causing me (handcuffed in the back) to roll around violently, occasionally striking my head against the window. Jee whiz, maybe she forgot I was in there...
Is there a correlation between education and better cops? I'd like to see more info on this.
Would cops be happy if drugs were legalized? It would mean less violence and less police.
Does having a docile, stupid, compliant, citizenry make a cops job harder or easier? Does it improve democracy or hinder it?
I think these are important questions since they reveal a serious conflict of interest.
So, what's the difference between "an innocent protestor" and "a beligerant thug"?
Innocent protestors do not wear dangerous *looking* atire. They also comply indiscriminately to police requests. If you ask them to do something they will do it, indicating an excellent education, as well as evoking a comforting feeling of trust from the police officer. He can trust you to be subordinate to him, to be predictable and easy to control. Innocent protestors do not use profanity. They treat the police with grateful respect, and are especially polite, since the police work towards a safer America, an America where one day, police may not even be needed! I bet they can't wait to start cutting down their numbers! Imagine the honor: to be the first police officer retired early due to a safer America! "We are happy to announce that your services are no longer required. Congratulations and thank you."
But do the police work for a safer America? No. They work for a more dangerous America. For example, the police lobby for stronger drug laws. This puts more pressure on the black market, pushing drug prices higher, creating a greater incentive for drug dealers to use violence, creating a greater demand for more police. Hmmm.... I've heard that the police are considered (in certain circles) business parteners. They keep an eye on pushers, and if someone gets sloppy, they get busted. Kind of like how wolves might cull the weak or sick from a herd of buffalo. By doing so, they make the herd stronger, and the wolves get fed. It's a win win.
If you ever want to know what kind of culture cop-life is like, get to know a cop. Get to know a young cop, whose too stupid and green to keep his mouth shut and will inevitabley brag about his exploits over a few beers. Like that time when a junkies arm "got broken" while he was "resisting arrest". The junkie, who was passed out at the time, wouldn't do what he was told. He would not comply. Resistance is futile! *Crack!* (Insert chuckle here...heh heh...)
Go out for a night on the town with a bunch of cops when they're off duty. Don't be surprised if they start a couple of fights while they're drinking. (They don't know who they're messing with! Insert chuckle here...)
I'm not saying cops are supposed to be perfect, but if the people in control are stupid, if they refuse to examine the reality of their situation, if they insulate themselves from critical information and thought, if they make up their minds based on status quo friendly TV shows and newspapers, if they were well 'educated' (AKA behaviorally conditioned) as children, and if their image of police is the one they've been preserving since they were first introduced to 'Officer Bob' at the age of six, what do you expect????
Picture this:
A kid is strapped to a chair. His mouth is being forced open. First he is fed raw ground beef, with the feeder nearly sticking his whole hand in the kids throat, forcing the food down. Then a mouthful of flour, some salt, a piece of lettuce, a piece of tomato, some kethup is squirted in, a little water. "Did you enjoy that hamburger?" Hmmm... he doesn't seem to like it. "Anybody have any ideas what I should feed him? Something he might actually enjoy?"
Well I got news for you. ITS THE WAY YOUR FEEDING HIM THAT HE DOESN'T LIKE!!!! YOUR ACTUALLY TURNING THE KID OFF FOOD!!!
Education imparts information and knowledge, but at the same time implicitly enforces conformity. Is conformity good? To a large extent, yes. It means that the society is more efficient, is more united and less likely to segregate into subgroups, and therefore less likely to have social problems. Is conformity dangerous? Absolutely. Too much conformity leads to a general apathetic social attitude.
From my perspective, society is dangerously apathetic. I mean, half of society doesn't vote and most of the other half votes on the basis of vague or misleading TV ads.
Unity and efficiency have no inherent value. Unity should be achieved through discussion and debate. Achieviving unity through twelve years of behaviour modification is a bad idea. Conditioning can encourage certain behaviours, but it cannot instill a rational basis for those behaviours. Teaching kids under duress does more damage than good.
I've reread your post, and you make statements like "For the most part I think people will agree more education is better than less education in our society.." I think you assume that if something is called education, then it is good, and more is better. But there are many ways to educate. Using behaviour modification is a bad way to educate.
[Educations] chief goal is about integration...
I think children naturally integrate into society. I don't think they need to be isolated, segregated, organized, and punished/rewarded into it.
I agree that mass marketing and growing corporate power is potentially dangerous. But certainly not as dangerous as an education system that fails to teach us to think critically. Critical thought is an essential tool in making sense of things. Ever wonder why public schools don't teach it? In other words, the fact that we are so vulnerable to mass marketing is a major failure of the education system.
In a democracy, deliberately homogenizing the intellect of the masses seems to me to be an act of political manipulation. By controlling what and how society at large thinks, and by instilling in them common assumptions that suit the your purposes, you gain the ability to loosely control or steer a democracy.
Corporatism vs Education: Corporations have the power to permeate manipulative propaganda throughout society. The government OTOH has twelve years of legally obliged access to future voters/consumers while they are young and vulnerable. I think the two work in tandem. (Fuzzy voting advertisements only work because society is easily manipulated due to poor education. Same with Disney ads.)
Which problem is larger is therfore not relevant. I believe that if we 'fix' the education system, we will simultaneously weaken the power of propaganda.
Some of you might do it - those who the $500 is nothing at all - but most probably wouldn't (including me), because the effect is not tangible.
I wouldn't donate $500 because I don't trust NASA to spend the money wisely. Same reason I don't like paying taxes. However, if I was asked to donate $500 to a non-profit space-corp (space-trust?), and I could actively participate in and discuss all aspects of the project with the other participants, I would consider it.
I don't donate to charitys for the same reason. Once I give them the money, I have no idea what's being done with it. I'm just a source of income, not a participant. I have no say! And I have no way to monitor their actions effectively.
Education a 'good cause'?
The structure of our education system produces subordinate conformists, and discourages critical/creative thought. It's obedience training in a socially palatable form. It's social engineering on a grand scale. Do you want YOUR children socially engineered by the gov't?
I don't.
Here's a portion of a letter I've been passing around to the kids in my neighborhood...