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- Apr 4, 2006
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The expression, "the older you get, the smarter you get" is so so true! What needs to be preached is that common sense trumps "official reports", "studies" and "research". Why is this you may ask? Because almost every report, finding and study has ties to political and financial agenda's. It is almost impossible to come out with findings, study's and reports that are unbiased - on either side. Almost everything done today is to further an agenda of some sort or benefit a certain group of people.
When I go to parties, gatherings etc. I am blown away at the number of people who quote statistics given by extreme radical groups. They actually believe this hogwash. When I question them in a polite conversation they even say that common sense tells them otherwise but the "official report" says this so it must be true. Sometimes I wonder how the human race got as far as we have. When did the ability to think on one's own evaporate?
People in general have lost the skill of deductive reasoning - yea, just like Sherlock Holmes! Yes, there are still some truly smart people around but few and far between. When I say smart I am not referring to a college education, Doctors, Lawyers, CPS's, etc. either. I am talking about the ability top figure things out, to get to the truth, and have the impetus to figure out what is true and what is propaganda. History is right in front of our eyes, all they need to do is look.
I believe that one of the real issues here is people got lazy, lived on easy street for too long and stopped paying attention to the day to day happenings around the world. The only "news" they got was from a brief main stream media talking head for a few minutes that wasn't really fact - but more propaganda. They obviously weren't interested in verifying that, they just accepted it as being true. People have been gaslighted for so long now, it is extremely difficult for people to admit they were hoodwinked and mislead - that is a basic human defense mechanism. I do not know of many of them are still retaining the skill of deductive reasoning and common sense. After all, people now rely on AI, Siri, and computers to tell them what to do and how to do it. The more we advance the worse this will get. Unfortunately, technology can not be held back and people will lose even more everyday skills, balancing a checkbook, figuring out percentages, tips, etc without he use of a calculator or a printed receipt with suggested tip amounts.
Forgive me is I sound like a pessimist here, but I am just stating what I see and have experienced to be true. I could go on and on but many guys and gals here are old enough to know what I am trying to convey. I doubt I will make any difference when I try and convey this to younger folks who rely on technology, reports and studies but I do at least try. After all, it is human nature to at least try! Maybe, just maybe we can make a small difference - it certainly could not hurt to try.
When I go to parties, gatherings etc. I am blown away at the number of people who quote statistics given by extreme radical groups. They actually believe this hogwash. When I question them in a polite conversation they even say that common sense tells them otherwise but the "official report" says this so it must be true. Sometimes I wonder how the human race got as far as we have. When did the ability to think on one's own evaporate?
People in general have lost the skill of deductive reasoning - yea, just like Sherlock Holmes! Yes, there are still some truly smart people around but few and far between. When I say smart I am not referring to a college education, Doctors, Lawyers, CPS's, etc. either. I am talking about the ability top figure things out, to get to the truth, and have the impetus to figure out what is true and what is propaganda. History is right in front of our eyes, all they need to do is look.
I believe that one of the real issues here is people got lazy, lived on easy street for too long and stopped paying attention to the day to day happenings around the world. The only "news" they got was from a brief main stream media talking head for a few minutes that wasn't really fact - but more propaganda. They obviously weren't interested in verifying that, they just accepted it as being true. People have been gaslighted for so long now, it is extremely difficult for people to admit they were hoodwinked and mislead - that is a basic human defense mechanism. I do not know of many of them are still retaining the skill of deductive reasoning and common sense. After all, people now rely on AI, Siri, and computers to tell them what to do and how to do it. The more we advance the worse this will get. Unfortunately, technology can not be held back and people will lose even more everyday skills, balancing a checkbook, figuring out percentages, tips, etc without he use of a calculator or a printed receipt with suggested tip amounts.
Forgive me is I sound like a pessimist here, but I am just stating what I see and have experienced to be true. I could go on and on but many guys and gals here are old enough to know what I am trying to convey. I doubt I will make any difference when I try and convey this to younger folks who rely on technology, reports and studies but I do at least try. After all, it is human nature to at least try! Maybe, just maybe we can make a small difference - it certainly could not hurt to try.
). I also believe that while easy access to vast amounts of information is a good thing, there is no regulation or curation of said information to ensure that what you are looking at on the Google machine is actually true!
My career was as a scientist/engineer/consultant, and I frequently told the guy with the checkbook things he didn't necessarily want to hear. That nearly all of them asked me back to do more work I count as a vote of confidence on my integrity.
