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Has Our World Been Dumbed Down? (pg. 3)
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| Krypton |
| quote: | Originally posted by Trancer-X
Schooling (academia) really only gives you the tools to become another cog in the wheel, anyway. It doesn't empower anyone to rise above the crowd, it simply teaches you how to integrate yourself into the machine.
People are continually discouraged from seeking the truth and ridiculed for deviating from the status quo while intellectual pursuits have devolved into mindless distractions that usually only appeal to our base human (or animalistic) instincts. It's pretty sad.
For many who suffer from exceptional or profound giftedness, formal education often feels intellectually and creatively stifling rather than encouraging.
Some of the greatest minds that our world has ever know have been autodidacts, anyhow. So I don't see why one should be dissuaded from following their own path especially if they've long since grown tired of the rigorous monotony that's axiomatic to being bound in a typically stagnant class setting.
Did you know that Manly P. Hall only had an eight grade education? I thought that was pretty wild considering how amazingly brilliant that man was. I just thought that I'd mention it since it seemed relevant to the topic at hand. |
A formal education gives one the authority to speak about a specific subject. If some guy on the street starts talking to me about astro-physics, and makes the claim, "A gamma ray beam is on its way to earth." I'm gonna ask him, "How do you know? Are you an astro-physicist, or just some guy on the street?" 99.9% of the 9/11 conspiracy followers are just some guy on the street...I'm all for an independent commission, but I'm not jumping to conclusions either. |
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| Trancer-X |
| quote: | Originally posted by Krypton
A formal education gives one the authority to speak about a specific subject. If some guy on the street starts talking to me about astro-physics, and makes the claim, "A gamma ray beam is on its way to earth." I'm gonna ask him, "How do you know? Are you an astro-physicist, or just some guy on the street?" 99.9% of the 9/11 conspiracy followers are just some guy on the street...I'm all for an independent commission, but I'm not jumping to conclusions either. |
What's wrong with listening to the person's viewpoints and then following that up with your own dedicated research?
For everybody's sake, I sure hope you don't make it a habit of throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
Anyway, I think it's a shame that people have been so thoroughly dumbed down that they need to rely on some "expert" rather than good, old fashioned common sense.
It seems as though a lot of people are all too eager to offer excuses which only help to safeguard their preexisting prejudices - something which only further perpetuates the ignorance that has come to so thoroughly pervade our society.
Alan Greenspan and "Helicopter" Ben Bernanke are "experts" and look at what bang-up jobs that they've done. |
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| Trancer-X |
As Thomas Paine was once quoted as saying,
| quote: | | Reason obeys itself; ignorance submits to what is dictated to it. |
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| shaolin_Z |
| I always like intellectuals in academia who push the boundaries of social consciousness on any issue, like Howard Zinn, Chomsky, Parenti and others. |
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| Trancer-X |
| quote: | Originally posted by shaolin_Z
I always like intellectuals in academia who push the boundaries of social consciousness on any issue, like Howard Zinn, Chomsky, Parenti and others. |
Definitely!
However, I could easily be wrong but I still feel like Chomsky is just another left-leaning gatekeeper, though. That's just my personal opinion, of course. |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Trancer-X
Anyway, I think it's a shame that people have been so thoroughly dumbed down that they need to rely on some "expert" rather than good, old fashioned common sense. |
Wikipedia: conspiracy theory guide
Appeals to 'common sense';
Common sense steps substitute for the more robust, academically respectable methodologies available for investigating sociological and scientific phenomena. |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Trancer-X
Definitely!
However, I could easily be wrong but I still feel like Chomsky is just another left-leaning gatekeeper, though. That's just my personal opinion, of course. |
10 characteristics of conspiracy theorists
A useful guide by Donna Ferentes
1. Arrogance. They are always fact-seekers, questioners, people who are trying to discover the truth: sceptics are always "sheep", patsies for Messrs Bush and Blair etc. |
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| Trancer-X |
| quote: | Originally posted by shaolin_Z
I haven't read that much of Hall's work but I know he's recognized in esoteric circles as a genius by many. |
| quote: | "Education at any age is a lifelong dedication to the improvement of character and the enlargement of understanding."
- Manly P. Hall |
| quote: | "I never let my schooling get in the way of my education."
- Mark Twain |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| if trancer's personal education is so superior to the indoctrinating tools of academia, why does he still not understand things like how the federal reserve works? :conf: |
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| Trancer-X |
| quote: | Trancer-X's Guide to Troll Idiocy:
1. Constantly droning on and on without having anything even remotely intelligent to say.
2. Constantly attacking and/or harrassing people who do for the sheer sake of pestilent stupidity.
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| DJ Shibby |
Sometimes I wonder if our liberal use of plastics or fluoridation of water supplies has lead to some of the strange illnesses our culture suffers from. Impossible to tell really.
Plastics release toxic chemicals (phenols) which distort gender identity and intelligence levels, especially in children. Cancer causing, as well, but what isn't?
Think about that next time you buy a plastic bottle of soda. Chemistry's a bitch. :P |
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