Our era is about information. They are everywhere these days. Some of them are good, others are poor. The skill to recognize important and ignore useless pieces of information has become a necessity for everyone in the 21st century. Yet, this skill is often underestimated and ignored.
How Do We Learn?
Children are born into a world they know nothing about. The ways how things work are strange to them. Young boys and girls want to learn, they want to understand, they want to comprehend why the Sun rises on the East every day. As are children getting older, their possibilities and amount of knowledge are growing at a breakneck pace.
Do you even realize how many options and possible ways to live your life are out there? Hundreds of thousands, if not more. You can be a Catholic architect, a Sunni farmer, an atheistic businessman, a merciless policeman or a helpful doctor. The range of information today is so vast that no one can know it all, even if he devoted his entire lifetime.
Ignorance is Not a Bliss
People today fail to see the truth. They fail to understand that they are surrounded by various data and intelligence and instead of trying to comprehend as much as they can, many of them often tend to build up some sort of shell. Such a shell can protect you from the harsh world outside, but it also protects you from the good things out there.
When you are hidden in this shell, you can not possibly tell apart the truth from lies. You can be lied to, you can be manipulated, you can succumb to the others and your very existence may be threatened by your own ignorance. Following others is not always the best course of action; in fact, these days it's often quite the opposite.
Critical Thinking
Only when you learn how to treat information, only when you master the art of truth seeking, you can hope to survive in this rapidly developing, crazy world.
Never reject something just because you've been told to.
Never believe something just because you've been told to.
Large number of schools is based on pumping countless pieces of information into pupils' heads. They are often tested for one thing - how well does their memory serve them. Disrespecting any innovations, critical thinking, ideas out of the box and so on, schools happen to commit one horrific crime. They are trying to produce people who only consume served information, instead of finding them in alternative sources.
Proper Education is the Key
Educational systems all around the world need to wake up and realize their responsibility in the upcoming century. It has always been young people who hold the future in their hands; it will always work this way. Imagine school as a hammer, which can forge the steel into a sword, a shovel or a faulty piece. Right now, faulty pieces are gaining the upper hand.
Where states as the major school providers fail, parents should step in and prevent a disastreous level of knowledge of the future fathers and mothers. Parents should stop hunting for money and teach their children how to find tiny peaces of truth and love among the countless crap and evil on the face of Earth.
Never Say Die, Never Say I Don't Care
It starts slowly you know. It's OK if you're not interested in a small car crash on the other side of the world. It's less OK if you ignore major political issues in your neighboor state; and it's definitely bad if you are not interested in what's going on in front of your door.
There is a distinctive dividing line. Anything that crosses it should attract full attention of the world. Many things cross it on a daily basis - minors drinking alcohol, meaningless wars, ruthless hunt for profit. Unfortunately, people are trained to care only about themselves, people are told to make themselves happy, not the other way around.
Unless the attitude to information changes, there is no hope for our culture. Only shadow lies ahead now.
Do you want to change it?
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Poor People are Everywhere
Since the times mankind have started producing food by agriculture instead of hunting, another constant emerged - social differences among people. I'm sure each of you once met someone richer and also someone poorer.
Is It Fortune?
We should recognize that in our era, there is practically only one factor which is measured - wealth. People don't care whether you are nice, smiling, helpful, intelligent or bad, mean and dumb... They care only about the size of your bank account.
Why does sombody have more and somebody less money? Well, that has something to do with only one attribute - Skill. The skill to earn money, the skill to properly spend money and the skill to compromise, those are fundamental elements of success.
Wrong Ideology
Unfortunately, poor people lack such skills, regardless of the era they live in. They don't get their hands on a lot of money and even if they do, they spend it as soon as possible and of course for a wrong purpose like fun, joy or false recognition.
Imagine a squirrel who is often carelessly going through predator's territory. She's one caught by a wild cat and she would have benn killed unless you stepped in and saved her.
Now, do you think that only by this one-time heroic action, the squirrel will take its lesson and stop going through such dangerous ground? Probably not.
Real Wealth? Information!
If you want to help poor people, don't give them money. They don't know how to use it, that's why they got poor in the first place. You should give them education about spending money. I can easily imagine that even if I gave a random homeless lady from Ukraine $1 million, she would be, sooner or later, back where she began - on the street.
Where Are They?
You would think that recognising a poor man or women should be easy. No home, poor clothes, the smell... The fact is, many among us are relatively poor. But instead of admitting it, they succumb to the mighty scourge of consumer society - the hire purchase.
You desperately need a new fridge, because the current one is suddenly too small? And you can't afford it? No Problem, borrow some money and the new fridge will cost you just $50 per month, which is really no problem with you current job.
The Major Catch
What if you get fired? All of a sudden you have to pay $50-$5000 monthly for the stuff you couldn't afford and you can't. You are screwed, you lose your home and you are on the street. Hell , I guess that's a hard price for a new fridge, isn't it?
Hire purchase is a way how companies target people with less income, so they can have bigger profit. Poorer people fell ashamed that they are poor and they go for the false assuarance that they can live better.
There is Hope
That's wrong and it caused very large number of ruined lives. Do not feel ashamed of who you are, regardless of your income. Everyone is special and there is no need to stress it with big house with mortgage, cars on lease and exotic holidays one can hardly afford.
Value yourself more and you shall realize that instead of new TV on lease, you can work on yourself and eventually acquire it the usual way.
Is It Fortune?
We should recognize that in our era, there is practically only one factor which is measured - wealth. People don't care whether you are nice, smiling, helpful, intelligent or bad, mean and dumb... They care only about the size of your bank account.
Why does sombody have more and somebody less money? Well, that has something to do with only one attribute - Skill. The skill to earn money, the skill to properly spend money and the skill to compromise, those are fundamental elements of success.
Wrong Ideology
Unfortunately, poor people lack such skills, regardless of the era they live in. They don't get their hands on a lot of money and even if they do, they spend it as soon as possible and of course for a wrong purpose like fun, joy or false recognition.
Imagine a squirrel who is often carelessly going through predator's territory. She's one caught by a wild cat and she would have benn killed unless you stepped in and saved her.
Now, do you think that only by this one-time heroic action, the squirrel will take its lesson and stop going through such dangerous ground? Probably not.
Real Wealth? Information!
If you want to help poor people, don't give them money. They don't know how to use it, that's why they got poor in the first place. You should give them education about spending money. I can easily imagine that even if I gave a random homeless lady from Ukraine $1 million, she would be, sooner or later, back where she began - on the street.
Where Are They?
You would think that recognising a poor man or women should be easy. No home, poor clothes, the smell... The fact is, many among us are relatively poor. But instead of admitting it, they succumb to the mighty scourge of consumer society - the hire purchase.
You desperately need a new fridge, because the current one is suddenly too small? And you can't afford it? No Problem, borrow some money and the new fridge will cost you just $50 per month, which is really no problem with you current job.
The Major Catch
What if you get fired? All of a sudden you have to pay $50-$5000 monthly for the stuff you couldn't afford and you can't. You are screwed, you lose your home and you are on the street. Hell , I guess that's a hard price for a new fridge, isn't it?
Hire purchase is a way how companies target people with less income, so they can have bigger profit. Poorer people fell ashamed that they are poor and they go for the false assuarance that they can live better.
There is Hope
That's wrong and it caused very large number of ruined lives. Do not feel ashamed of who you are, regardless of your income. Everyone is special and there is no need to stress it with big house with mortgage, cars on lease and exotic holidays one can hardly afford.
Value yourself more and you shall realize that instead of new TV on lease, you can work on yourself and eventually acquire it the usual way.
He has a Different Opinion, He's an Idiot
Every person has a different opinion, it is part of nature. Even animals have different behaviors. Some of them are aggressive, others are peaceful. Same thing applies to humans, even though on a slightly different level.
There are lots of differences in human behavior. Best example here is drinking alcohol. People usually divide into three groups.
First group are enthusiastic drinkers, who go to pubs, drink 5 beers every day and try to live their life to the fullest. Sometimes, they consider drinking a bad habit, but they can't help themselves.
Second group may occasionally succumb into drinking, but they do it only once in few weeks/months. Major part of the population belongs to this group.
Last one are absolute abstainers, who never drink, not even when celebrating, or on holidays. People like this are very, very rare.
Imagine that two people from different groups go to, let's say, a party. Drinker always tries to find a bar to have some nice drinks and quickly gets into the mood. On the other hand, abstainer will stand in a corner, or try having fun with drunk people, which doesn't really work.
People are different, and we often have to pretend to be someone else, to fit in. Some people might say, that it's pathetic, or sad, or something else and yes .. it is pathetic, but that's how our society works. People are constantly lying to hide their secrets or opinions, but is there such thing as the Perfect Lie?
Every person in this world thinks that they're special, that no one can tell if they are lying, that no one knows who they really are. The truth is, we are always blinded by our own ego to see the reality. You might think "Hey, I can manipulate him to do what I want", but the other person is usually thinking "he's trying to manipulate me, ok, I'll let him think he has the control, to take it away later".
Our ego tells us, that we are always right, everyone else is just stupid and don't understand our brilliant brain. In some cases it might be true, but mostly people are just sucking up with your idea and letting you think, that you have the situation under control.
Maybe you don't realize it, but most of the time when you try to lie, the other person can see it, but they usually convince themselves, that it's better to let it go. You might reach some kind of social equilibritum, when you're both lying, you both know it, but it's just easier to let it go.
My advice is, be very careful when you are lying about something important, because if you aren't smart enough, the other person will see through.
There are lots of differences in human behavior. Best example here is drinking alcohol. People usually divide into three groups.
First group are enthusiastic drinkers, who go to pubs, drink 5 beers every day and try to live their life to the fullest. Sometimes, they consider drinking a bad habit, but they can't help themselves.
Second group may occasionally succumb into drinking, but they do it only once in few weeks/months. Major part of the population belongs to this group.
Last one are absolute abstainers, who never drink, not even when celebrating, or on holidays. People like this are very, very rare.
Imagine that two people from different groups go to, let's say, a party. Drinker always tries to find a bar to have some nice drinks and quickly gets into the mood. On the other hand, abstainer will stand in a corner, or try having fun with drunk people, which doesn't really work.
People are different, and we often have to pretend to be someone else, to fit in. Some people might say, that it's pathetic, or sad, or something else and yes .. it is pathetic, but that's how our society works. People are constantly lying to hide their secrets or opinions, but is there such thing as the Perfect Lie?
Every person in this world thinks that they're special, that no one can tell if they are lying, that no one knows who they really are. The truth is, we are always blinded by our own ego to see the reality. You might think "Hey, I can manipulate him to do what I want", but the other person is usually thinking "he's trying to manipulate me, ok, I'll let him think he has the control, to take it away later".
Our ego tells us, that we are always right, everyone else is just stupid and don't understand our brilliant brain. In some cases it might be true, but mostly people are just sucking up with your idea and letting you think, that you have the situation under control.
Maybe you don't realize it, but most of the time when you try to lie, the other person can see it, but they usually convince themselves, that it's better to let it go. You might reach some kind of social equilibritum, when you're both lying, you both know it, but it's just easier to let it go.
My advice is, be very careful when you are lying about something important, because if you aren't smart enough, the other person will see through.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Do You Want to Fight? Grow up!
In the primeval times, man benefited from his superior intelligence and developed first weapons. He used them solely for defensive and hunting purposes. I don't know who came up with the idea to turn defensive and hunting knife against your neighboor.
But the fact is, since the times people have been fighting, there are wars and thus it's opposite, peace.
Weapons
Humans are weak, they have no natural tools to inflict severe damage on others. So we use unnatural tools to "balance" this disadvantage. Great deal of human intellect went into research of how to kill other beings, animals or humans. If we examine closely the history of ancient cultures, we can see that they fought often, therefore quality of weapons could decide the whole fight.
Warfare
When you declared a war, you wanted to gain something from it. Resources, territory, taxes, glory, revenge... whatever you fancy. The point is that the iniciator of the conflict - a king, a politician, had to come up with a legitimate reason for the conclift, because men die in wars. Fathers, sons, husbands, cousins, brothers - all of them die in any war.
Death
Well, don't give me wrong, I don't object death - everyone of us must die one day. What I object is premature death. You know, each of us has been given a certain period of time to live, don't mind whether it was by chance or God's will. There is absolutely no reason why we should fight, why we should cut our liver shorter, why we should evoke suffering, misery and personal tragedies.
Peace
When there is peace, civilization prosper. Boys grow up into young men, girls grow up into young women, everyone makes his full contribution, no matter how small it might be. Phenomenon called peace assures that we can live more like humans using our intelligence and less like animals using brutal force and killing to survive.
Development
Even today, in the 21st century, violence is used to resolve problems. Anyone with intellectual capacity higher than a washing machine must see it is wrong. I do not want to belong to society which pretends intelligence and in fact, it composes of modern animals.
Do you?
But the fact is, since the times people have been fighting, there are wars and thus it's opposite, peace.
Weapons
Humans are weak, they have no natural tools to inflict severe damage on others. So we use unnatural tools to "balance" this disadvantage. Great deal of human intellect went into research of how to kill other beings, animals or humans. If we examine closely the history of ancient cultures, we can see that they fought often, therefore quality of weapons could decide the whole fight.
Warfare
When you declared a war, you wanted to gain something from it. Resources, territory, taxes, glory, revenge... whatever you fancy. The point is that the iniciator of the conflict - a king, a politician, had to come up with a legitimate reason for the conclift, because men die in wars. Fathers, sons, husbands, cousins, brothers - all of them die in any war.
Death
Well, don't give me wrong, I don't object death - everyone of us must die one day. What I object is premature death. You know, each of us has been given a certain period of time to live, don't mind whether it was by chance or God's will. There is absolutely no reason why we should fight, why we should cut our liver shorter, why we should evoke suffering, misery and personal tragedies.
Peace
When there is peace, civilization prosper. Boys grow up into young men, girls grow up into young women, everyone makes his full contribution, no matter how small it might be. Phenomenon called peace assures that we can live more like humans using our intelligence and less like animals using brutal force and killing to survive.
Development
Even today, in the 21st century, violence is used to resolve problems. Anyone with intellectual capacity higher than a washing machine must see it is wrong. I do not want to belong to society which pretends intelligence and in fact, it composes of modern animals.
Do you?
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