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Is it just me, or is the world moving backwards?
scottws:
Pregnant Pakistani Woman Stoned to Death by Family
It's 2014, and 1) we are still stoning people and 2) free will is still a problem for some cultures.
Tea Party dominates Texas GOP Runoffs
I'm waiting for the Salem Witch Trials Redux. It seems bound to happen at this point.
Wyoming Rejects Science Standards, Won't Teach Man-Made Climate Change
Creationists on Texas Panel for Biology Textbooks
It's 2014, and we are rejecting science. This after America's period of massive prosperity mostly brought on by investment in and use of science. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. After all, America's oligarchs are making laws, regulations, and policies that are shrinking the middle class even though America is an economic beacon of light entirely because of its middle class. Note to rich dudes: who is going to buy your stuff when people don't have disposable incomes any more?
Cobra951:
The use of religion as political power is on the rise, and that is indeed going backward. One story goes that the ancient Greeks would have developed technology, but the mystics--the equivalent of modern-day zealots and fanatics--nipped that in the bud. They were numerous and powerful, as they are in certain countries in the Middle East today. And Greece ended up falling to Rome, becoming their enslaved education and cultural center. The Roman gods are renamed Greek gods.
Mysticism, aka religion, can't produce weapons, medicine, or any other understanding of the physical world. Yet because of ignorance and fear among the populace, it can grow to displace that which gives humanity an upper hand in the real world. It grows like a cancer among the disaffected, and is seized by power-hungry opportunists as their rallying cry. (Talking about such things always reminds me of Ignorance and Want, the two children under the robes of the ghost of Christmas present. They spell our doom.)
The push of Creationism, a philosophy clearly rooted in Christian religion, to displace Evolution, a truly scientific theory, is the most troubling evidence of such backward-driving tendencies in this country. The only effective weapon against it is education, beginning with why faith-based theories are not, and can never become, science. Science demands the absence of belief--the very opposite of religion. But in a culture where the smartest are ridiculed and the dumbest thugs rule the schoolyard, I am not optimistic about education at all.
idolminds:
gpw11:
--- Quote from: Cobra951 on Wednesday, May 28, 2014, 05:50:41 AM ---The use of religion as political power is on the rise, and that is indeed going backward. One story goes that the ancient Greeks would have developed technology, but the mystics--the equivalent of modern-day zealots and fanatics--nipped that in the bud. They were numerous and powerful, as they are in certain countries in the Middle East today. And Greece ended up falling to Rome, becoming their enslaved education and cultural center. The Roman gods are renamed Greek gods.
--- End quote ---
Socrates' and Plato held a particular disdain for democracy for this reason. They were of the opinion that the rabble could easily be convinced to make the worst decisions for mankind.
Xessive:
--- Quote from: gpw11 on Wednesday, May 28, 2014, 05:39:45 PM ---Socrates' and Plato held a particular disdain for democracy for this reason. They were of the opinion that the rabble could easily be convinced to make the worst decisions for mankind.
--- End quote ---
Ditto. Democracy is not for everyone. There are too many dependencies and variables which must be met for democracy to function effectively.
As it is today, democracy functions under many assumptions that all of the voters are educated and well-informed, the nominees are equally campaigned, and that the people counting the votes are honest.
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