Too Smart? Too Good? Too Bad?

Ok, I admit to it, I love to think about weird things, and I take inspiration from what most folks would consider odd sources. One of those sources is bad Science Fiction. I admit to liking science fiction, and I consider it to be one of the best mediums for expression, it allows freedom and thoughts that would be strangled out in any other genre.

The other day a theme of some SF hit me and it made me stop and think. This "Thesis" if you will was this:

"Any sufficiently advanced society will depend on technology, advancement, and overwhelming scientific knowledge to it's own demise. A society such as this will forget to think, forget creativity, and begging to die, not to live."

That is sort of my take on this theme; and i think that today we have plenty of examples. However I wanted to explore this thought more before trying to show examples.

I believe that this shows a sort of intellectual arrogance, a sense that once we have THIS we can handle anything with out having to think about it. It is a way of removing thought from the equation of problem solving. This will lead inevitability to rote answers and formulaic responses to every situation, no matter how odd or out of the ordinary. If X is the answer to every question, then what is the point of trying to understand anything? X

The concept of "understanding your way out of a problem" is basic to almost any decision that is made every day. Unless you take the time to consider the ramification of a decision you will very rarely make the correct one. Before you can make a correct decision the whole problem must be understood, including the more subtle problems, often this category involves people emotions, reactions; likes, dislikes; mood, and hidden issues. DO NOT think that I am saying that political correctness is the point. Absolutely not! All political correctness does it to mask the real thoughts, emotions, and opinions in a vernacular of pure banality. If you want to be honest, PC thoughts and words will probably not convey the full extent. No language is good at fully conferring thoughts from one person to another, but to artificially confine the language to a preselected and sensitivity tested subset of words is to only chop off 50% of the ability of a language. If you restrict words, the net effect is to restrict thoughts. Political correctness is slowly and surely killing this world, and every brain in it. If we try and reduce the whole of human interaction and thought into 25 categories, and you can only use positive, affirming words, just how accurate do you think you can get across the point, "I hate it when some dumb jack hole drives so badly he almost killed me!" The words we are restricted to will naturally lay out the channels of our thoughts.

See that aside was not as far afield as you thought huh?

What is the solution for this degradation of thought in the world. Easy, ask each person to do some. When problem solving becomes a basic skill, just like language and walking, it will be improved. My theory is that most folks are scared to make a decision, any decision. everyone is always told the consequences of a bad decision, and after enough of those messages it is easy to understand the reluctance to make any decision.

Now that i have wandered all over the place, he is how it ties together. If you allow any thinking to be done for you, any at all, you have surrendered the right to decision making. Once this is done on a societal level and it becomes a cultural imperative to allow some decisions be made for you, there is no recourse except for the solitary rebel who stands up and yells at the top of their lungs "I have a brain and I am not afraid to use it!" When someone rebels against the cultural and societal decisions it allows for thought again. When a cultural Knowledge is challenged it requires everyone to make a decision about that knowledge and that is the point; at this point a person can go from a walking zombie, reminiscent of Orwellian future, into a complete person.

I use the term knowledge very purposefully, this is the commonly held opinion that is so common and so accepted that to challenge it seems silly, because if you have never questioned it you have never really thought about it. Only when the spotlight of independent thought is brought to bear can we really see. On example of this is the whole marriage debate, what does it mean to be "married", and what are the specifics of it?

All of this decision making talk, and personal responsibility, and challenging talk goes back to the initial premise. That is that when you allow anything, society, others, or technology to take the decision out of the loop, then the person who makes the decision is similarly pointless. When the fall back is "Use the equation", "Follow the formula"; "Standard response # 3 (We are too busy, and will get to you when we can)" becomes the only thing, and there is no decision making involved, you might as well program a computer and eliminate the waste of oxygen.

For every person there is a decision made very early in life, that has echoes all the way down the years. That decision is weather to trust the formula or to derive it yourself. To put it another way:

Are you going to do your own thinking, or not?
Do you have the courage to make your own decisions, or will someone else make them for you?
Do you trust your own mind enough to follow it?

Can we be too smart? Yes! when we forget how to think and we know how to recite. When problem solving requires a calculator, not a brain. When thinking is too hard so just let the computer do it. When the old ways are forgotten because they are too hard to learn, not like we will ever have to understand the way out of a problem.

Who is the most valuable person alive? The one with the ability to make a decision.

My Spring Sprung a Leak

Ok, so here goes. My spring has been interesting as all get out.

I have gone through the process of getting AC contractors to replace my AC unit outside, so as summer approaches I might be able to survive. I learned a few things while my AC was out. First thing is that when you consider that any heat you make has to be cooled somehow you get very good at noticing and eliminating heat sources. I went without cooking inside, cool meals, one light at a time, everything i could to reduce the heat i would have to exhaust somehow. The second thing I discovered is that my house is well set up for open window ventilation, saved me on a few occasions. If anyone ever needs help or advice on AC contractors, let me know, someone else ought to benefit from my learning too.

I also have to deal with a "minor" bit of damage to my truck. A woman at work figured that my nice, clean new passenger door needed to have some of her truck's paint on it, and a dent would look good there too, so yeah. It is going to be a pain to get fixed, and it is going to be interesting on how this get taken care of.

Found out a few weeks ago that our pastor, Adam, is leaving Foundry to go to a great new opportunity. This is tough for me, as he is not just a pastor, but i wonderful friend. I know that this is on God's will, but it still hurts. I know that i will still see him and be in touch, and I will still have a Friend in him and his wonderful wife. I do fear however that without such a wonderful pillar, that my faith will start to waver a bit, and that scares me.

Life is just being very interesting these days, and I am not sure I am all that comfortable with the course it is taking. I am used to being able to if not hold the wheel and steer, that to at least know the course and destination. Right now, I am in an area where I can't see the course, and I don't know the destination. I really hate this feeling of being lost, but i think this is something i need to work on, the idea of "Trust".

I am very hopeful that everything will work out and life gets to an even keel. I have a feeling that things will be slightly off kilter for a while yet to come. Just keep me in your prayers, and I will keep you in mine.

Hope all is well, leave a comment or something, it is always fun to know who is reading.