Changing Words and Profound Implications

a reply to: Navarro

Spot on.

The only way that communication, even verbal communication will ever survive in terms of its usefulness and potential for depth, is if verbal communication becomes coupled with some sort of telepathy, or perhaps some sort of return to a much more pheromonic vocabulary to go along side the mere grunting which we will no doubt be reduced to, if this trend continues.

Our toolkit for communication used to be much more limited, back in the day. Body language, pheromone response and the like, used to be much more nuanced than our oratory capabilities. A step back seems more likely at this time, than the development and improvement of our communications package. Dark ages lay both behind and ahead, or so it would seem.

There is hope for a better future than the one we leave behind us, but only if we learn to be increasingly fond of detail, rather than less so as time passes.

originally posted by: Semicollegiate
Sound money and small government would improve us to slavery to our biological needs.

The root of slavery is giving humans life and death control over other humans.

Someday the State and rule by experts will be as unjustifiable as chattel slavery is today.

Freedom means ownership by individuals and voluntary associations. The State is always a slaver.

It's interesting how frequently this concept arises in our culture today, yet goes entirely unnoticed by the illusioned. In the Bjork song "Hunter," there's the line "I thought I could organize freedom, how Scandinavian of me." Freedom is the ability to do whatever you like, so long as you're not wronging anyone else in the process, and that's only so long as nobody else is wronging you. Most people perceive "freedom" to be a short list of things which have been submitted to them as "rights," as though the government says "you may do anything you wish, so long as we don't say you can't." People spend years locked in cages for smoking plants, but the majority perceives western governance as the height of freedom, despite the commonality of punishment for victimless crime.

We're primitives who've only just barely stepped out from the caves, and everyone thinks they know something about everything, and that everything they think is true. Yet they don't think. They only accept popular sentiment as true as a matter of faith and conditioning. This doesn't bode well for the possibility for a future population someday looking back on the present and perceiving an ancestry in metaphoric chains. After all, research shows a long-term trend of declining intelligence over the course of many generations. At one time strength of mind and body enabled a person to succeed, and so natural selection favored the sharp and the strong. Today we live a far softer lifestyle than our prehistoric ancestors. Rarely need we outsmart predators nor prey. Instead, we rely on the safety which our modern communities provide, and need only take a short drive to the grocery store to procure food. Seat belts and warning labels preserve the lives of the dull, and the stupid produce more offspring than the intelligent. Most of todays society wouldn't even survive long enough to procreate in times past, yet we observe the modern trend of nerds being commonly overlooked in favor of the hipster or supposed "alpha male."

If our brighter ancestors failed to prevent their enslavement, I find it difficult to believe that the future of our civilization involves a world more free.

originally posted by: Navarro

Today we live a far softer lifestyle than our prehistoric ancestors. Rarely need we outsmart predators nor prey. Instead, we rely on the safety which our modern communities provide, and need only take a short drive to the grocery store to procure food. Seat belts and warning labels preserve the lives of the dull, and the stupid produce more offspring than the intelligent. Most of todays society wouldn't even survive long enough to procreate in times past, yet we observe the modern trend of nerds being commonly overlooked in favor of the hipster or supposed "alpha male."

See, I used to think along these lines, but now see this as missing the point entirely. We are predators. We've evolved from concrete primitive games out in the jungle to abstract games against each other. It requires vast intellectual prowess to climb the social ranks and best your peers.

This is kinda like the calculator vs sliding rule, or library vs google search train of thought. If we are in a world where the low-level activities can be done for us, why not free up resources to take on grander projects? What would your solution entail? Are we to collapse civilization and thin out the herd in order to progress in your mind?

Oh, and if you haven't figured it out yet, the cool nerd is the new alpha male. We secure the resources and shape the cultural and political terrain in the 21st century.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Navarro

Spot on.

The only way that communication, even verbal communication will ever survive in terms of its usefulness and potential for depth, is if verbal communication becomes coupled with some sort of telepathy, or perhaps some sort of return to a much more pheromonic vocabulary to go along side the mere grunting which we will no doubt be reduced to, if this trend continues.

Our toolkit for communication used to be much more limited, back in the day. Body language, pheromone response and the like, used to be much more nuanced than our oratory capabilities. A step back seems more likely at this time, than the development and improvement of our communications package. Dark ages lay both behind and ahead, or so it would seem.

There is hope for a better future than the one we leave behind us, but only if we learn to be increasingly fond of detail, rather than less so as time passes.

Technologies are under development today for allowing near instantaneous conveyance of thought in a manner comparable to telepathy. In fact, this development has been ongoing since at least the nineties, frequently described as "heaven in a chip" at the time. Demonstrations of precursors to this technology have been made to the public over the years, usually in the form of biological interface with computers allowing for brains to exert basic control over software directly. One could then easily speculate that the technology will exist for the advancement of learning, where education could involve simply downloading the knowledge one seeks directly into their brain, or at least to hardware which the brain interfaces with. It's within reason to expect that one day toddlers could suddenly find themselves instantly more knowledgeable than Steven Hawking through this process.

If you consider the public education system of today, only the most basic knowledge is cemented into the minds of students. Our children are taught only enough to understand how to become productive adults in modern commercial society, and sufficient propaganda to ensure they're "good citizens" who will rarely make waves, and never tsunamis. It's less a matter of education than it is of indoctrination. This is the reason why a child can pass every assignment and test in school and even maintain a consistent 4.0 GPA, but if they skip too many classes, they'll not be allowed to progress to the next grade. It's not as important that the child become knowledgeable as it is that the child become both obedient and accustomed to the typical eight hour a day, five day a week workload.

I'm certain that the technology will one day arrive to allow for instantaneous communication, and that instantaneous learning would be an immediate part of that. One would seem to imply the other. It's however not in the interests of the oligarchy that the public suddenly become intelligent enough to comprehend the situation, let alone smart enough to effectively do something about it. I expect this technology will then be suppressed, at least through expense. The oligarchs may someday find themselves in the position to each become instantaneous geniuses, but the public will be unable to afford this. Their brilliance will not be outshined by any serf, let alone will their domination be compromised. The elite will come to perceive themselves as true gods in comparison to you and I, and that assessment won't be entirely without merit. In my estimation, they will then have forever cemented their positions into the fabric of our society. There will be no chance for humanity to escape the chains placed on them by masters magnitudes smarter than they.

Meanwhile, the general public may be allowed a small taste of this technology. I would compare its effect to the modern pharmaceutical and media industries. The newly "enhanced" serfs will surely find themselves suddenly more content, because the updates they've received will cause this. They will not perceive themselves as slaves much less will they seek to free themselves. Instead, they'll be overwhelmed by their newfound enjoyment of their labors, and supreme nationalism. They will live a dystopian nightmare which I can't even fathom, but they'll be entirely ignorant of that fact. At least they'll be happy, even if artificially so. This is the inevitable face of Transhumanism.

originally posted by: Navarro

This is the reason why a child can pass every assignment and test in school and even maintain a consistent 4.0 GPA, but if they skip too many classes, they'll not be allowed to progress to the next grade. It's not as important that the child become knowledgeable as it is that the child become both obedient and accustomed to the typical eight hour a day, five day a week workload.

I can't speak for everyone, but my situation certainly didn't match up with that. What I witnessed was the exceptional getting free passes regardless of being the jock superstar or brilliant mad-scientist. I skipped 20-30% of my schooling starting in the 6th grade, but never failed a grade. Technically after the 9th unexcused absence you're supposed to fail, but there was always a way around this.

In fact, what I witnessed was a bias towards holding back the average, and giving free passes to the exceptional. You seem to be stuck in a series of assumptions that perhaps had more validity a decade ago, but much change has been made since then.

a reply to: TrueBrit

For example, Stree Culcha (which is how the culture deficient knuckle draggers who personify the term pronounce it) is not actually a culture in and of itself, but a determination to abandonit

You get it as per usual with your great writing, love it

originally posted by: pl3bscheese
originally posted by: vethumanbeing

pl3bscheese: I'm a millennial. Born in 82. Yes, I witness it first hand. It may be that I'm in an upper middle-class area, but the bright around here are far more capable with a broad range or skills and knowledge-base than the generation that grew up in a world without the internet. There's completely different vibes in areas of lower socioeconomic status. One of my current business partners is a decade younger than I. He's proven to be very resilient and capable. I have no inherent bias towards individuals within a generation, but do accept there can be marked differences stemming from the way in which each grew up.

You do not have to apologize for being successful and employing others. I grew up in an era that had no internet (totally different paradigm); but adapted to it like white on rice. An information delivery system that one had to learn/adapt to otherwise would never understand how quickly ones world is changing.

pl3bscheese: We are all adapting to different circumstances, from area to area, and time of development. I can't say with any certainty that my life would be the same, or I would form my personality the same transported halfway around the world for my youth, or born in a different decade.

Wait another two decades; make sure you have a strait jacket ready and suspenders for your pants.