There's plenty of cognitive dissonance in the states. It surprises me how much misinformation is forwarded by email forwards and I'm frankly tired of correcting them. Millions of people seem to pass on information without even checking to see if it's accurate. I've long said that the solution to most of these problems is long-term investments in education. They say that some scientific fields are very humbling experiences. It would probably do the world good to be scientifically literate, fluent in higher math, and perhaps educated in the arts. It's true, one cannot fake the long call, but one cannot fake sending a probe to Mars or launching a geostationary satellite, either. The world has always had its share of liars, cheats, and cons - and people making millions and billions off of the backs of the poor. We've always had war machines and conquerors, sinners as well as saints. However, as depressing as that sounds, the human race has accomplished so much in the last 100 years, and even more in the last 1,000 and 10,000. To think, that we now can live twice as long as our great uncles and auntses, that we have sanitation, plumbing, heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer, a good supply of food and medicine that our ancestors have fought wars over to have less than what we have. Yes, there are people in the world who are suffering and whose standard of living is miserable - but over time and with more education things will get better. Life is improving for all of us, and we must remain optimistic. To quote Carl Sagain regarding the 'pale blue dot' we call home: "Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known." I think that's all the more reason to fight to improve the world and to keep one's chin up. Nobody ever said the road was easy, but we've got to keep going if we want to get anywhere. -William In a message dated 11/21/2010 3:03:55 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
Yes, I agree (partly), it is a mer tragic comedy, but how about Greece with a per head debit of 20.000.- EUR, or Afghanistan with this super corrupt comedian in the green coat & the green cap, or the present Thai government, which hinders any justice, fills their pockets on taxpayers account. Or Thai TV, which I can watch over satellite: if there is any decollete in sight, flimmer, if there is a bottle with brandy in sight, flimmer, but morder, betrayal, in the only story they broadcast in primitive variations, but the same actors, - and Bangkok is full of brothels & so like. The whole world seems now be full of lies, open & secretely, in the arts, in politics & in business. Fortunately, nobody can fake Long Call or Mozart K.495 or Strauss no.2. There is no way, to get to the top of the horn world by corruption. It confirms, that music is something providing a bit better world, even for a short time mostly. Can you translate : "cognitive dissonance" ? ############################################################################ ################ Am 21.11.2010 um 20:51 schrieb Daniel Canarutto: > On 20Nov 2010, at 19:21 , Hans Pizka wrote: > >> ...but the difference would be, that we would not make ourselves >> guilty by voting for idiots/gangsters/liers/corruptionists or that >> like. > > Hello Hans, I understand your disgust for the politicians in general, > but (trust me) what we are having now in Italy is unmatched by any > civilized country. > > Daniel > _______________________________________________ > post: [email protected] > unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/hpizka%40me.com _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/valkhorn%40aol.com _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
