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Have we replaced our animal instincts? We are also creatures “prone to anxiety, extremely helpless in his natural state, almost entirely devoid of instincts.” Therein lay the paradox. ”Instead of remaining free and broadly adaptive, the new symbolic animal immediately became ‘symbolically...

An oligarchy controls public policy in America. The oligarchy consists of those who manage the great wealth of American institutions. This oligarchy designs our educational system to graduate good producers and consumers and does not desire independent thinkers. CA (Corporate America) has...

Why does the fluttering red cape prevail? The confident Matador flutters the red cape, the massive bull charges, energetically hooking empty air in bewilderment. Please be reasonable! Let us reason together. There was no reason for that. What do we mean by these common expressions...

Do we need a new farm system for elitism? Quickie from Wiki: “In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team or nursery club, generally refers to a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on...

How do animals form categories? Quickie from Wiki: “In metaphysics (in particular, ontology), the different kinds or ways of being are called categories of being or simply categories. According to the Aristotelian tradition, a being is anything that can be said to be in the various senses of...

Our (American) educational system has taught us how to be contented producers and consumers and to embrace our ignorance with serenity.

Where would we be sans ‘container schema’? ‘Container’ is a ubiquitous (constantly encountered) metaphor in the cognitive sciences. A single cell creature, such as the amoeba, is not merely alive but has the urge to stay alive. This creature knows nothing of intentionality; nevertheless...

What tool is available to break the hold of apathy? Our habit of seeking accustomed satisfactions prevents us from finding new sources of energy with which to see or create new meanings. Blind habit controls our every turn. Familiar modes of thought and accustomed perceptions lock our...

What are “concrete concepts”? I remember having watched, on TV, a high-jumper performing an obvious mental imagery of his up-coming jump just before he actually performed his physical feat. I could watch his gaze going through the running to the bar and lifting himself up and over the bar...

We have repressed our anxiety of death and as a result we have, among many things, created religion.

How do we gain power over death? Psychology informs me that it is the nature of humans to be influenced greatly by the recognition of the self and that the self must die. All of us have a great energy directed toward not dying. We dread the conscious thought of dying because our instincts...

Is positivism like trimming all fat from bacon? Meaning is the fat on bacon. Positivism is jerky (strips of spicy meat trimmed of fat and dried with low heat). Following WWI a group of scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers gathered in Vienna to discuss recent events in logic. This...

What does the Cheetah and the human have in common? Quickie from Wiki: “The cheetah is a vulnerable species. Out of all the big cats, it is the least able to adapt to new environments. It has always proved difficult to breed in captivity, although recently a few zoos have managed to succeed at...

What is relative and what is objective? SGCS (Second Generation Cognitive Science) informs me that objectivity is our shared subjectivity. That is to say that everything that we think, know, or perceive is subjective to some degree and this degree of subjectivity is dependent upon the...

Is time an abstract idea? Time, motion, and change are such basic philosophical concepts that we see them being considered by all philosophers throughout Western philosophical thinking. These are fundamental concepts about which philosophers theorize and they are fundamental concepts about...

We humans remain ignorant because we want to be ignorant. To be ignorant is to consider one's self to be blameless for whatever happens. We are fearful of freedom. We think that freedom is a state of irresponsibility and ignorance shields us from responsibility. I do not think that this is...

If I know nothing can I be responsible for anything? Hogan's Heroes was an American television situation comedy that ran from 1965, to 1971. The show’s stage, a fictional account of Stalag 13, is situated in a German POW camp during the Second World War. The program featured Colonel Klink as...

According to current population forecasts, population aging in the first half of this century should exceed that of the second half of the 20th century. For the world as a whole, the elderly will grow from 6.9% of the population in 2000 to a projected 19.3% in 2050 (Table 1). In other words, the...

Is more technology the answer? Technology is a positive feed back system. When the output of the system increases the system goes at a higher rate. There is no equilibrium in a positive feedback system. Capitalism is such a system. In a negative feed back system when the output increases...

Are Internet discussion forums the answer? When asked about the origin of consciousness it appears to be conventional wisdom to respond, “Language did it”. “I believe it is legitimate to take the phrase “I know” and deduce from it the presence of a nonverbal image of knowing centered on the...