Not that anyone on this lightly-read blog is going to care, but I made a small adjustment to the commenting policy. This is actually becoming a bit more common among the more intelligent outposts on the net, and I think it is a good trend.
From now on, no more anonymous posts under pseudonyms will be accepted - they will be deleted without even being read unless you are already known to me (real identity).
Thinkers who want to hide behind the screen of Internet anonymity....well... are just not thinkers and are not welcome here.
Showing posts with label This Blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label This Blog. Show all posts
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
The Internet Thinks We Are Stupid...and Illiterate
And it is really starting to p*ss me off!
Have you noticed the increasing ratio of news stories that seem to come in "video only" form?
First of all...this is offensive as h*ll to me. It seems the publishers of said news items don't think I am capable of reading it on my own (I have a beyond-college vocabulary and comprehension, so I don't need some almost-literate bimbo to read it to me....at least not for another thirty years or so I hope!).
Add to that the fact that said video is always 1) preceded by some brain dead advertising aimed at the sixth graders in the audience; and that 2) the "reader" when they finally get around to it either misses or just ignores some very salient facts; 3) or adds a lot of fluff to the story that has no value at all.
It has gotten to the point where if I click on what appears to be a news link and it pops up a video...I just kill it immediately. I hope we are not becoming such a stupid nation of "feed me your version of the news" that this becomes a normal delivery mechanism.
Have you noticed the increasing ratio of news stories that seem to come in "video only" form?
First of all...this is offensive as h*ll to me. It seems the publishers of said news items don't think I am capable of reading it on my own (I have a beyond-college vocabulary and comprehension, so I don't need some almost-literate bimbo to read it to me....at least not for another thirty years or so I hope!).
Add to that the fact that said video is always 1) preceded by some brain dead advertising aimed at the sixth graders in the audience; and that 2) the "reader" when they finally get around to it either misses or just ignores some very salient facts; 3) or adds a lot of fluff to the story that has no value at all.
It has gotten to the point where if I click on what appears to be a news link and it pops up a video...I just kill it immediately. I hope we are not becoming such a stupid nation of "feed me your version of the news" that this becomes a normal delivery mechanism.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
PBS on Colbert?
The anchors at PBS NewsHour (which I regularly depend upon and is linked to the right) had the opportunity to promote their brand of news (the old-fashioned kind that is actually information) on the Colbert Report recently and I think acquitted themselves quite well.
If you enjoy being a thinker, there is no other comparable source of 'visual' news on TV today, unless your local PBS station also broadcasts the BBC News, which is also excellent and informative, but a bit more world-centered (as it should be).
So the BBC for world news, these women for US (and world) news, and now Hari Sreenivasan has a 'half hour' PBS NewsHour on Saturday and Sundays. Unlike the screeching heads news channels, they realize that most of the rest of the world is still functioning on our weekends.
If you enjoy being a thinker, there is no other comparable source of 'visual' news on TV today, unless your local PBS station also broadcasts the BBC News, which is also excellent and informative, but a bit more world-centered (as it should be).
So the BBC for world news, these women for US (and world) news, and now Hari Sreenivasan has a 'half hour' PBS NewsHour on Saturday and Sundays. Unlike the screeching heads news channels, they realize that most of the rest of the world is still functioning on our weekends.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Yes, I'm also a Party Pooper
Yes, I absolutely detest parties...political parties that is, of any stripe, color or fancy name. But, I am in very good company (the first four presidents of the US to drop a few names)...and none other in particular than George Washington...but more on that later.
To understand how I got to this conclusion on parties, you have to understand my view of humanity. I believe that humans do have completely unique abilities and capabilities. Among these are the ability to form individual views and conclusions based on questioning and exploring the world around us...where they came from, which of the several thousand identified or sanctified dieties gave them to us is of absolutley no interest to me. I believe humans were meant to rise above that sort of thing, and be always forward-looking, always trying to understand given their talents and abilities, and within their limitations.
We are also given the unique ability to reason with each other, and compromise, and reach an agreement -- the best of these, as embodied by the Greek Senate, the Magna Carta, and other examples past. Witness our own US Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and other thoughts as written by the founders of the USA; along with those like Lincoln who held it together when smaller minds would tear it apart are the finest examples. They demonstrate a unique ability on our part to place the good of the many above the good of the few when it counts. Even our close relatives in the simian world don't get too far into a disagreement before they end up bashing each other in the head to "settle" it.
I think the mark of true 'intelligence' is to fully realize that no one person or set of dogmatic statements can possibly be true or even useful for all possible situations. Life is too rich and wonderful and full of surprises...and you deliberately shut yourself off from the world if you choose to take a head-in-the-twelfth-century-sand approach of following stone tablets, or scrolls, or whatever without thinking.
Now, back to the political party thing...I think the first silent admission that anyone joining a political party absolutely has to make is that:
"I confess I am too (stupid, unintelligent, uneducated, lazy) to make up my own mind on any topic of significance. I am much more comfortable with a set of rigid rules and positions made by others to which I can blindly subscribe without thinking....(and what color flag I am supposed to be waving by the way)?".
Many people aligning with one political party or another are just looking for an easy way out --- democracy and in fact being a thinking human being are supposed to be hard work, and take some investment of time and study. Cable TV news these days of any stripe other than the BBC or PBS is worthless tripe, and you sure won't find enlightenment among the airheads of Survivor, American Idol, DWTS, America has Talent, etc..BTW - do you realize we are beaming this crap off into space in all directions as the indicator to others that this is the height of our civilization????.
Most of the Founding Fathers detested the idea of political parties or at the least had serious misgivings about them. George Washington nailed it rather eloquently in his Farewell Address:
"They [political parties] serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests.
However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying afterwards the very engines, which have lifted them to unjust dominion."
That language is probably a bit beyond the Twitter, Facebook, Fox News, and text crowd, but what he said, roughly translated to the vernacular is:
Political parties organize special interest factions and pretend it is the will of the people when in fact it is nothing more than the careful campaign of a small minority pushing forward their ill-advised and divisive ideas, rather than the plans raised together by people working in concert for the common good.
However popular these factions may be to a minority, they will in time become self-sustaining entities which ambitious men will use to subvert the power of the people, and gain for themselves the power of government, destroying afterward the very processes and institutions that allowed them to rise to their dominance.
And that, dear reader, as expressed by George Washington more eloquently than I ever could...is why political parties are at the root of everything that is wrong in Washington DC.
To understand how I got to this conclusion on parties, you have to understand my view of humanity. I believe that humans do have completely unique abilities and capabilities. Among these are the ability to form individual views and conclusions based on questioning and exploring the world around us...where they came from, which of the several thousand identified or sanctified dieties gave them to us is of absolutley no interest to me. I believe humans were meant to rise above that sort of thing, and be always forward-looking, always trying to understand given their talents and abilities, and within their limitations.
We are also given the unique ability to reason with each other, and compromise, and reach an agreement -- the best of these, as embodied by the Greek Senate, the Magna Carta, and other examples past. Witness our own US Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and other thoughts as written by the founders of the USA; along with those like Lincoln who held it together when smaller minds would tear it apart are the finest examples. They demonstrate a unique ability on our part to place the good of the many above the good of the few when it counts. Even our close relatives in the simian world don't get too far into a disagreement before they end up bashing each other in the head to "settle" it.
I think the mark of true 'intelligence' is to fully realize that no one person or set of dogmatic statements can possibly be true or even useful for all possible situations. Life is too rich and wonderful and full of surprises...and you deliberately shut yourself off from the world if you choose to take a head-in-the-twelfth-century-sand approach of following stone tablets, or scrolls, or whatever without thinking.
Now, back to the political party thing...I think the first silent admission that anyone joining a political party absolutely has to make is that:
"I confess I am too (stupid, unintelligent, uneducated, lazy) to make up my own mind on any topic of significance. I am much more comfortable with a set of rigid rules and positions made by others to which I can blindly subscribe without thinking....(and what color flag I am supposed to be waving by the way)?".
Many people aligning with one political party or another are just looking for an easy way out --- democracy and in fact being a thinking human being are supposed to be hard work, and take some investment of time and study. Cable TV news these days of any stripe other than the BBC or PBS is worthless tripe, and you sure won't find enlightenment among the airheads of Survivor, American Idol, DWTS, America has Talent, etc..BTW - do you realize we are beaming this crap off into space in all directions as the indicator to others that this is the height of our civilization????.
Most of the Founding Fathers detested the idea of political parties or at the least had serious misgivings about them. George Washington nailed it rather eloquently in his Farewell Address:
"They [political parties] serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests.
However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying afterwards the very engines, which have lifted them to unjust dominion."
That language is probably a bit beyond the Twitter, Facebook, Fox News, and text crowd, but what he said, roughly translated to the vernacular is:
Political parties organize special interest factions and pretend it is the will of the people when in fact it is nothing more than the careful campaign of a small minority pushing forward their ill-advised and divisive ideas, rather than the plans raised together by people working in concert for the common good.
However popular these factions may be to a minority, they will in time become self-sustaining entities which ambitious men will use to subvert the power of the people, and gain for themselves the power of government, destroying afterward the very processes and institutions that allowed them to rise to their dominance.
And that, dear reader, as expressed by George Washington more eloquently than I ever could...is why political parties are at the root of everything that is wrong in Washington DC.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
The Friendly Mantra
Something I don't think we do enough of anymore is good old fashioned THINKING (hence the blog name). Just read any newspaper headline (if you can find one that is both correctly spelled and gramatically correct), watch any TV news or any account of a political debate and try to find any semblance of logic or thought. Thinking for yourself and making up your own mind on something is liberating - and quite addictive in a positive way. Following the crowd never seemed like a good idea to me, and thinking also gives you a whole new source of humour and outright laughter...again just look at any politician or political party.
I have long treasured a quote that is attributed to Fred Friendly of CBS News - he reputedly said at the beginning of many of his seminars:
"...their purpose was to make the agony of decision-making so intense that you can escape only by thinking."
One could do a lot worse than to live by those words...I wish more people in power inside and outside of government would do so.
Update: And now it is at the top of the blog...now that I have verified its wording and origin.
I have long treasured a quote that is attributed to Fred Friendly of CBS News - he reputedly said at the beginning of many of his seminars:
"...their purpose was to make the agony of decision-making so intense that you can escape only by thinking."
One could do a lot worse than to live by those words...I wish more people in power inside and outside of government would do so.
Update: And now it is at the top of the blog...now that I have verified its wording and origin.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
The Name
One thing I forgot to explain in the prior post was the name of the blog - "Thinkers Agora". Agora is a Greek term for "gathering place". I have been fortunate enough in my travels to have seen the ancient Agora in Athens, and I remember being impressed by the number of great thinker's feet that must have trod that soil.
That is my hope for this blog -- to attract people who think, rather than react or brainlessly follow trends set by others.
That is my hope for this blog -- to attract people who think, rather than react or brainlessly follow trends set by others.
Welcome (and who the heck is this guy???)
Well Hello!
If you have stumbled on this fledgling blog, you obviously have way too much time on your hands, or a insane curiosity about the dark corners of the Internet.
I will be introducing myself in several upcoming posts here, but for now just know that I am a late-entrant blogger, primarily because I could not settle on a particular topic or area to blog about. While casting about for signs of intelligent life on the Internet (an increasingly despairing undertaking I am afraid) I came across this old post which got me to thinking...
I am uncomfortable with the term 'polymath' because as it is currently defined (including in that <sarcasm>unassailable fountain of all knowledge, Wikipedia</sarcasm>) it says that a polymath is an "expert" in many fields. I have long admired the Leonardo da Vincis of the world, and only recently realized that I have spent most of my adult life trying to be like them.
However, I am definitely a Polymath "trainee"....I am interested in an insanely wide variety of topics, from science to law, but can only claim "expert" status in a small number of those. I hope to engage like-minded people on this blog, so that I can learn more about the areas I am interested in but do not understand as well as others.
Therefore you will be seeing posts on a variety of topics -- from science (just because it is so d*mn cool and interesting) to politics (just because it is so d*mn uncool and nauseating). Posts will appear in somewhat random order -- whatever interests me gets posted, whatever does not (and/or appears on cable news) will not appear.
I expect (and want) to express some strong opinions here on a variety of topics -- opinions that I know do not mesh well with at least some, but that is partly the point - truly intelligent discussion has largely disappeared from the American landscape these days. The only requirements to particpate here are intelligence, a strong sense of logic, and and an ability to realize and a willingness to admit when you might be all or partly wrong....and to listen to your fellow earth-citizens when they have good ideas.
If you have stumbled on this fledgling blog, you obviously have way too much time on your hands, or a insane curiosity about the dark corners of the Internet.
I will be introducing myself in several upcoming posts here, but for now just know that I am a late-entrant blogger, primarily because I could not settle on a particular topic or area to blog about. While casting about for signs of intelligent life on the Internet (an increasingly despairing undertaking I am afraid) I came across this old post which got me to thinking...
I am uncomfortable with the term 'polymath' because as it is currently defined (including in that <sarcasm>unassailable fountain of all knowledge, Wikipedia</sarcasm>) it says that a polymath is an "expert" in many fields. I have long admired the Leonardo da Vincis of the world, and only recently realized that I have spent most of my adult life trying to be like them.
However, I am definitely a Polymath "trainee"....I am interested in an insanely wide variety of topics, from science to law, but can only claim "expert" status in a small number of those. I hope to engage like-minded people on this blog, so that I can learn more about the areas I am interested in but do not understand as well as others.
Therefore you will be seeing posts on a variety of topics -- from science (just because it is so d*mn cool and interesting) to politics (just because it is so d*mn uncool and nauseating). Posts will appear in somewhat random order -- whatever interests me gets posted, whatever does not (and/or appears on cable news) will not appear.
I expect (and want) to express some strong opinions here on a variety of topics -- opinions that I know do not mesh well with at least some, but that is partly the point - truly intelligent discussion has largely disappeared from the American landscape these days. The only requirements to particpate here are intelligence, a strong sense of logic, and and an ability to realize and a willingness to admit when you might be all or partly wrong....and to listen to your fellow earth-citizens when they have good ideas.
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