Few people think deeply about anything anymore....

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

I have noticed that few people (except the GI's) seem to stop and THINK about what else May or MUST follow if A is true. Maybe it is because thinking about the true significance and potential consequences of any truth we encounter takes time. (A precious commodity nowdays) MORE NOTEWORTHY is that it requires MIND TIME that is freed from occupation with other peoples thoughts and ideas bombarding and distracting our contemplation whether they be from the radio, television, computer, lyric music or reading. In order to really plumb the depths of what ramifications a problem presents we need to recapture the input control of that computer between our ears. Unless and untill more of us do we will be constantly confronted by rather obvious consequences we had not(but should have) considered. In short, find a quiet place and really THINK about what you already know to be true and you will realize you know a whole lot more than you think you do once you seriously ponder the consequences of the truth you have.

-- Ann Fisher (zyax55b@prodigy.com), January 27, 1999

Answers

What does it mean to think?

-- MANchine (philosopher@self.com), January 27, 1999.

MANchine,

I don't think Ann is talking about "thinking." She's probably referring to being aware of and being a witness to the present moment, where we can see things as they are and act accordingly. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in petty distractions that all we do is react on auto-pilot with little or no awareness.

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), January 27, 1999.


Read somewhere that most people spend most of the time "asleep", not totally conscious, not entirely aware, not really thinking.

Seems like we could be the Awakened ones ;)

-- Leo (lchampion@ozemail.com.au), January 27, 1999.


Thinking about the problem's easy. What to do about it's the part people have a hard time thinking about. Even people who haven't thought about not much else _but the problem for a long time seem to have a whale of a time getting past it. Thinking and communicating about the problem takes on lots of different forms, but that's still mostly all it is. The problem seems to be like a black hole for people's minds, awareness, whatever... Look around. Read through some of this forum, other forums. y2k web sites, listservers. The problem rules, potential solutions (other than move to the country, dig in), are few and far between... And that's a problem.

-- Jim (jim@jim.com), January 27, 1999.

:::Sarcasm ala Milne Mode:::

Thinking? Looking into the matter? Why, that requires too much work. Let's focus on something more fun...like SHOPPING!!! ;-)

-- Faze the Nation (dazed@confused.com), January 27, 1999.



LOL LOL LOL....

I had a girlfriend like that once...

-- Tim (pixmo@pixelquest.com), January 27, 1999.


As they teach in the military, the first step in solving a problem is recognizing that a problem exists. There are many problems in relation to Y2K that people may not even realize until they arrive. That's one reason I've read fiction books on the subject for years. The scenarios in these books may be wrong, but they can point out some holes in your preparations.

-- Noah Simoneaux (noaj@yournet.com), January 27, 1999.

It's difficult to separate fact from fiction. Truth to one person may not be truth to another. I don't like thinking about it because I don't see anything pretty. I hear people talking about it around town and they perceive "truth" far different than I do. So what is truth? Most of us believe that we are in for rocky times and have prepared for it. None of us really know if that preparation is based on truth or fiction, it's a chance we are taking. But there really is one thing I know that will come true someday, and that is we're all going to die.

-- NotSoRosey (NotsoRosey@Rosey.com), January 27, 1999.

I believe that the average person in our society is subjected to more stimulus and information than the average person in any society in the history of the world. Our brains haven't changed all that much; we haven't evolved as quickly as the society has. Therefore the average person probably has a greater BREADTH of knowledge without having a corresponding greater DEPTH of understanding. We've become specialists in narrow fields and at the same time generalists in everything else.

It seems to me that in order to really THINK about this issue and be able to build reasonable scenarios about what may come about, one needs to have an interest in and specialized understanding in one or more of the following as well as generalized knowledge in most of the rest of the following:

Computer hardware, computer software, programming, embedded systems, networking, finance, national politics, local politics, military history, international affairs, cultural differences, media machinations, transportation systems, power generation systems, food distribution systems, global economics, monetary policy, health care, telecommunications, oil refining, human psychology, sociology, guns and ammo, the US constitution, IT in large corporations, corporate management, merger mania, the stock market, the legal profession, local and national budgets, fractional reserve and the fiat money scheme, farming and farm policy, satellite systems, popular culture, ancient history, mythology, food storage, water distribution, just to name a few things off the top of my head...

Being able to take specialized understanding of a few of these things and generalized knowledge of most of the rest of these things and mushing it all together and from that soup of information coming to logical conclusions is something that I think most of the heavy hitters around here have in common. They may not come to the same conclusions, that's not the point.

I think you're right Ann, that most people are distracted by the bombardment of other people's thoughts. Other people's thoughts need to be distilled and incorporated into our own, whereas I believe most people simply absorb all that as their own thoughts without the distillation part of it. Does that make sense?

Ah, sleep. Perchance to dream...

-- pshannon (pshannon@inch.com), January 27, 1999.


Most of what is defined as thinking is merely running someone elses thoughts through our minds. Most training institutions concentrate on memory. If you can remember what the teacher or professor said or what was written in the text books, then play it back at exam time and you get a good grade. Even original thoughts are a result of previous inputs that are combined to form a new idea. Read some of the old thoughts of Aristotle, Diogenes, Plato and other Philosophers and you would think it was written yesterday.

-- Herbert Johnson (HERB87@JUNO.COM), January 27, 1999.


Moments for contemplative thought are rare indeed for most Americans... too much preoccupation with frivolous activities like television, radio, sports, etc. as Ann stated, not to mention non-frivolous things like work. It's a difficult cycle to break, and it's all too easy to be seduced into a quiet numbness by the tube. Perhaps if it weren't for all the mindless distractions we've created in the last 50 or so years, we'd have seen all this coming a lot sooner, and been better able as a society to deal with it.

If anything good comes of Y2K, it may be that failure of the grid will free us from enslavement from these distractions... at a terrible cost, needless to say. However, it may be the only way to turn our course away from the socialistic police state that we have been rushing headlong into over the past few decades.

-- Why2K? (who@knows.com), January 27, 1999.


Why think? Though takes time. Thought takes effort. Thinking about Y2K is uncomfortable. There are plenty of people out there who are very willing to do the thinking for you.

"y2k is no big deal... we are well on our way to readiness...do not panic...prepare but not too much....remain calm... those people who are preparing are nuts...I REPEAT >>>DO NOT PANIC!!!!!!!!!!!<<<...we have everything under control...control...control...".

-- Sue (Conibear@gateway.net), January 27, 1999.


DEJA VU TIME!!!!

Prior to WWII the stage had been set and ACT I: Hitler Makes His Move began to play out.

Critiques about the play were heard throughout Europe including Great Britain and across the Atlantic to the US.

---Not interestd in this particular play....

ACT II: Hitler Captures a Wider Audience.

Great Britian and France become interested so much so they decide to participate and not just watch.

ACT III: Japan Bombs Pearl Harbor.

Oops! SHTF. The US is drawn into the play.

CLOSING ACT: BIG BANG! The Big White Knight had come to the rescue 20th Century style.

MORAL: People choose not to address the unthinkable and unconceivable until the unthinkable and unconceivable comes marching or bombarding into their lives.

We can only hope that there is a 'Big White Knight' waiting in the wings on the Y2K play.

I don't see any on the horizon though!!! I think 'White Knights' are a lost breed.

Better prepare for the worst just in case.

P.S. Historians take note that I do realise that the events leading up to and surrounding WWII are not nearly as simple as the above.

-- DEJA VU (DEJA VU@WWII.com), January 27, 1999.


" DEJA VU (DEJA VU@WWII.com)"

Are you my relative?

-- TTF (seenit@ww2.com), January 27, 1999.


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