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On the advantages of Meritocracy
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
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Forever we are reminded of the "Priviledge" we have of living in a democracy. And, compared with many parts of the world, it is indeed a priviledge. But perhaps we can do better.
Democracy, as originally practiced by the Greeks, was not true "Democracy" as we argue for it today. The people selected their leaders, this is true, but only a select few, slaves and many others were not allowed to vote. Those who did vote had the leisure and time to support those candidates who represented their best interests.
Imagine, then, a world in which votes are weighed up by how much we know. We all have the right to vote, but before voting we have to answer a short questionaire about the politicians, the parties, the issues at table for the election. And, should we answer correctly our votes are "counted" - we are aware of what the issues are, and so have the priviledge of self-determination.
Should we fail the questionaire our vote is discounted. We did not know the issues, hence we could not be given the priviledge of self-determination.
Technology exists to make this happen - aside from (legitimate) fears that such a system could be manipulated or biased (but can't all systems?) how much different would our government be if only those who knew something about it participated in it?
Disagree? Consider this. You are piloting a plane, with every passenger given an equal say in what you do at the controls.
Would you prefer to be the pilot, or the passenger?
Or you're being operated upon for a tumor in your head, and the medical theatre is open, the surgeon will do whatever the visitors suggest...
Something to consider, anyways.
Rights VS Priviledge
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
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There are 2 days until the Canadian national election, and with the outcome somewhat fatalistically determined, politicians are making last minute appearances to persuade us that "Whatever we do, go out and Vote.". Apparently as it is our right, we must use it, and there is some truth in this, but only some.
Voting is not a right, it is a priviledge. Rights are inalienable, they are things that cannot be taken away from you - they are what we (our nation, our society, our family) give you without expectation of return - they are the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. That is an abstract definition, and by no means complete, but it contrasts with Priviledge. Priviledge is a "right" that is given to reward certain behaviours - for example, A customer has the right to expect good/or excellent service in restaurant because as a customer they are paying for this right. It is then not a right, but a priviledge. We have the "right" to "freedom" (to do as we choose) as long as our "right" does not impinge upon another person's "freedom". Hence freedom is no longer a right, it is a priviledge based upon an implicit agreement as to the rules of the game.
And voting, then, is not a "right". A "right" is something that cannot be taken away from you. A priviledge can; those who's pursuit of freedom crosses and denies another persons freedom are imprisoned. Their liberty is forfeit, priviledges are revoked. And people who vote incorrectly, without knowing the positions of the aspiring leaders and parties, are liable to have their priviledges suspended.
Think Nazi Germany.
So before exercising your priviledge to go out and vote, first educate yourselves as to our various parties agendas. Take time to research each politicians background, know each parties history and plan, dissect your prejudices: are you voting for him/her because this is how your parents would have voted? Are you afraid of change? Are you voting for one leader, or against another? And remember that all priviledges must be guarded or their abuse may lead to their irrevokable suspension.
That said, hope it's a good election, and good luck.
Personality
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Link of the day
- Hits: 1380
Left or Right Brained?
Today's "link(s) of the day" (posted by now as you've noticed every other or so day, but time is often an issue, and I've given you value on the past links of the day, so please forgive my tardiness.) deal with personality - and various methods of measuring it. Personality inventories are overall pretty much the same thing, different ways of cutting up the same pie, but their value lies in how well they can predict the behaviours and actions of the individual. With that in mind, here are a few links to get you started:
http://brain.web-us.com/brain/braindominance.htm
Jung Typology/Myers Briggs Test
And, finally, what's it all about if you're not happy? (which, in a sense, is a personality trait.) So if your unsure (who's unsure about this stuff?) try one of the many tests here:
http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/
(OK. If you see the image above as spinning clockwise, you're right brained dominant. Anti-clockwise; your left brained dominant. Click here for an explanation.
Pareidolia
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Link of the day
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Today's link, complete with image of Virgin Mary on Toast and Jesus in Clouds, is Pareidolia. Which, for those of you too lazy or disinterested to follow the link, is the process by which people see images of the Beloved Virgin Mary in pieces of toast, Jesus in clouds, and the faces of devils in smoke. Or, less simply, Anthropomorphic Patterns. A noteworthy psychological quirk that we've evolved to read into abstractions and randomness patterns that may not be really there - often these things are considered newsworthy if they involve a prominent religious icon such as Jesus, Mary or Allah (verses from the Koran are forever being found in the seed patterns of eggplant, for example) - their purpose on the news is a sort of "feel-good" quirky, as inpiration to the faithful, and a nudge-nudge-wink-wink between a more skeptical anchor and audience.
It's postulated that there is some survival value in this, we are better off to see snakes in and jaguars in tree branches than not to see them, if wrong we lose nothing, if we are right we survive another day. Hence we are in some sense "hardwired" to see these images and project patterns onto randomness.
Nonetheless it does have some application - the images we see being somehow part of us, our larger "world view". Seeing snakes and faces have arisen from evolution, but think of the Rorschach Inkblot Test, whereby diagnosis is rendered based upon subjective descriptions of random patterns in ink. Here we see patterns that are determined by our personalities and life experience, as in the religious images hidden in everyday objects.
Pareidolia is a subset of an idea - Apophenia - the process by which our minds create meaning for otherwise random events - Seeing images in toast is one such process, but there are others - think coincidences, and the subsequent attributions of meaning, or the voices of departed spirits emerging from the hiss of blank audio cassettes. From here we can look at these things can be manipulated - intentionally or otherwise - to shape and control our thoughts. Think subliminal - wherin images and ideas are deliberately hidden within media to not be consciously seen, but to unconciously direct and manipulate our thoughts. But that is another post. . .
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