Has anyone else noticed - thinking for yourself is being disregarded for what's popular.

I have noticed a growing trend - characterized by the word "jank" - to disregard as trash anyone who is thinking for themselves or trying to figure out how things work so that they can create their own worlds through critical thinking.

Instead, what is popular is to use the internet in order to find the answers, which are then handed to you, and most of the time any of the fundamentals of how that answer got there are lost - in the worst cases, people refuse to even believe that there is a method behind the free answers.

This argument was passed around ages ago when people stopped learning to calculate math by hand and started using calculators instead - of course, I never had a calculator, even through my math and physics majors in college - I had to borrow one on rare occasions.

But at this point, we are talking about people not even practicing critical thinking in their daily lives, and there is honestly hostility towards people who do.

I am talking about this occurring to the extent of, well, let's say someone wants to subscribe to a newspaper from the next town over. They honestly don't think it's possible unless they can find an example of someone having done it on the net, or their neighbors are already doing it. I don't even think it occurs to them to try figuring it out themselves.

So let's say that I, in my characteristic fashion, decide to simply call the newspaper office to get that paper, I Will get a lot of # from people saying "It's not possible! No one's doing it! Why are you doing that?" as if it is some kind of High Crime to think for myself.

Well, here's a news flash, people have thought for themselves for the past tens of thousands of years and it never hurt anybody. I'm just wondering if anyone else is coming across this.

There is even a new vocabulary word, "Jank," that is used to describe someone in a derogatory manner who has left the "Meta" (in other words, the EXTREMELY totalitarian set of expectations on how to act).

So we are talking about a new set of, popular, I might add, vocabulary words to describe the phenomenon I'm noticing. Where did it originate? Most certainly from the internet, which is a place where the critical thinking is done, I suppose.

Besides the fact that the current social environment seems hostile towards any kind of legitimate expression, a bigger problem occurs when one of two things happens:

1) A situation arises requiring critical thinking in order to solve a *new* problem on the spot, without using prior protocols (most of the time I see people just passive-aggressively quit at this point, as if it is the job of the Lord of Protocols to solve the problem, and not theirs)

2) The protocols are not up to par with the critical thinking skills of the worker, who then has one hell of a time explaining him or herself.

reply to post by darkbake


yep it would seem this is the next epidemic for our society..many people these days are spoon fed their knowledge through the TV and if you do not agree with it you become a social outcast...

where i live now the community is quite anti government and very alternative,a lot of interest in getting of grid and growing your own foods,becoming self sufficient...and monsanto is pretty much a swear word...so funnily enough i fit right in around here...lol many use their microwaves as letter boxes...

my GF is in sydney at the moment and is reporting back the kind of conversations she is having there and oh my...its all regurgitated garbage from the tv...simply talking about the MSM headlines of whatever the flavour of the week is, favourite TV shows and who is screwing who in hollywood and the favourite ...how drunk did you get last weekend...so yeah if you do not fit into those conversations you are somewhat of an outcast

they are creating the anthill for us ants.....The programming is getting more intense too......

reply to post by darkbake


interesting

i think i'm one of those people who always look for the answer in the internet.
honestly, i'm lazy to think.
but i'm not the type who will tell that what they're doing is wrong because what i'm doing is the most accepted in society.
forcing people to buy the idea i and most ppl use, to me, drains a lot of energy.

i'm not a critical thinker coz i dunno how to think critically.

when i cannot find the answer to a problem, i just slack around, doing arts, just sitting, etc, and then when i return to that unsolved problem, sometimes the answer is already there.
if i cannot solve it? i just look for the 'key holder' around me.
i realize there are some ppl around us who hold the key to the problem we have (if we are aware enough)

nice topic for weekend

peace

reply to post by darkbake


Deep down in our biological make-up, we're social critters who group together and think alike. Culturally and literally, we can't help ourselves. This urge to socialise and group together dictates a certain amount of group-think and fitting in with each other to be accepted.

ATS could be argued to have a lot of free-thinkers, independent thinkers and people who walk to the beat of their own drum. We'd all like to think so, right? But really, we're mostly a collection of souls who reflect the values and thoughts of our niches.

On the bright side, humanity didn't get to where it is now by only having group-thinkers. No way. If we all thought the same old BS, we might be an evolutionary dead-end and a collection of million-year old bones on some African prairie. Nah. Societies and groups need a few free-thinkers to keep things moving and fresh. Too many and we're back to being bones in the ground, but just enough and we get to keep moving.

reply to post by darkbake



In other words, you are saying, "Damn the torpedoes. Full steam ahead!"

Personal control these days is given over to ready-made solutions coming from our allowing outside interference. Yes, Google is extremely great...for some things. But if it tells me after a diligent search here and there online that my location in terms of climate and soil are inappropriate for growing tomatoes, then must I follow through on that advice that comes out of a few electrons as expected? ...Or can I possibly think of take up my spade and personally experience how Nature (and I) may work in harmony of sorts for my personal situation?

Can I not make the tomatoes thrive by using my wits and various elements of shading, soil prep, plant type, plant scheduling, fertilizing, insect control, etc. to at least make the ATTEMPT to do it my way? And if it turns out as hapless folly, so what? Was I a fool to myself, should have know that what the "experts" had supplied to the internet was absolutely right? Was I a better or poorer person in terms of psychological soundness with my efforts? Is no personal satisfaction gained over and above a failed effort? What? A dreamer, a maverick even, you suggest, kidding yourself? I should have been inside with a TV remote in one hand, watching cable on a wall-sized screen in carefully controlled conditions of content and comfort, and in the other hand attempting to text, tweet or call a friend to tell me what to do/not do? Maybe I should be burning gas toward WallyWorld, looking to use my cc for some of their indestructible, conveniently available tomatoes? Hey! Problem solved. I remember that they did have a sweet sale on those suckers this weekend. What was I thinking!

Just what the Hell is life all about if not in wanting, attempting and doing things your way?

--But don't expect any other folks to agree with you. And some aspect of government would probably want you to buy a license or permit anyhow.

reply to post by darkbake


I read this book 20 years ago www.amazon.co.uk... and it opened my eyes to what you are stating. It is absolutely amazing.
In it a story is told about a woman who always cuts here boiling bacon a particular way - her husband asks her one day why she does it. She tells her husband 'it is how to cook it right - my mother always did it that way'. Next time the couple saw the womans mother, the husband asked about the bacon cooking method. The mother said 'oh it is because the pan was too small'.

People generally do not think for themselves - they are repeaters.
In the book it also speaks of the 'pyramid of power' - where the boss is always above - does the boss like you being smarter than him??

Intelligence in general is lost when one must be dumber than the authority above.

Do you feel that there is something wrong with this world? That there is more to it than what seems to enter through your eyes and ears? You have questions that need answering and this book will answer them and more... it will set your mind free!
So you think your mind is already free? Read this book and then ask yourself the same question. Unless you are already soaring above the 'flock', you will find that your mind is imprisoned. But there is nothing to fear. The fact that you realise this means that you are setting yourself free... you are waking up.

Customer feedback.

reply to post by darkbake


I agree with what you say. However if one is 'older' from the time when there were no mobile phones and computers or and for me its one of my pet hates, multiple choice answers in exams, one had to use one's initiative to find out answers and - we did. If fact most of us excelled at it.

Today though everything is spoon fed to people and by the time they have coped with work or finding a job, got home and done all the usual domestic things, they are pretty tired and its feet up on the sofa and in front of the tv.

The fact that people accept and think that Wikipedia is the only source of information amazes me because I hate things that people with vested interests can manipulate.

So am I to understand I am a 'jank' is rhymes with a word I am not so keen on, so I don't think I will ever join the j..k people. A step further is my prerogative.

You are right though I remember saying to someone about the intended invasion of Iraq and asking what they thought it would achieve. Their brain stopped at getting rid of Sadam and could not comprehend the next natural step eg the destruction of a rich country's infrastructure which would have to be rebuilt, but what the heck --- they can afford it for a few choice company's next set of profits. I suspect its why they haven't invaded Syria - can't pay as has no real oil. If they went in and then opened up what oil Syria has off shore, then it would be a little too obvious as to what motivates their actions - and its not human compassion.

If you are a teacher you have learned to repeat. If you go to university you must learn to repeat - all the people in high positions are good at repeating - they are not free thinkers.
This is nothing new - but you maybe waking up to what is going on.
David Icke says in the book 'I am free - I am me' that humans out sheep the sheep because they do not need a sheep dog to keep them in line. Humans have been trained to put down anyone who thinks freely.

People are being told what to think and falling for it.

You can tweet what you like on Twitter but send a few tweets about Google and it's spying and you will soon find out that you are talking to yourself if you check your tweets using another account and if you persist then your twitter account gets closed.

Google needs twitter, Twitter needs Google

End result is people think that no one has a bad word to say about Google and therefore are told what to think.

reply to post by darkbake

One phenomenon which I've noticed for a long time- not quite the same thing, but in the same line of territory- is something I call "lifestyle intolerance". That is, someone becomes eligable for mockery or even hostility for wanting to do things or being interested in things which the critic is not interested in. I once read the story of a man who had built up a collection of something mildly esoteric (I forget what-perhaps models of some kind). He decided to dispose of it on the internet and was surpised to find himself receiving abusive comments for the fact that he had "wasted his time" by taking an interest in that line in the first place.

Yes, you can learn a lot about people's attitudes by what they choose to insult. For many years, at least in my country, anyone who takes an interest in something which does not include drinking and/or sex, especially if it involves any study or acquisition of knowledge, may find themselves exposed to the derogatary criticism that they ought to "get a life", to "get out more often".

Intolerance of different lifestyle choices, intolerance of independent thinking. They come from the same source in human nature and predate the internet.

DISRAELI
reply to post by darkbake

 

One phenomenon which I've noticed for a long time- not quite the same thing, but in the same line of territory- is something I call "lifestyle intolerance". That is, someone becomes eligable for mockery or even hostility for wanting to do things or being interested in things which the critic is not interested in. I once read the story of a man who had built up a collection of something mildly esoteric (I forget what-perhaps models of some kind). He decided to dispose of it on the internet and was surpised to find himself receiving abusive comments for the fact that he had "wasted his time" by taking an interest in that line in the first place.

Yes, you can learn a lot about people's attitudes by what they choose to insult. For many years, at least in my country, anyone who takes an interest in something which does not include drinking and/or sex, especially if it involves any study or acquisition of knowledge, may find themselves exposed to the derogatary criticism that they ought to "get a life", to "get out more often".

Intolerance of different lifestyle choices, intolerance of independent thinking. They come from the same source in human nature and predate the internet.

edit on 15-3-2014 by DISRAELI because: (no reason given)

They seem to quite like on the products of janks..like smart phones,etc,glued to their hands permanently nowadays.

It's kind of BS.

People are different, no one is the same or had the same teacher or parents to learn them to think or solve problem in a specific way or "your way", everyone has different IQ and ways of doing things, some are good at thinking by them self others need a clue or a teacher to get started.

You cant blame people for being brought up differently or be different in intelligens and you cant say " you cant participate in this disscussion cause you cant think by your self".

The internet helps some of those people getting somewhere but they will never really change and shouldent.

reply to post by Mianeye

The OP is not criticising people for getting help or opinions from others.
The complaint is that those who get help or opinions from others are criticising those who don't.

Itisnowagain
If you are a teacher you have learned to repeat. If you go to university you must learn to repeat - all the people in high positions are good at repeating - they are not free thinkers.
This is nothing new - but you maybe waking up to what is going on.
David Icke says in the book 'I am free - I am me' that humans out sheep the sheep because they do not need a sheep dog to keep them in line. Humans have been trained to put down anyone who thinks freely.

edit on 15-3-2014 by Itisnowagain because: (no reason given)

Well if Icke says it... no need for me to look any further.

Good call!!

Thanks OP, I had no idea. Glad I found your thread!

reply to post by darkbake

There is even a new vocabulary word, "Jank," that is used to describe someone in a derogatory manner who has left the "Meta" (in other words, the EXTREMELY totalitarian set of expectations on how to act).

From the Urban dictionary......

jank

adj- broken; unnecessarily redundant, superfluous, or meaningless; stupid or ridiculously moronic; bootleg or of questionable quality

#! This CD player I bought off Ebay is jank.

While we were in china we went through this market and bought all these movies for $3. They're so jank, you can see the heads of the people in front of the camera at the theater moving at the bottom of the screen.

My parents made me call home to check in with them every hour.. it was so jank.

jank

1.) All purpose noun; jank or jahnk can literally mean anything, yet means nothing on its own. The meaning of jank is understood and defined by the context in which it is used.
2.) Ones possessions or things, stuff
3.) verb form: janked means totally screwed or to receive a raw deal or bad situation.
The correct spelling is unknown and the word is often slurred or mumbled when used.


(noun)That jank was the real deal.
(verb) That bitch janked my whole paycheck.

jank

Poor quality, in relation to consumer products.

"That nosehair trimmer is jank. You should have bought a Braun instead of that crap."

Jank

A thing that is worthless or useless; #

That book is jank; I didn't like it at all.

janks

colloquial slang equivalent to "and stuff" when added to the end of a sentence.

I had to go to work, the post office, the banks, and janks. I was busy.

janks

janks is a noun and an adjective. you can use it when you are at a loss of words. example: "Hey man.. let me get that janks."

"Hey man.. let me get that janks."

Janks

-An ambiguous word that can be used in both a good sense and bad.

-A filler word
-Derived from the word "jank."

"Wow that shirt he's wearing is hecka janks!"

reply to post by HarbingerOfShadows

Interesting. Perhaps "junk" with a mutated vowel, as your first example suggests?

reply to post by DISRAELI


That's, more or less, what it sounds like to me.

reply to post by darkbake


I agree with you. Some are too heavily dependant upon it so their capacity for freethinking grows smaller each day.

But with all due respect I must say that we have devices like laptops and phones that practically gives us most of the information in the world(internet included) however what confuses me is that we have all this info at the tip of our hands, but most don't use all the info for fear they will look dumb if they use it.

reply to post by darkbake


I share your concern.

Patience is a virtue best acquired by waiting.

Many don't want to wait and wish to have it all cooked and prechewed in their mouths.

Answers are not as important as the questions that lead us to them.