Reign of Stupidity

[NavajoEverclear]

Is it frightening to anyone else how similar our world is to Farenheit 451? Not in all actual manifestations, but in mentality, we're goin down that road. What i think the problem is stupid people getting in power. Stupid people in media and buisness feeding us crap, as said in farenheit 451 : man not born equal, but made equal. Society is covered in so many freakin rules and unquestioned mentalities of stupidity, all these things are programming us not to be self thinking individuals.

 

I think the concept of Farenheit 451 goes deeper when combined with the Matrix. I heard that matrix is a remake of some other movies about reality, i haven't seen them, so I chose the matrix in my example. Matrix tells of a world where machines have power, farenheit 451 tells us how our own idiocy leads us to let them have power. I mean think about it--- we make machines, they will never make us slaves, unless we get carried away and GIVE them too much power. The unfortunate fact is that stupid people are in power and will be in power, they will allow such things to happen.

 

I'm probably aiding the degradation and slavery along by even typing this. People blessed with brains need to take responsibility change what society is feeding to its citizens. Need to redesign the structure to minimize the chances of people being allowed to be stupid, then taking power and stupidizing the rest of the population. This is just an observation, not a developed solution plan. Which is why it's probably a waste of time because its taking time away from discovering what it is that can be done to save us.

 

 

I need to take another vacation, so i wont come back(for a while) to elaborate points, i hope some other people see what i see and can discuss and acomplish something.

[YT2095]

I hope they don`t see what you see, that will mean my fiendish plans have been foiled yet again!

[VendingMenace]

as far as i am concerned, we are already slaves to our machines. The majority of us could not live without the nor would we choose to, given the choice.

 

For further elaboration, read Player Piano by Kurk Vonegut

[Sayonara]

Speak for yourself.

 

[VendingMenace]

i am serious.

 

Society could not function without cars, busses, farming machines, airplanes, computers, medicines, the printing press, the lever, the pully, boats, stoves, refrigerators, flashlights, batteries, powerplants, water proccesing plants, sweage processing plants, food proccessing plants, steel mills, wood mills, radar, sadly TV, radio, ect ect ect.

 

Of course you could point out that man might survive without these tings, as we did once, but there is no way that we could support the population that we have now without some of these machines.

 

Furthermore, (and most importantly) we choose to live and depend on these machines. Whenever new technology comes out, we adapt it and integrate in into our lives. Thus, we choose to indroduce something that will demand our time, energy, resources, ect.

 

This is why we are slaves, we choose to serve machines (by fixing them ect.) when they demand fixxing. And many people would die, if we stopped servicinng the machines.

 

Sure, machines may not be alive or have a conscience. So perhaps this is not the type of slavery that we usually think about. But it is there. Whether you like it or not, you choose to serve the machines in your life. (ie. you pay for the electricity for your computer)

 

Perhaps this seems like it is comming out of left field. I don't know. But what i do know is that we could not survive as we to today without machines. So we are dependent on them, just as they are on us.

 

We say that we are the masters of machines becuase they serve us, that is they do what we want. But then we to do what they need. Is it so hard to imagine that this too is a form of slavery or dependence?

[gene]

actually... how can we define stupidity from a scientific POW?

 

Vending.... i'm with you. That's a very gd point. Rather.. gd fact.!

[Sayonara]

Yes, society is dependent on machines. But if they suddenly stopped working one day we would not be destroyed.

 

Just as society adapts - as you say - to integrate new technology into our lives, it would adapt to cope with none of it. Millions would die in the process, yes, but a high mortality rate is not the same as "not surviving".

 

The only reason there are millions of extra people is because of that technology, so the assumption that a loss of population following the catastrophic failure of said technology is a flawed one.

 

Bigger populations don't necessarily equal better societies, just as greater technological presence or diversity doesn't make us a more 'survivable' species.

 

What I'm saying is that yes - a lot of people would die if our technology suddenly failed, but so what? It would be pretty crappy for that generation, sure, but the species would go on (and we would be all the better for it imo).

 

The very bottom line is that humans are part of myriad systems, and as long as you adopt the point of view that we cannot be separated from every system, you can call humans slaves. Slaves to the land. Slaves to the plough. Slaves to oxygen. Big deal. Why villify a specific thing like technology? It's just a thing. We made it, we learned how to exploit it - we can unmake it and unlearn it just as easily.

[YT2095]

and aren`t machines there to stop us being slaves (as much) to other things?

 

I`de hate to have to dig over my land manualy, I`de much sooner use a rotor tiller and have to feed it a little bit of petrol and oil occasionaly.

or use email rather than manualy write letters, and wait for the post man to walk several thousand miles to deliver it.

I think it`s quite the contrary, machines Free us up for different persuits, years ago when human slavery was common, they used these slaves to do tasks that the "owners" didn`t want to do. I see no difference with machines

[Sayonara]

That's exactly what I said before.

 

You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't.

 

The majority of technology is not there to help us to survive, but to help speed up tedious jobs. Whether or not it always works is not relevant to the issue of whether or not we are slaves to it, because with or without technology we are slaves to something.

[VendingMenace]

because with or without technology we are slaves to something.

 

There is something that i can agree with. We just choose to be slaves to machines, becuase they are easier "masters" than the land alone would be.

 

I am not trying to say that machines are alive or anything, i am just saying that we choose to be dependent on them, so we must attnd to them.

[YT2095]

as sayo rightly said, in that case we are "slaves" to breathing too!

[NavajoEverclear]

in the my first version of my reply (that i said i wouldn't do because i was afraid of getting carried away) i got carried away.

 

essentially i just want to say, technology doesn't have to be our enemy. Where would you draw the line anyway? a shovel is technology. Really the problem is the direction of the mentality of society, which is what Farenheit 451 focuses on, so i wont redefine it. However the direction of society could lead us to a place where balance of power leaves the hands of humans.

[iglak]

yeah, but some people wouldn't have the common sense to be able to survive without it. so, i agree with sayo, with a little extra devil's advocate in that the people that can't live without machines will probably all win darwin awards and make the world a better place.... :owned:

[Sayonara]

A catastrophic loss of technology is pretty much inevitable at some point in the near future, but I really wouldn't worry about it too much

[aman]

Since we have our representatives in Gov't. making decisions on technology I think they should be qualified. If they are as stupid as the general public who in a recent survey a majority didn't know a year was the time it takes the Earth to circle the sun, dinosaurs didn't exist alongside humans, and thought atoms were bigger than electrons, then how can they be on panels about stem cell research? I think our representatives should also have to be able to pass a general intelligence test. I bet Ted Kennedy can quote the drinking/impairment tables but if you pointed up at the Milky Way galaxy in the night sky, he would'nt know we were part of it. Not just picken on Ted but I've heard some stupid arguments all the way up.

Just aman

[NavajoEverclear]

who was owned? My carried away version mentioned loss of technology would not be that huge in some ways, because most people do live without any, look up poverty statistics, people who actually have access to computers is probably a pretty small percentile. However, the people who have technology, have power, and that makes a huge difference.

 

Aman- i'm ashamed of my huge overgeneralization, that kind of atitude only adds to problems. What i consider stupid is not an absolute, and it is not dependent on school knowledge. I think newspapers are stupid-- they solve no problems, they are written to interest you, addict you and make money. Of coarse newspapers are obviously not the most rampant addiction that needs to be addressed. I bet you people are too smart to watch a ton of television, but television is stupid, it is also created for the purpose of enslaving us to provide a money supply. Those are just a couple of the most obvious examples. There are so many structures of society that compromise the intelligence of their creators and governers, to addict the masses money, stupidizing both ends as a biproduct of the process. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. Yes the people in power have knowledge, but its not the right type of knowledge. We need people who are more knowledgeable in compasion and charity, or at least in being long term efficient. Which i believe love can acomplish, but universal ideals can create problems, when they ignore logic. True love does not deny true intelligence, but since just those words provoke liscense to ignorance in those that don't truly understand, is the only reason a government of love may not work. It might have to be love in disguise. However, i know our current government does not love us, and is not truly concerned in doing its best to make us into intelligent people and such. Stupid people are easier to control, though this is not a conscious perpetration (for the most part) by people in power (in developed countries), it is the reason our full potential is not worked for. There is hope for the stupidest of people if the smartest people open their eyes and save them.

 

People in power let stupid people stay stupid, such act dramatically lowers the intelligence of people in power. Maybe not the right words, because you cant force everyone to use their brains, but my theory is that most people wouldn't require forcing and would gratefully accept aid.

[iglak]

NavajoEverclear said in post #16 :

who was owned?

the people that win darwin awards for the good of humanity

 

I bet you people are too smart to watch a ton of television, but television is stupid, it is also created for the purpose of enslaving us to provide a money supply.

i'm fine with that, i watch a lot of TV, though i much prefer new video games, things that actually make you think to solve puzzles and stuff. and of course, there are always newspapers and television channels that are also interested in teaching things ("Discovery channel" for example).

 

We need people who are more knowledgeable in compasion and charity, or at least in being long term efficient.

a.k.a: "wisdom"

and i agree that love can accomplish it, but lust only degrades it by confusing the two.

 

There is hope for the stupidest of people if the smartest people open their eyes and save them.

i'm tempted to play "devil's advocate" here and say that people are who they are, and can only change if they truly want to, which most don't.

 

my personal phylosophy is that how stupid someone is is a factor of how easily panicked they become, and their ability to see the big picture. some people blame video games, or South Park, or Marylin Manson for violence, but that's as stupid as it gets. these people are so stupid, they can't even see the medium sized picture of those things. all they see is "violence and bad language! oh my god! this is teaching people that violence and bad language is good! this is the devils work, and it will ruin humanity!" when in reality, video games, South Park, and Marylin Manson teach people the exact opposite of that.

video games are about fighting for a reason, a reason worth fighting for.

"South Park" has a moral at the end of every single episode. sure, "South Park" makes fun of specific races and cultures, but these people can't see that it's just fun, and anyone with half a brain wouldn't care about the jokes (especially the specific races and cultures).

Marylin Manson sings about sex, drugs and violence, but would never ever sing about how good they are (i haven't actually listened to any of his songs, but all interviews i read said that the message he is trying to convey is how bad the things are).

these people panick when they see things like this, and then they go on a riot and do drugs, sex, and violence. these stupid people are incapable of seeing the big picture of anything, and will never learn how to do so unless forced to listen to someone smart for once. i wish i was just playing devil's advocate here, but i'm not.

the more i type about this, the more i get mad at people like this, so i will convey this thusly: they should all try to win darwin awards.:owned:

 

honestly, i hope genetic engineering comes around, and someone finds the smart gene. then maybe we will be rid of stupidity once and for all.

 

 

P.S. my sig is currently an example of a fun joke. it means absolutely nothing about anyone, and was something my teacher said to another class the monday before finals. the story is: he likes us AP Bio kids more than the Physio kids, and everyone knows it, especially him, so he said this to the Physiology kids just for fun.

one kid in my class always picks on certain races, knowingly, and we all know that it is just for fun and that he doesn't actually mean anything. and in return we pick on him just for fun, but we all know that we don't mean anything either. my AP Bio class is only smart kids, and the best teacher EVER!!! who are smart enough to not care. if any of the stupid types of people were in that class, they would probably sue and cause a lot of violence or something, because they wouldn't be able to realise that none of our mean jokes are actually mean to anyone. that is, of course, if my teacher didn't kick them out of class first for starting said violence.

 

P.P.S. i hope this post didn't offend anyone, because that was not at all my intent.

 

P.P.P.S. if this did offend you, and you did, in fact, read my post, then ummm...... ;) hint, hint :owned:, lol