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The Answer is 42
The Answer is 42
By
Cognitive Dissonance
Come visit a uniquely different website and enter the mind of Cognitive Dissonance
One would think that the answer is entirely dependent upon the question, and normally I would agree with that logical deduction. But when pondering sticky questions, particularly those that involve Cognitive Dissonance, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’s famous “Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything” answer (“The answer is 42”) seems just as apropos as anything you or I could, and regularly do, pull out of our bums.
For example, why is there near universal agreement that politicians, (governmental) institutions and other ‘author-ity’ figures (those who author their own justification or rationalization to receive/take our power) lie, cheat and steal, with special emphasis on lie, yet we eviscerate them when they actually tell the truth? Worse, when they actually admit to lying (supposedly to keep the peace) why do we derisively condemn them every which way to Sunday?
I suspect people tend to panic when confronted with the truth because we’ve been so conditioned to accept their lies that when told the truth (which incidentally we intuitively know is the truth without seeking an external authority for confirmation) we panic, logically thinking that it must really be bad if they are being ‘honest’, or as close to honest as they can get without becoming tongue tied. I now understand that the answer to my question is (obviously) 42.
Case in point, a while back Jean-Claude Juncker, former Luxembourg Prime Minister and Head Euro-Zone Finance Minister, was quoted as saying “When it becomes serious, you have to lie.” For this little moment of clarity and truth he was unmercilessly pilloried in the mainstream press, blogs, opinion pieces and various international pancake houses for speaking the truth about lying when the shit hits the fan.

If his lips are moving.........
Of course the bastard lies, and often for the very same reasons our children lie to us and why we lie to our friends, children, bosses, spouses, strangers and ultimately ourselves. To save our asses from immediate consequences, if only for a short period of time
Bottom line the perceived benefits of (self) deception are often considered to be much greater than the perceived consequences of being caught, regardless of whether the perceived benefits are in fact ‘real’ or just imagined. For example, think about the benefits of having your bias confirmed as an ‘imagined’ benefit that supports further self deception. I’m getting that tingling feeling between my toes just thinking about it.
We all conduct a quick mental check before deciding to lie or not, a sort of Ben Franklin Close (aka The Balance Sheet Close) where we list the so-called benefits on one side of a sheet of paper and the costs on the other, though it is often done in real time with lots of presupposed assumptions (beliefs and ideologies) and outcomes plugged into the variables.
Often when the ‘believed’ consequences of lying are small (or the social acceptance of our little ‘white lie’ is high) the cognitive path to (self) deception is not only cleared, but there’s a tail wind blowing our lie in for a safe three point landing.
Other than becoming the laughing stock of the world for a day or so, exactly what consequences did Juncker suffer? Was his pay reduced or his bonus pulled after he admitted that he lies? Did he lose his position of power and influence? Was he sent to the nearest corner for some down time to reflect upon his transgression?
None-of-the above is the proper response here because Juncker suffered no lasting consequences and, dare I say it, might even have received some (extra) consolatory loving from Mrs. Juncker (but most likely his Mistress because he is European banker after all) for being so brave.
Before the Ponzi and its supporting control system became so blatantly obvious (to us we tell ourselves, everyone else still being too stupid to see the blatantly obvious) one needed to look and listen closely for the flaws in the control system. Nowadays the insanity is on display for all to see 24/7/365 and the proof is the endless material for WilliamBanzai7 to hit out of the ballpark at least twice a day here on ZeroHedge.
Let’s take a look at another example. Why is it that we can clearly see when foreign politicians are pandering to their ‘electorate’ (or indentured economic slaves as the case may be) for local consumption, yet we fail to recognize the exact same behavior when we are pandered to by ‘our’ own politicians? The answer (naturally) is 42. It never ceases to amaze me how brilliant we are when recognizing other people’s stupidity and how utterly stupid we are when failing to recognize our own idiocy.

The G8 Liars Club
How often have we read about this or that foreign diplomat or politician delivering a troubling speech berating those evil Americans/French/English/Germans (insert your own nationality here)?
Now…..if it was ‘our’ enemy doing the berating the politician/writer/news anchor would assume the proper righteously indignant tone of voice and declare the bastard our national enemy number one…..who was (of course) lying through his teeth to his own people about ‘us’.
By the way, since when did I personally piss off Kim Jong-un or Hugo Chavez (may his lying ass rest in peace) enough that they became ‘my’ own personal enemy? I have a hard enough time dealing with that prissy checkout girl at the local Wawa without worrying about some lying fool half way around the world whom I never met.
However if the foreign leader insulting ‘us’ is our ‘friend’ (I certainly don’t remember ‘friending’ the bastard, but what the hell) the politician/writer/news anchor assumes a consolatory tone of voice and soothingly assures us that the poor foreign leader, our bosom buddy and lifelong pal, was simply delivering a speech ‘for domestic consumption’ and really didn’t mean it. In other words, s/he was lying through his/her teeth to the local population in order to pander to the idiots, so ignore what s/he’s saying.
Ultimately we should be asking ourselves why we tolerate lies from complete strangers who just happen to be ‘our’ leaders. Or why we tell ourselves we don’t believe a lying word out of their mouths, then jump all over them for telling the truth about the fact that they lie to us. To be perfectly honest (pun most definitely intended) the reason we tolerate lies from others is because we want them to tolerate our lies. What goes around (hopefully) comes around, at least when it comes to lying.
Most dysfunctional relationships, and there is no doubt that the relationship we have with ‘our’ leaders is the epitome of dysfunctional, requires and encourages mutual lying in order not to be held accountable to each other while presenting the facade that we are. And make no mistake about it, accountability works both ways, not just from the top of leadership down to ‘us’ peons.

Old School Psychopaths
Who reading this right now is actually willing to run this country, let alone try to ‘fix’ it, considering the present state of psychosis nearly everyone, not just ‘our’ leaders, are suffering from? Only a madman, a sociopath or someone suffering from NPD (narcissistic personality disorder in case you’re wondering) would beg to be put into the type of position where not only must they go along to get along, but they need to enable the other madmen and sociopaths or they might just find themselves taking a long walk off a short pier.
I’m not quite sure what is more outrageous, the fact that politicians lie to ‘us’, the fact that they actually desire the type of position that requires them to speak anything but the truth to the public or the fact that we tolerate, and at times enable, all of the above.
In fact I wonder why I’m outraged at all considering I’m just as insane as the rest of ‘us’ inmates in The Insane Asylum. The answer (naturally) is 42.
“The few who understand the system will either be so interested in its profits or be so dependent upon its favours that there will be no opposition from that class, while on the other hand, the great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that capital derives from the system, will bear its burdens without complaint, and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests.”
-The Rothschild brothers of London writing to associates in New York, 1863.
03-01-2014
Cognitive Dissonance

Yeah.....what he said.
<What did he just say?>
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Science hasn't given a final answer on this.
One mode of attack on the problem, however, is to look at the over-all affect on each species by various members and to posit that if the species is given benefit, so are all offspring, some of which are offspring of the individual indirectly getting benefit, unless there are no offspring.
Even so, if the entire species benefits and that excludes any offspring of the individual(s) responsible for the benefit, it's still good for evolution & can be addressed in that manner.
Without more detailed tracking we'll never know what this gnat or that bee ever did for their species or for all species, even us.
When it comes to swarms & emergent behaviour & chaotic events, we simply don't have the surveillance & computing power to handle it.
Not sure that we ever will.
"or availed themselves of the wonders of medicine "
But how would you know? Mutations in species of anything from a bacterium to an elephant could this very minute be cures to analogues of diseases we have & have not yet cured.
Nature's tricky that way. I wouldn't understimate it. Many of our medical wonders are simply to purify & refine what is already produced in nature while having no idea whatsoever why/how nature got that way in the first place.
"still has the innate capacity to potentially change the entire future path of the entire species that we call humanity. They can do it either in some very small and imperceptible way, or else an overtly obvious way"
Or could fail to do so. Or could try & fail or could try nothing yet do so anyhow, as could many other combinations of events not even initially starting with living things, much less members of the same species. Weather events could spark it one day on the plains of Africa or a solar storm a hundred years from now.
We just don't know.
"A human does not need to have a downstream lineage at all, to radically alter humanity's development from then on"
No but if too few (ie. none) have a downstream lineage this change will not happen.
"This is a big part of the fascination and drive for power"
I disagree. My observations so far lead me to conclude some people are born to lead & some are born to follow.
Since I am neither they are both very conspicuous to me.
I'm very capable of leading & will do so to benefit my survival but I have no drive to do so, no inner need, no feeling of vacancy or sadness for not doing so, and no drive to keep doing it when I can clearly see I've exhausted all the benefits I was seeking to use this strategy in the first place.
"Otherwise breeding alone will leave only a small mark on humanity"
I think assertion that too heavily discounts what the smallest of changes could bring.
I for example don't look older than 25. I'm a LOT older than 25. I'm sure there's some genetic benefit in there somewhere. I'm also completely immune to every strain of influenza that's ever come near me. I'm sure I can't account for all that ever will exist but perhaps this immunity could be passed on.
I'm not seeing how any benefit (if there is one) will be passed on without breeding in those cases. I'm sure with any number of people if we look closely enough we could find other very useful traits.
What's even tricker is if a good trait will come from a combination that will happen 3 generations later but won't happen at all if a particular pair of parents don't actually make a baby as their part in the process.
"So yeah miffed, clearly mere survival is not what a human life is all about"
I think that's a choice. I'm more than happy to keep my life simple & to do so by making that my focus. It's for me.
"We've both at least temporarily freed ourselves from the survival-of-the-fittest mode of evolution, ... to evolve it in far wider ways than we ever could prior."
Or to fail to evolve further. Without threat, without harm, many mutations now aren't removed & they're building up.
More allergies. More need for glasses. More diabetes. More sedentary lifestyles & it's clearly not healthy for us humans.
"Merely surviving and breeding is not a purpose of life at all. Our humanity is not in our survival or in reproducing.
So what's that leave? "
It leaves me just saying "yes it is".
MDB,
You may be interested in studying epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene activity that are NOT caused by changes in the DNA sequence. Unlike simple genetics based on changes to the DNA sequence (the genotype), the changes in gene expression or cellular phenotype of epigenetics have other causes. Chemical, Microbiome influences and even mental thoughts ( placebo effect). It is becoming clear we are not solely the product of our inherited genes.
This has radical implications and truly opens the door for us to not believing in a preset genetic destiny unable to be affected in any manner. So, if your parents and grandparents all died of lung cancer this means you may not necessarily share their fate. This is all cutting edge research and I think it gives us hope and more empowerment in our lives. Perhaps your youthful appearance and resistance to influenza can be shared by studying your unique Microbiome that can benefits others without you directly producing children who may or may not carry that trait. Ok, on the level of science fiction now but who knows what the future holds?
Miffed;-)
I am interested but have had little time to devote to it.
My educational background is computer science & my current employment is at least 42 hours a week, giving me not much time to focus on that without losing focus on finance.
Given what I've figured out with math & various trades I think for now I'll keep on that focus until I've made enough money doing it I can afford to spend my time doing something else.
I remember reading about methylation of various gene-strings affecting promoters & enhancers. I read it years ago but I feel I understood the basic introduction to the epigenetic concept, including the effects lasting several generations from a single change in an ancestor.
In any case 'heritable' still implies breeding so whatever the change, it's now something the offspring won't need to get by exposure to the outside word post-birth, such as built up immunities reacting to a virus.
As for studying me to find out how I look 25 (one girl at work said 23) at age 40, I don't have the time to be studied by others unless they have they money to truly make it worth my while.
I'm sure someone can figure it out, if someone can reverse aging in mice (and has), but again, I have my own life to live.
Maybe it's better for me if just me & few others have this trait, or set of traits ending in this result. After all, if I really want I can go pick up a girl who's 25 and not really say I'm 40 till... any time I might feel like it :)
I have been always fortunate to have looked younger than my years so I can relate. However at 52, it is certainly harder. I have to work at it diligently. I exercise, eat well and years of yoga has made me very toned. I had a body analysis done a few years back and they said I had the highest recorded lean body mass of any woman they had ever done at my age. Normally at my age they recommend gaining muscle as well as losing fat. I have 12 lbs of fat to lose but because of my LBM is so high my recommended weight is 10lbs higher than normal for my height.
My husband loves a voluptuous shape with a defined waist which keeps me motivated to stay in shape to please him as long as I can. Guard your youthful physique as long as possible. Believe me as the years go by it does become difficult. I have a birthday coming up in a few weeks and I certainly don't look forward to them as I used to! The sands will eventually shift but who I am inside will never change.
I've been to 2 lectures on epigenetics and have read a few articles. Very fascinating. I, like you, don't have enough time to fully explore it. Sometimes I wish I could retire now and have time to delve into everything that fascinates me before I'm a decrepit old bag that doesn't have 2 functioning synapses to devote to anything but gazing at a wall. Unfortunately, TPTB have seen to this being the most likely scenario.
Miffed;-)
I can relate. I try to be as fast at searching & organized as I can be for indexing bookmarks & saved web pages, video, audio, to learn. I literally put links into a crontab scheduler in Linux so that at various intervals they will load. If I have time, I read/listen/view, if I don't have time I close them & they will come back. Time is precious and it's in these years I can make the best use of the knowledge, not when I'm older. I know I won't use it all but as long as I keep searching & keep reviewing what is most likely useful I'll be as far ahead as I can get.
About looking younger: one aspect I've learned of, but not properly confirmed, is controlling total calorie intake. Don't starve yourself or be malnourished but avoid anything that's junk food (I have lost my taste for most of it, except chocolate cake) & don't over-eat. The story is that it prolongs longevity & if it can I suspect it means aging a bit slower.
All my life I have been that way, having fully lost my interest in chips, soda, crap like that at age 19. I never over-eat, I just stop eating when full & go back to eating any time I want provided what I'm doing (like work) isn't stopping me.
Well, I must admit to being very jealous of your organization skills. I wish I had such a talent but I have a highly chaotic mind. I will have extreme focus on something and then, suddenly shift to something else that grabs my attention. Web searches are almost impossible for me. I will attempt to search for answers about a particular topic and get completely immersed in related topics that catch my eye. Then hours go by as I'm exploring all these additional paths and I have forgotten what I had originally searched! Visually I'm highly stimulated as well. I have to live in a minimalist world with few things and simple lines. My husband laughs that I can't walk into the kitchen after he has cooked something because of the mess. He must order the mess so I can clean it. He sees pans strewn around I see a Jackson Pollock painting. My husband deals with 200 emails a day and organizes 50 versions of a software release that are constantly changing and I can't clean a messy kitchen. I don't know how I would function without his incredible organizational skills. They are innate. I must work at it because my job demands it. Patients could be hurt if I make a mistake.
You are correct about the health aspects of low calorie consumption. That has been well researched and verified. You may consider intermittent or juice fasting. I do one juice fast yearly either spring or summer ( can't do it in winter because your body temp is too cold during a fast). I shoot for three days but I let my body decide the end point. One year I went almost three weeks and only stopped because I just felt like chewing something again. Fasting has been shown to have many health benefits. Digestion is very difficult and demanding on the body. When you give the body a break from this constant work, it focuses on other maintenance. During one fast I had a large mole on the side of my knee shrink 90%.
Even just skipping meals occasionally is beneficial. Too many Americans are obsessed with eating even when not hungry.They don't realize it is not food they crave for the most part. It's just emptiness of their lives that needs to be filled. And, of course, when you eat junk food, it causes one to crave more like a drug. You have wisely avoided such a path and are rewarded with a healthy body and an, obviously, a richly intelligent mind.
Miffed;-)
I use some of the same tricks for an OS for scheduling tasks or jumping back to them.
In advance I put the next thing top-level I'm to do & when.
I watch the clock.
I switch to the thing to do at the decided time.
I also do the immersive search but I use a notepad window (kate in KDE in Linux) and I use the firefox bookmarks window.
You can actually force it to stay on top of all windows in KDE Plasma desktop, XFCE and others.
I drag each item into a bookmarks folder & then I view them in order. When I'm done, I'm done.
I keep the folder small so that topic doesn't take all day.
Spatially in real space I shove everything to one side to avoid the mess being overwhelming. I handle what I can and I put the worst things to last. THe worst things need the most scraping or are so huge they hurt my back to wash, like a roasting pan for chicken.
I even started double-lining it with foil and just peeling off the foil to watch & throw in the recycle (they want it clean).
When it's been 3 or 4 rounds of cooking then the pan itself needs it since the foil gets holes in it & grease will stick under it.
Can't say I'm not visually stimulated but a lot of the vision is virtual. In my mind I'm re-shaping the space itself, the future-space, where things go, when & why. Then I put them there.
It's just not all locked in 3 dimensions for me because that future space has 2 more future dimensions. One is the actual 'future' as a time index, the rest is alternate competing futures for where things could/should go.
The benefit of this is compressing competing futures together into combined futures that actually save me time & take less space to store stuff.
For work emails I handle at least 200 a day as well. I filter them all. The secretary at the front desk told me off for filtering her emails:) I swear up & down I don't then put my fingers crossed behind my back to make her laugh.
I also use the task scheduler / calendar at work in Outlook. No Linux there. At home I use crontab. It lets me set up a pattern for time, date, repeats for same day of week or same day of month, then just run anything.
Because kate (notepad) has a giant list of text files always open I can't use it for a reminder system, it can't be forced externally to load that one segment of one file I want.
So if a thing isn't just being run on the computer but is a reminder for me to do something I actually use xloadimage.
This program loads a picture. I'll download or custom-make a picture and the crontab program will actually open the picture at the right date & time.
Anything from a CD-burning icon to a list of paydays & charts to do or re-do for stocks, all of it, is saved in pictures.
This organization isn't innate to me. The top level is but the enhancements are all stolen concepts from how files are stored & events are triggered by applications or operating systems. I learned it, I forced it right into my subconscious & my every-day tasks.
This is one of those things of "losing your humanity" but getting a benefit from it that I stick with.
I can't do juice fasting. I need animal protein like a hungry wolf. No way out of it. Given the chance I'd probably de-populate the Earth of chickens. I don't tend to eat red meat. Ever. I just don't like it very much. If cost wasn't an obstacle I'd do the same with sushi & empty the oceans.
Because I reduce my meal size and eat 5 times a day instead my body doesn't undergo digestion stress the way everyone else does. It really feels like I'm eating almost constantly but I eat less than a lot of people on a per-day basis. I still only eat when I'm hungry and when I'm not I don't. I never go over 160 in weight & haven't for at least 15 years. The weight range of 155 to 165 covers my age all the way back to age 15.
I vaguely remember this feeling of emptiness. It's gone now. It's one of those emotions. Something related to loneliness and lacking purpose. I put myself to detailed and organized purpose for whatever I need, whatever I predict is coming now. I feel almost nothing. No hate, no love, no anticipation, no loneliness. I know, it's a loss of humanity, but it has served me well having learned how to shut it all down. It's baggage, it's in the way.
Element, sound logic indeed. I must say I always been uncomfortable with the notion the our entire biological imperative was simply reproduction. Having spawned 2 times myself it is obviously apparent such an action has little impact for the entire human race.
I have a condition unique to less than 1% of women which several physicians are fascinated and am being monitored to see what will happen. They assume genetics and want to follow my children as well. A bizarre mutation or is it environmental or a little of both? Whatever the reason, I conceded to their watching me but realize this can have no help to others. The sample size is just too small. It's amazing to realize how many mutations are found in a population, good and bad, that simply burn out and die to have no impact on society what so ever. I infinitely prefer to have my uniqueness as a human aside from my genetics play a role in the betterment of society.
Though I would never claim to have such an impact as Tesla or Newton, there are many people today I have affected their lives in a positive way. Some in my profession, others in my personal life. Who knows who/where these ripples have touched or how far they have extended? I can never know. But the funny thing is, I don't have to know. I don't need my name prominently displayed on a building for some kind of legacy. In 100 years who truly will give a rat's ass who that person was or what they did. It is irrelevant to those at that time.
The beauty of self examination and mindfulness is that it is an exercise looking inward for answers to life. Practicing daily with intention will lead to revelation but it does take work as a salmon fighting upstream. This is where I think most fail. Without immediate reward, they give up in frustration. Our society with " pop a pill for a solution to a problem" doesn't help our lazy natures. When I finally became still and looked inward, my life changed. All of a sudden there was no need for a cookie, a trinket or something outside of myself. The answers we there all along, just waiting to be revealed.
It's nice to talk to you Element. You seem to be a kindred spirit and a contemplative man I find very rare today. Also thank you CD for providing such a forum. I hope to spend some time on your new site and,
hopefully perhaps, add to the discussion. Though a ding bat as my husband loves to tease me, I do have a serious, thoughtful side as well.
Miffed;-)
Hi Mifffed,
Can't wait to see you over at twoicefloes.com
I intend to pop in as much as possible. Unfortunately, working full time, having a 2hr daily commute and a daily hr yoga class has left me devoid of some of my personal pleasures. Plus my devoted husband has swished his tail in jealousy a bit when I have over indulged in my ZH times. My vow to him to love, honor, and cherish him must always come first ( he didn't insist upon obey being such a wild spirit he knew I couldn't t keep it). We both are so fortunate to have such loving mates. It certainly makes my life worth living. I look forward to experiencing your wisdom and depth and I hope I can contribute in some way.
In friendship always.
Miffed;-)
+1 to the 3 of you directly above, and to CD for continually provoking such deeper discussions here.
Hey idog, long time no see.
"Perhaps the answer is never be comfortable with lies and be vigilant in
mindfulness and self examination to keep the seductiveness of the dark
path at bay."
I'll second that motion.
We were trained to believe trust is a virtue. We want to trust, so we do not have to think.
"Who reading this right now is actually willing to run this country, let alone try to ‘fix’ it, considering the present state of psychosis nearly everyone, not just ‘our’ leaders, are suffering from?"
You nailed it right there. There are many variables based on geography, demographics etc.. The needs of a small town who depends on the forest products industry or agriculture differs from that of say Boston, NYC, Detroit or LA. You can't please everyone. However, there are those who have their hand in the cookie jar and even allow themselves the priveledge of legal insider trading. Most of the leadership are lawyers who took a substantial paycut to become congress critters and yet, become fabulously wealthy for taking that paycut, which cost them (donors) millions in campaign funds.
That said, wasn't Bill Clinton #42?
"That said, wasn't Bill Clinton #42?"
Not sure. I stopped counting after I ran out of fingers and toes. :)
Wasn't Bill Clinton a Rhodes Scholar?
Yes, he was. He was a classmate of Christopher Hitchens, the famous public intellectual and vociferous atheist. This merely demonstrates what psychlogists already know, that people with significant IQ's can have personality structures that revolve around self; self-regard, and self-reward, and are eminently buyable. He was spotted at a Bilderburg conference years before he burst on the public scene as a presidential candidate; to the consternation of the dedicated photographers who try to get photos of everyone who attends with telephoto lenses. They had no idea who he was; finally someone recognized him; "that's the governor of Arkansas". ?? Complete surprise; what was the governor of Arkansas doing at a Bilderburg conference? Signing up for the pledge, as we now realize, taking the blood oath; agreeing to sell the United States to China for personal gain; which he did. They now have complete confidence that no one is paying attention; and the sheeple won't object to anything, so they do whatever they want.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/flashback-fleetwood-mac-reunite...
Yessir.
Put my name out there and tell everybody to write me in in 2016, assuming we make it that far. Get me elected through a grass roots campaign and write-ins. Know what? I'd probably tell the country to stuff it, and I wasn't taking the job. There is too much corruption to clean out from inside the system. I'm not going to take a job that I know I will fail at. I may be idealistic, but I'm not that idealistic. No, I'll just let the government collapse under its own weight, and should I survive the chaos, push for something better. What, exactly, I'm not sure yet.
I saved the pic of the Yalta conference (lest history be forgotten).
I liked the title you used, so I let it stand.
The Three Stooges...
Obama didn't lie, by the way, when he promised 'change'. The disagreement is in the vision of WHAT the change should be...
That's too funny.
When a contributing editor uploads an article s/he can either provide links to the pictures and embed those links or s/he can upload the actual image that is being placed in the article. When uploading the image we are asked for a title and description. I had no idea the title would be linked to the image if someone wanted to download it.
I'd better be a wee bit more careful with those titles because some of them have been pretty outrageous. :-)
The problem with this rambling piece is that everything in it is either obvious, or unfalsifiable.
Of course, ZH'ers love conspiracy pieces, so falsifiability simply isn't interesting.
But the photos are nice. So wait... maybe I'm not getting it. People lie? Is that it? And they're greedy? And the Jews knew about this all along? Damn, I hate Jews! (Is that what I'm supposed to do?)
Conspiracy is not a Theory, it's a felony.
Yes, there ARE internet trolls who divert, critisize, or obfuscate in order to derail the conversation. Did anyone else spot this?
SO, it's the JEWS again...GIVE IT UP, trollista!
Blankfein, Strauss-Kahn, Geithner, Bernanke, Soros, Orszag, Gensler, Greenspan, Yellen, Fuld, Greenberg, Schwartzmann, Madoff, Cayne....and on and on and on....
Defense rests.
Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Biden, Boehner, Pelosi, Boxer, Reid, pretty much all of Congress, pretty much all of the other banksters, and a whole slew of other crooks are not Jews, but, traitorous slime, WHICH FAR OUTNUMBER THE JEWS.
What a sidetracking troll.
None of those names are Hindu.
Although I'm sure there are Hindu pyscopaths too.
Stack On
18 USC Section 1001:
They can lie to us, but they'll throw our asses in the clank if we lie to them. Combine that with how the FBI's form 302 works and you have the makings for bad shit.That's why when they 'lie' it can be modified by saying "I misspoke" or the ever popular "S/he misspoke" if they want some PR lackey to explain away their lie.
The thing is this. We want our leaders to 'lie', but we want their lie to be somewhat plausible. I mean....if you're gonna lie, please lie well.....or at least have a professional do it for you.
Psychologists have tested this in Lab. conditions and it;s quite true' we're willing for other people to lie; and go along with it; how willing, depends on many factors; the perceived "authority" of the person; the presence of others at the time, (shills, or people who encourage the pretense that was said was "alright", are very effective), social harmony is always a force. Very, very, few people actually think for themselves and simply tell all the trolls to fuck off. I started doing it when I was about 11 and I've been consistently diagnosed as "doesn't work and play well with others" ever since. I usually get along all right with my actual peers; all one tenth of one percent of the population. Most of them have soaked up some kind of actual facts and they have good memories; they also tend to not watch TV or movies.
You have to be trusted
by the people that you lie to
So that when they turn their backs on you
You'll get the chance to put the knife in.
-Pink Floyd-Dogs
A propos, no?
Dont believe everything you see, because you only see what you believe
-CD
that's an excellent observation; it's at the root of a lot of the dysfunction in government and society. You really do only see what you (already) believe. Commenting on that a little further, the belief systems tend to be simplistic and cult-like; there's one right answer for everything; "free makrets", or "democracy", or religious tolerance, or whatever. In reality, of course, there is no one answer that's always riight; the best answer depends on the actual circumstance at hand at the time, it's specific, and it's going to require thought and education to arrive at. It will usually appear "drastic", or "radical" to most people.
Well said. I was actually quoting CogDis (CD) from an article he wrote a while ago (over a year?), and that point really stood out to me. Funny how my girl always says that I see things as too black/white, mostly because my views are 'extreme' (drastic/radical) to her when in my mind, the answers to a lot of issues are pretty 'simplistic' (not taking offense, just pointing it out). When you begin to be able to see through the cloud of crap in mainstream society you start to question everything and it can get pretty scary.
I do find one answer that is generally right most of the time though:
Government involvement is definitely not the answer.
Mrs. Cog regularly quotes me @ me. The problem is that I have forgotten most of what I have written.
Very humiliating.
On the bright side I always consider the quote she fires at me to be quite brilliant....so I'm always delighted to eventually discover that it was me who's so brilliant.
Ego stroke big time.......right after I pick my ego up off the floor. :-)
<Talk about 'Of Two Minds'. I don't know if I'm coming or going. So I just sleep in late here at The Insane Asylum.>
*Bows to that*
All I ever get is "You are an idiot"...
Tell her that she was so brilliant as to hook up with you....Then thank her for supporting your "insanity" and loving an "idiot" as yourself. That will throw her for a loop.
Conversely she may be right that yoiu are too "Black and White". Is that a possibility? Is there any possibility that she may be correct?
Then turn that question on her and aske her if there is the possibility that you are correct.
Enjoy her and celebrate her.
Oh its certainly a possibility, and honestly I think its a symptom of my "awakening". As I began to think outside the box so to speak, it was easier to say "That is false" so therefore the opposite must be true. I certainly get that there are millions of shades of gray in between, but even just saying that 'that is false' is extreme enough to most people, even when they know enough to know I at least may be partially correct (the cogdis).
And I will.
*tips hat*
Thank you, sir.
+1
For...
...[T]he best answer depends on the actual circumstance at hand at the time, it's specific, and it's going to require thought and education to arrive at. It will usually appear "drastic", or "radical" to most people. -- SAT 800
Yep.
In other words, the current administration is out of its league. It's lies are only plausable to those whom it pays. And a few morons.
At least in your personal life, IMO, it is much better to just keep your mouth shut if the alternative is going to be a lie. But people feel the need to respond when somebody asks a question or levels an accusation.
Mmmmmmm.................pancakes.
pigs in a blanket
No wonder Mutti is looking so discomfited.
The answer is 7x6 as in Matthew 7:6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearls_before_swine
...and you need to ask why they lie?
Thanks Cognitive Dissonance for a thoroughly enjoyable article. More pleeze...
;-D
If you want to bring the Bible into it, stay in Matthew and read through the genealogy of Jesus, starting with Abraham. It states there that there were a total of 42 generations from Abraham to Jesus, broken into three segments of 14 each. Christianity could therefore be in alignment with '42' - in the person of Jesus - as the answer to life, the universe and everything.
Leaving religious interpretations aside and returning to the Hitchhiker's Guide story as told in the 6-part BBC series, we discover that if '42' is the answer, we don't really know what the right question was. What did '42' really mean? At the end of the story the question/meaning of '42' turns out to be...what is six time...nine? Is the answer not truly the right one? Or were they asking the wrong question? Or are we all overthinking this?
In my opinion the problem is in thinking that there is always an answer and that "The" answer will solve all our problems.
Think about it for a second. We as a culture are obsessed with finding the answer. The blockbuster books, movies, TV shows and personalities all inform us what is the correct way to diet, to think, to work and play, to make money and spend money, to 'fix' everything that is broken.
We will never ever find the answer since the world, everything, is always changing....sometimes slowing, sometimes rapidly. The very word 'answer' implies that the question and circumstances are static and will remain static.
Modern day Science, Physics and Math all rely to some extent on the existence of a static Universe. That just isn't possible.
The ultimate lie is that there is "The Answer". I tend to focus on asking better questions in the hope that I will understand how truly bad the answers to date are, not in actually trying to find better answers per se.
When I say that you need to ask better questions in order to get better answers, what I'm actually trying to do is ask people to THINK critically and well outside the mental box. Inevitably, doing so leads to even more questions. Then you know you are headed in the generally correct direction if your thinking produces more questions rather than better answers.
Modern day Science, Physics and Math all rely to some extent on the existence of a static Universe. That just isn't possible.
I will agree that your statement is not possible. But I disagree that Modern Physics and Mathematics relies upon a "Static Universe".
Modern Physics is mostly concerned with probability and dynamics...not Statics. Mathematics has been developed, many centuries ago, to deal with the Dynamic (The Calculus and Differential Equations were developed to handle the basic dynamic problems.)
All that I know is that which I can define. That is an empirical tautology. Without definition I am left with uncertainty. That is the philisophical meaning behind what Heisenberg proposed. (Einstein was the last of the Classical Physicists and could not totally embrace the idea that there are concepts which we cannot know as we lack the capacity to define them.)
When we are able to place a defined numerical probability upon an event which approaches a mathematical certainty then we claim to know that as a "fact". Betting upon uncertainties which approach an infinitesimal at best generally yield poor outcomes. (How many times have you won the Powerball?)
That is where the Modern Physics is at. Perhaps that was the failure of the Classical Physics. But the Physicists still end up with many more questions for anything that we have answered. Thus, according to your conclusion (while I agree with it, the conclusion may be invalid), the Physicists are headed in the "correct direction".
Thank you for your well presented article as it has been thought provoking.
Thanks for the feedback.
I have engaged in discussions such as this and I always 'lose' because I know not the science, math or physics and thus I am discussing something that I ignorant of.
When I used the term 'static' I was poorly trying to express the idea that while the various disciplines may be work in theory and probability and so on, there is some basis from which they all start. There is some type of constant (possibly another poor choice of words because I am most likely not defining it the same way others may) from which there is a beginning to work from.
I simply point to the fact that science, math and physics are simply descriptions, albeit complex, every changing, flexible or rigid, they are still simply descriptions. And all descriptions start from basic understandings and static values at some beginning point.
Just because many people agree on something doesn't make it correct, incorrect, real or fantasy. It simply makes "it" the focus of many minds and thus the illusion of reality is strong. This dovetails into an interesting discussion on what is actually 'real'.
When the sciences begin to employ philosophers and big picture thinkers, as they are more and more these days, I suspect they will find less need for rules, theorems and atom smashers.
Then again....what do I know?
BTW I said - "Modern day Science, Physics and Math all rely to some extent on the existence of a static Universe." I would like to point out the modifying "to some extent" in my statement.
Thanks.
In the Mathematics one begins with axiomatic statements. (e.g. In Euclidian Geometry parallel lines never cross.) Again the axioms are neither provable or disprovable. They are held to be "Self Evident" undisputable truths. From that point is a basic and static understanding. From there the definitions are constructed along with the Corallaries. (Pi is the ratio of the Circumference of any Circle to its diameter...by definition.)
In Physics we have measured "constants" which, again, are held to be true as they are observed and measured, with associated uncertainties. Thus they are not really constant, because, as the measurements become more refined, then we get a better definition. (What is the Speed of Light and how accurate are the observed measurements?)
So some of the "constants" are even "in flux" as our techniques for measuring become more accurate.
While I agree that the Classical Physics was hoping for a preferred frame, a static point, that concept was abandoned in the early 20th Century by Einstein's Postulation. There are no preferred frames of reference, that there is no frame that can be held as a static frame for comparison. (Special Relativity)
If you are not a Scientist then, currently, you have the understanding to be a damned GOOD Scientist. You are learning and that is what a scientist does. You "know" more than I do. This is good stuff which you are writing.
I do understand your modifying phrase. Newtonian Physics Differentail Equations are quite dependent upon "Initial Conditions" It works rather well in our Engineering. But that is Engineering. or Applied Sciences.
The Research Scientist attempts to abandon most preconceived notions as that leads to a revolution in thought and allows for the development of a totally new way of approaching the problems.
For instance Einstien abandoned the idea that Euclidian Geometry was a valid description of the Physical Universe. In congruence to that he abandoned the idea that Gravity was a Fundamental Force. Once these two ideas were discarded then he was able to develop his General Theory of Relativity which was revolutionary.
Of course there were many consequences, borne out of his own ideas, that he could not even accept. Yes God plays dice with the Universe. And yes the "insanity" of repeating an experiment AND GETTING A DIFFERENT RESULT can and does happen.
That quote, "The definition of insanity is repeating the same experiment and expecting a different result", is often the most misunderstood quote by Einstein. People whom use that quote fail to understand that you CAN repeat an experiment and get a different result. (Einstien was wrong when he spoke it. His argument was against Schrodinger who was correct. The mere observation directly affects the reality and the outcome.) Truthfully...IT HAPPENS IN NATURE. Quantum Physics...Abandon all common sense. It does not work in the Quantum World. And yet that World is the underlying Architecture of our World. So is our Common Sense illusory???
You are ready for The Tao of Physics if you have not already read it. It is a good book.
I appreciate your views. I am eagerly looking forward to your next article. Thank you so much, once again.
42, he said you cant go back in time. life is motion.
as far as lying, they operate on a need to know basis and the best idea is to live where (near) the elites have clustered. not the rich, but the royals.
"I’m not quite sure what is more outrageous, the fact that politicians lie to ‘us’, the fact that they actually desire the type of position that requires them to speak anything but the truth to the public or the fact that we tolerate, and at times enable, all of the above."
The really outrageous part is we expect them to lie to us. We want them to lie to us. We want to believe their lies. We marvel at how well the lie is told (maybe, we say) it can be true.
A couple examples perhaps nmewn? Sure, thought you'd never ask ;-)
The slightly complex lie: The Federal Reserve. Why was it created by the central government? Simply, for war AND welfare. Things provided to you by .gov because the tax base will not allow for both at the levels we clamor for, in real time. Yes, the Fed profits from lending money it doesn't have, our leaders have told it that we are ultimately responsible to pay the debt back (trying to absolve themselves for being party to the lie) even as this torrent of newly created "money" rushes into the pockets of the wealthiest of the ruling class.
We asked "our leaders" to lie to us seventeen trillion times, didn't we? What could they do, tell you the truth? No, that the country is broke? We certainly didn't want to hear that now did we? The lie was preferred, by us.
The lie of omission: Mass shootings. We recoil in horror everytime it happens. Again we ask .gov to "do something" they propose to restrict or disarm us all who have done nothing. They DO NOT TELL YOU that virtually all mass shooters had seen a shrink, was seeing a shrink at the time or was on mind altering Big Pharma drugs prescribed by a shrink.
Why don't they tell us this?
Undoubtedly some combination of campaign funding from Big Pharma, medical association lobbying (careers are at stake here afterall) and the mind bending technocratic belief system that a thorough police state can always protect you, no matter how many times a day some thug is blown back through the door with a hole in his chest by a single mom...with sirens barely audible in the distance.
You want personal protection? Sure. The lie is, they can give it to you. The truth is, you can only do that yourself. But that seems too hard doesn't it? That means you can't blame someone else if you fail. This personal responsibility thingy is hard.
So, just lie to me instead.