There is a huge amount of information available and if even half of "the masses" knew any significant amount of the important knowledge, we would live in a very different world...maybe. I harbor no illusions that such will ever be the case for many various reasons, but I post the knowledge I do in the hope that some bored and hapless surfer may stumble upon something that makes him think something he never thought before, wonder about something enough to learn more. There are several generally accepted "truisms" that "everybody knows" that I do not consider truisms at all, and I know that very often what "everybody knows" is just flat wrong.
In this category are things like, "If I can do it, anyone can do." That is wrong to the point of absurdity...people do not have the same capacities and abilities and drives. Another is "absolute power corrupts absolutely". I forget the source of that gem, but I call bullshit. I think a given person is either corrupt or they are not...if they are a poor nobody, they have very little chance to display their corruption, but if they gain a lot of wealth and power, then they can. Conversely, if they are genuinely good people, then they are, regardless of their level of wealth and power. Another is "knowledge is power". Well, SOME bits of knowledge can be powerful in some situations, but I have knowledge out the wazoo, but barely have the power to walk to the bathroom. I would hope that some folk would start to actually listen and question things they hear, even from their own mouth, and see whether it is actually reasonable or logical.
When you receive, then give. When you learn, then teach. And remember that Oprah now OWNs the world.
In my opinion, one of the best places to start learning anything is with yourself. The phrase know thyself has a much different meaning now than in the time of Socrates. Until fairly recently it was only a term of philosophy or religion or mental health. It was the goal in a seemingly endless battle between the dualists and the materialists. One could spend years studying this, but the gist is that the dualist asserts that "mind" is something different from, separate, apart from matter, in the "mind over matter" sense. These folk are likely to believe that souls or spirits exist, that one can be or will be somehow still alive after they die. I think that is understandable, to a point, partly because of dreams and various other mental experiences one can have. Still, many people as far back as biblical times and Lucretius somehow intuitively knew that was nonsense.
The King James Bible says, "For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a live dog is better than a dead lion."Ecclesiastes 9:4. The philosophy of Lucretius "includes disbelief in any kind of life after death and in any divinity concerned with man's welfare." Source. Perhaps this intuitive knowledge was due to the fact that no one ever saw any dead folk (or dogs, or cows, etc.) get up and go on their way, and the doubt probably affected other biblical passages, such as, "But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then [is] our preaching vain, and your faith [is] also vain." 1 Corinthians 15:13,14. And the whole congregation said..."well, duh!" Well, naw, cuz we had, from the beginning of recorded history (and surely before) to the present, a plethora of (often fatal) idiocies that far outweighed this intuitive knowledge that should have been intuitive to all, but wasn't.
How could any person seriously expect to be a learned individual about the world if they cannot grasp the most basic and fundamental truths about their own conscious existence? The materialists, in contrast to the dualists, assert that consciousness is the result of and utterly dependent upon matter, not some ethereal "other" thing. In our time, the empirically correct answer is established beyond any rational dispute, and the materialists have won. This is fact, not anyone's opinion or belief, just as it is fact that the earth is (mostly) spherical rather than a disk, yet some (many more than you might think) seem unable to accept the fact. The brain produces consciousness, just as it directs the autonomic systems (renal, respiratory, etc.) of the body.
I stole the title for this blog from the title of the following video series...called, oddly enough, The Secret You. I urge you, if at all possible, to watch these at least once, more if needed to grasp the information and implications. For example...it is now possible for another person to know precisely what your future action will be long before you know. In fact, you never know what your action will be...you only know it after the fact, which shoots the notion of Free Will all to hell. In these videos you can see what it would be like if your brain were transplanted into another body, and you could see your current body from different eyes...really, it's cool.
Lee Ann Womack had a beautiful song you still hear played often called "I Hope You Dance". There is a line in it which says, "Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance." That's all well and good for warm fuzzies, but I would much prefer you give knowledge a fighting chance. Why should you be a secret...to you? You up for it?
Yes Virginia, you can still dance, even with a head full of knowledge. Happy New Year
TRB
Umm....Temy?
ReplyDeleteThis blog was brilliant. I just wanted you to know I read it...and for a nerd, I think you're quite special. :)