Saturday, September 03, 2005

The Magic Box

Someone said somewhere that if something is technically ahead of our civilization then our civilization is going to think it is magic. When you think about it our civilization started out predominately believing in magic which really is a form of random thinking. I was taught that Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden Of Eden because of a failure to follow instructions. Once Adam and Eve were thrown out the thought crossed their minds that they better start following instructions. Since they didn’t have a clue about science, the only other alternative was to try to placate the person that threw them out of the garden. It was probably at this point that a division of labor / multitasking was developed as one person couldn’t do it all. Sex rears its’ ugly head and civilization starts to expand. Everyone had to be fed so classes of work was invented. Some classes had more value because those classes required more skills. Since our civilization has an element of randomness, sometimes things don’t go well as we all know. Since science didn’t exist, every right thinking person realized that the various gods were angry so one or several of them had to be placated depending on where you screwed up. The brighter lights realized that random god pleasing may not be all that efficient, so the better technics were codified or put in order. So now we have randomness and order in the system. The bright lights soon realized that if they were going to all this work then their rewards should be greater. They began to think why bother to clear it with the gods when they knew the answer. Next came the random idea that they could make exceptions to the rules. If someone, wanted to show their appreciation why not??? I have to stop now, there’s some chaotic pounding at the front door. I think it is trouble!! Now where did I put that Magic Box???

2 comments:

timeintotime said...

He who controls our thoughts...

Throughout the C19 and C20, rebellions against the Enlightenment's "rationality" as a guiding principle for life waxed and waned. Referring to an epistemological criterion that seeks to test claims to truth by reference to reason and experience, rationalism gave science the cultural endorsement it needed to really take off as the pre-eminent force for discovering truth in life.

During the C20, another force which had been kicking around as a fairly important player since the invention of the Caxton Press, rose to prominence in the truth power struggle. The Media.

According to Dr Jim S Al-Khalili, "Scientific knowledge is unlike religious and cultural beliefs, in that it is empirically testable. In a world where we increasingly rely upon science in our everyday lives, it is vital for society to make the distinction between testable ideas and objective truth, on the one hand; and ideas based upon superstition, vested interest, or plain misunderstanding, on the other hand."

Wishful thinking Jim. Take those last three ideas after the semi-colon and picture in your mind how easy it is for the Media to manifest truth out of them. Not good enough? Well then, take the two ideas before the semi-colon and consider how easy it is for the Media to hijack and misrepresent them. That is why the Media is an even more powerful force than science these days. And why transforming and re-appropriating the truth is an even more important factor in today's world than the epistemological proving of it.

Doubtful? Just consider one example. For some unknown reason something meteorologically-related springs to mind...

The American meteorologist and atmospheric physicist Richard Lindzen has explained that the supposed 'scientific consensus', that supporters of the Kyoto Protocol claim exists, was reached before the research had even begun. Lindzen underlines a major problem confronting science today - namely, that through the media and political exploitation, theories become law before they are tested.

If anyone wants to know who is really in control, it remains for them only to turn on the "magic box".

timeintotime said...

Referring to your comment:

'...I suspect that if CNN existed during WW11, the Holocaust would never have happened. If CNN had existed during WW1 a whole generation wouldn't have been wiped out. In essence "Truth Is Perception & Perception Is Truth"'

You could be retrospectively right about the impact of CNN on the first and second world wars had they been around at the time.

Interesting though that they weren't able to prevent Rwanda, which happened right at the end of C20 when CNN were already very well established in the Media game.