A wise man told me once that great men talk about ideas, average people talk about events, and low people talk about other people. If you walk backwards down the stairs you’ll make less noise in some stairways. There’s an idea for you…
What drives humanity to find questions to ask? What motivates some of us to examine the laws of nature, to understand the interaction of the building blocks of matter, to predict the grand ballet of galaxies in our universe? Wonder. Science teaches us how to ask the questions, but wonder makes us want to answer them. Find your sense of wonder. Then you’ll start asking questions. Perhaps some of those questions will never be answered in your lifetime, but at least they’re being asked. Who knows? Maybe one day centuries from now that question will be answered and life on our little blue planet will change once again.
Carl Sagan was all about the wonder. I’m reading one of his books, probably one of his last: Demon Haunted World – Science as a candle in the dark. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. Carl Sagan was a genius astronomer, but he took his passion for science and focused on popularizing it for the masses. What really pisses me off is that I really want to talk to him, to discuss some of his ideas, but unfortunately one cannot have a coherent conversation with a dead man, unless of course one believes in all that. Another thing that pisses me off is that it seems to me that his life quest – promoting science – seems to have been in vain. Young people here in North America just don’t seem to be interested in learning about the world and the universe around us. I’m not sure where that lack of interest stems from, but it bothers me deeply.
Education is a fundamental part of growth as a human. Learning about physics, chemistry, biology, history (unbiased preferrably) – these are things that allow people to make informed choices. That’s what life’s all about: choices. The more you know about the world the better you’re able to make the right one.
Find your sense of wonder, it will bring life back into your world.
“Education is a fundamental part of growth as a human. Learning about physics, chemistry, biology, history (unbiased preferrably) – these are things that allow people to make informed choices”
Knowledge is a good thing, it is a tool that can help deliver yourself and others from ignorance.
However just having knowledge is only a part of the arsenal that you need. Knowing how to use it is the key. You must learn to Discern that knowledge, discerning knowledge is the key to Wisdom.
The differnce between knowledge and wisdom is like the diffrence between a Karate dude and an ultimate Ninga master!
– a karate dude does a bunch of fancy moves to impress you but lacks the abillity to use those moves effectivly.
– an ultimate Ninga master can flip out at an time and kill you without even thinking twice about it!!!
(to learn more about Ultimate Ninga Masters please frequent this page ….. http://www.realultimatepower.net/)
Furthermore I think it’s presumptuous and judgemental to try and fit the magority of young people into a box saying that they have no drive to learn. Thats not very hippi of you?! In fact I would say that the last decade boom of interplanet communication has opened the floodgates for young people to learn. especialy young people, they use computers more than old people.
Maybe what your seeing is either …. ….. nothing… …. .. or perahps it is that young people are not all like you! maybe some young people find knowlege and discern for themselves what is right and through out the rest!
it’s just a thought here is a neet quote.
Men are four:
He who knows not and knows not he knows not, he is a fool – shun him;
He who knows not and knows he knows not, he is simple – teach him;
He who knows and knows not he knows, he is asleep – wake him;
He who knows and knows he knows, he is wise – follow him!
Arabic Apothegm
Goddamnit Wendy, spell check your shit before you post!!!
Ninja spelt with a g??
Anyway i think that people in general are too wrapped up in their own “world” to care about learning and questioning. Perhaps the case is that life today is much busier then it used to be. There is no time to just sit on your ass and ponder the endless questions of the universe. Once again not so sure where i am going with this post. So I should get back to work…. with a g??? Shit.
Unfortunately when talking about groups of people, one has to rely on generalities. There are of course specific cases of young people who are more knowledgeable and intelligent than there were at any other point in time, but I’m talking about the majority here, specifically about the education system in the U.S. Budget cuts have turned the public school system into a joke where everybody is passed ahead to the next grade, despite their academic prowess (or lack of it). There is simply not enough room in classes to leave a child behind a grade. What this is leading to is an unprecedented level of lack of education in the states in a time when more and more eductation is needed to make the right choices in life… and it scares me deeply. It scares me that the most powerful country in the world is churning out uneducated, illiterate child after child – future leaders of U.S.
You are assuming that it will stay the most powerful country in the world. I think that in a few years the world’s political landscape will look much different then today and i think the EU will be more powerful the States.
I disagree completely. When it comes down to it, the EU may eventually be a greater economic power, but the US still dominates the world when it comes to military power. They’re at least a generation ahead of any other country, with the largest array of high-tech weaponry. If it came down to a full out war between the US and the rest of the world it would be a close one…
DAMN YOU CRUEL WORLD!!! in my world ninja is spelled with a G!!!
p.s. hippi , get a spell check for your site! 🙂
I agree that the U.S. has the coolest weaponry but I think it’s clear that the u.s. has poorly trained soldiers. you can have all the fancy weapons you want but if you have dumies gunning them, no more allies cause you pissed off the world, eventual they will lose power.
not to mention that fancy weapons cost $ and being that america is the biggest consumer of resorces, the rest of the world is not going to keep supplying them forever. once resources stop the economy goes out the window and no more tax dollars to feed the military machine.
I think it will just be a domino effect if any of this does happen.
A sense of wonder.
A distracted mind torn asunder.
Distracted to the point of forlorn blunder.
Why trouble ourselves with the unknown
when we can cover up these questions with a form of wonder cologne?
It provides a simple replacement masking our true intentions
It provides a laziness excuse with dollar-store bought interventions
Sure it would be nice to question and learn each and everyday
but our time is limited (right down to the time allotted for play)
We have so many things to do in this life
this can lead to something known as after-school-strife
you get home from a hard day of school or work
you want to scream you want to shout
in fact you want to smirk
at the very idea of putting any more time into:
learning
asking questions
and traveling the mind
we are looking for distraction and a way that we can play
without doing anything ourselves at the end of the day
we have found all these ways to cover up our mind
with comfort food ideas that other people have designed
The paper teaches politics
The TV gives us Friends (TM)
It all comes down to one simple fact in the end:
A sense of wonder would distract us from our distractions.
Peace to the pieces that were, are, and will be you.
Thanks for that man – I always appreciate your word smithing.
China will own all! Ahahaha!! *runs away*
LoL @ DAVIS!
Yea, totally. It’s a funny thing that people who can use computers actually think they are knowledgable. It takes half a brain (and some money) to learn to use a computer. What they do on the computer is what matters. Most of them, they either 1) Play mindless games 2)Download mp3s, movies etc.. 3) research things like Ben and J-hoe’s relationship, 4) Reseach topics like Confederation, just to copy-paste all the info into “their” report. Not many people actually use it to be enlightened. It’s more of a toy then a tool of enlightenment.
I believe North-American people are getting dumber… or perhaps just not getting any smarter.
-Bubu 8)
can you teach/tell, me some moves.please