The problem with the mentality is that it's hardly unique to
just you, it applies to everyone here.
Preconceived and mainstream beliefs is neccessary for a society
to exist, if we do not at least have a common view of
history/language we are going to end up at each other's throats
because of the human tendancy to hate those who are different.This
is what history has repeatedly try to teach us, it is always easy
to dehumanise something that doesn't speak the same language or
share the same customs.
That is the reason why LKY insisted that English is to become
the main language after Independence. It's much easier for the
Chinese to hate the Malays or the Indians to hate the Chinese if
there is no common channel of communications, so is the practice of
allocating racial quotas for HDB flats and NS (Though i feel there
is still racism in NS)
I believe the human brain is hardly an objective tool to process
information like a computer. Imagine millions of different versions
of Linux, Windows and Macs, each forming an operating system that's
relevant to its unique geological and social environment and have
each process the same piece of information. They are going to come
up with radically different conclusions and ways of making
use/dealing with the information.
To an outside observer, their base code may be extremely similar
but because of milleniums of evolution in a different environment
with different hazards, weather and resources they will find it
difficult to accept each other as equals.
Why do i type all this long texts for? Because in a nutshell, we
fail to recognize that how we process the
graphical/vocal/electronic data is automatically shaped by the
environment around us and the history that created our culture. Our
idea of objectivity is going to be different from the Americans and
African tribalmen, because we have different piorities shaped from
our histories and the environment that shaped that
history.
The Internet i feel is going to be the threshold point for the
human race. Never before as a generation are we able to access so
much information and perspectives. It is also a danger, because
it's so much easier for us to fall into the pittrap of what i would
call Self Fufilled Prophecy.
It is now a race to see which idea would take root first in our
minds because it is now so easy for us to search for information
that favors our viewpoints. It would become easier for us to favor
a standpoint because we have already accumulated more knowledge
that favors it rather than contradict it.
With the internet it has become easier for us to see Hitler,
Stalin or Mao Zedong as more of the humans that they are, rather
than the inhuman monsters that the media likes to portray them
as.That terrorists are not as simple as we like them to be, but the
product of historical / political / geological / economical
factors. It is also easier because English is our main language and
we are not exposed to history written by the Germans, Russians and
Chinese.
If we continue to believe that some men are just going to be
born evil and automatically monsters, instead of the creation of
society and circumstances, we are just going to continue to create
more monsters and continue to be shocked and surprised at why.
It has always become easier for us to dehumanise others with the
wide spread of American movies, believing that there are humans who
are just born evil rather than the victim of circumstances. We are
exposed to a culture that believes good is the US way of life,
anything that contradicts that way is stupid and evil. This, from a
233 years old culture.
Professionally i work in the creative industry. It is a
professional neccessity for me to understand how the human brain
interprets body language/colors/sound/camera changes. So to me the
brain is hardly the mysterious well of knowledge and nobility that
Western culture likes to foster but the accumulation of million of
years worth of genetic traits that made our ancestors such
excellent survivors.
That is why i hate Democracy.
Do you think it is a coincidence that Ma Ying Jeou( a lawyer) of
Taiwan and Abhisit of Thailand are both attractive men? That Obama,
a lawyer by profession is capable of delivering great speeches ? I
do not see just a charismatic man in Obama, i see a man who had
great PR consultants training him what/how to say and what gesture
to use during a speech.
We believe that Democracy would automatically lead to a
Meritocracy, then why are we chosing lawyers to lead, not
scientists and engineers? Because they can't deliver great
speeches? Because scientists and engineers cannot "inspire" us? If
we need a government to inspire us to do things, to improve
ourselves and to help others then we rightfully deserve any
corrupted regimes we are getting.
If we cannot accept that our brains are an ancient system of
piority management, the remnants of an era with radically different
circumstances. If we believe without external pressure we could
handle abundant resources in a responsible manner with a
information processing system inherited from a time of scarcity,
then the human society deserves to fail.
Exactly, that is why I was saying that social engineering was
been refined to such a science, that maintaining a slave population
becomes effortless. It is understandable that a mainstream idea
which can unite peoples will inevitably develop. But what happens
when that mainstream mentality becomes fraudulent and conceals the
harsh reality from people? In the context of this thread, my point
is that our reliance on the fractional reserve system has led to
economic slavery which no one wants to acknowledge. After using it
for hundreds of years, and disregarding many warnings, the
threshold has been breached. However, it becomes a struggle..no not
even a struggle, for as you said, people prefer information that
conforms to their belief system, and thus, it is possible for
masses of people to be held together (in bondage) by their own
minds. The human mind is more malleable than is thought to be. If
you saw that clip, this would be easy to comprehend.
At this point, I can't know why we're continuing to argue
because I agree with most, if not all, of your points, just that I
tend to have a more extreme view about things.