On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 3:34 PM, denstar wrote: >> >> People say they want "no bias" which means they really want world-view >> confirmation. And that's the scary thing: just when we need more >> critical thinking, we're driving less and less. > > Part of me wonders: has it always been like this?
Of course it has always been like this. As yourself this: how many people believe in ghosts? Why? What rational basis is there to believe in ghosts/spirits? And yet, if you could actually do a survey of everyone on the planet, I would not be shocked if the belief in ghosts and spirits was somewhere above 99% of the world population. > You see philosophers from thousands of years ago saying much the same, right? Philosophy has always pondered these questions, but that's a tiny group of people. > Course, they could remember a little more than 30 seconds or so, back then. Humans lived in squalor and ignorance for most of recorded history. Only in the last century have the masses started to enjoy the benefits once available only to the fabulously rich. But material wealth or creature comfort is not at issue. Even a modestly paid laborer in today's society enjoys benefits not available to anyone, be they beggars or kings, only a few decades ago. Instead, at issue today is knowledge, and what we have learned, indeed what the brainiacs at Google can prove mathematically, is that the vast majority of people are more interested in the Greek theater that is celebrity-watching than issues of serious weight and importance. To Gruss' point, the challenge, for those of us inclined to stay informed about the world, is to cut through the BS and get to the facts. The situation in Georgia is a perfect example. Who started the war? It sounds like a few South Ossetians shelled the Georgians, who then launched a military push to wipe out the resistance, and that triggered the overwhelming Russian response. But why? Was it planned by the US and Georgia, as the Russian bloggers seem to think? Was it planned by the Russians and the South Ossetians as a way to pick a fight and provide Russia cover to pull South Ossetia away from Georgia? Who knows, except for the people involved at the top? We can only watch from the outside, gather as much information as possible, and draw our own conclusions, which, as you noted, may be entirely different based on the same set of facts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;203748912;27390454;j Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:265964 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
