I recieved an email from a friend that included what is supposed to be an address from a former CIA Economist super-brain to an international economic summit. I am going to post it in the sandbox and Dusty and Devil, I hope you two read it. I don't mind everybody reading it and discussing it, but you two particularly because I think we have shown that we can handle the discussion without injecting any angst into it. I will tell you now, and I will note it in the new thread (which I will title "Food for Thought"), that I do not agree with everything in the writing, and some of it I do not even believe. But it does make for a VERY interesting read. It is legthy. You will need about 10 minutes or so just to read it.
Cool - did you post it yet? Always interested in that stuff.
devilof76 said:
But if there was no one who couldn't stand completely on their own, or no one capable of generating new ideas, or even able to perform an act of cognition entirely with their own mind, humanity would still be chasing their food with sharp sticks. If that.
Since we don't exactly know how the evolution away from chasing our food with sharp sticks happened, isn't it possible that it happened collectively? Yes, one person (or group) probably led the way, but if he/they hadn't taught everyone else or allowed them to 'copy' him/them - corporate secrets shared with the rest of the world, oh my! - that trait would have died off with him/them. If we don't share and prosper with the rest of humanity, especially those who are at a lesser advantage than us, what happens when our 'advanced' society gets wiped out? (which WILL eventually happen, if history has proven anything... superpowers don't last forever and it's ludicrously arrogant to believe that we hold the answers to everything and can survive on our own without help from other countries/people)
The Dark Ages, that's what. Re-learning of everything that we had once known. It's what happened when the Greco-Roman culture was wiped out by the Visigoths, after Rome's societal decline. Rome thought she was the greatest thing ever, didn't share any of her wealth and knowledge with 'the heathens', and paid for it.
On edit:
devilof76 said:
There is no 'collective mind'. All thought is an independent act, if it is actual thought and not just parrotting. If thought is what separates human beings from the rest of the animal kingdom, there is no truly human society unless independent thinkers are free to do so.
Where did I say that independent thought should be shackled? Independent thinking is what will lead to a better world. I can't stand the bureaucracy as it stands. If someone has an idea that will better the human race, isn't it better that we all adopt the idea once it's put forth, rather than have them keep it to themselves and sell it for a price? THAT'S what I have a problem with. Meh, my head hurts
BTW, back on topic, I got my stimulus check on schedule.
