Age vs Herald Sun vs society changes - Observations

[David]

You're missing the point totally. I'm not looking down on anyone. I eat at McDonald's now and then, and I still tend to read lowbrow mainstream news as opposed to, say, peer-reviewed scientific articles. It's no reflection on me personally, or anyone else who consumes these things; we all need to relax sometimes, and for some people that's what watching TV and movies and reading newspapers are for—they don't want to read something challenging or disturbing in their spare time. That's ok. You have every right to make your own priorities and I completely respect that. But don't fall into the trap of thinking that the tabloid newspaper you read is somehow equal in quality, information or balance to more intellectually stimulating alternatives. It has nothing to do with "big words" or pretentiousness. You may be surprised to learn that good intelligent writing actually avoids unnecessary big words; it tries to aim for big ideas instead. That's not something you could ever accuse The Herald Sun of.

[think positive]

No your missing the point, far too often you come across as a pompous ass, like your somehow better than everyone else because you have obscure (note i said obcscure not refined) taste. Its like abstract art some of us look at it and see a pile of junk, or a finger painting, you argue its a grown up art. I dont think less of you because you see pictures in a junk pile, but you sure seem to think less of me cos i see the junk for a pile of junk.

You seem to have the emotional maturity of a rock.

Education is fine, knowledge is good but its not the be all end all. Kid at my daughters school, topped the year level every year, got offered scholorships left right and centre, she really is genius iq, and guess what? Shes miserable. Well she was. Shes taken off, over the other side of the world working in a bar, happy as larry, seeing the world. Being the smartest kid around didnt make her happy. And happy is far more important than knowing pythagorus therom (wheres spell check when i need it) inside out.

Chill out. Stop being so bloody, um, yes, pretentious

[Wokko]

Everything about society you can learn from TISM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiHdpAVIHgo&feature=kp

[David]

I agree that intelligence is more than just IQ or educational achievement—life experience, emotional maturity and social skills are all vital aspects of it—but the media we consume can affect those qualities, too. What, for example, do you think will help develop your emotional intelligence better: a tabloid newspaper that urges you to fear and hate foreigners, poor people and society's outsiders, or a film that forces you to empathise with the plight of the kind of person you wouldn't usually think of? That latter quality can be really powerful, and it's one of the things that art can be really good for. Of course, art can be really good for other things too, like stimulating thought, subverting common presumptions or simply exploring the potential of the particular art form.

So, yes, to an extent you are what you eat, and read, and see and hear. All of these things help shape who you are as a person. Seek out good quality stuff and you'll be rewarded. But that's never a judgement on you. How could it be? We don't get to choose what we like or what we want.

You've taken this conversation personally. Do you define yourself by what you like? To me, it seems like you have a massive chip on your shoulder about me thinking I'm smarter than you or better than you or more righteous than you or something. If that's what you think, you're completely wrong. I've understood since I was young that we all have strengths and weaknesses. We all have complex backgrounds and the ability to think about the world rationally. None of us are perfect, and none of us deserve to be treated with contempt. There are things I'm better at than you are, and things that you can do that I can't. If I ever let myself slip into feeling arrogant about the things I'm good at, then that will be a weakness (and a rather significant one). It will be something I'll have to overcome.

But don't confuse my assessment of different media sources as arrogance. This isn't a self-indulgent exercise. What the Herald Sun does (and I agree with PTID on its goals and tactics) makes me very angry, and it saddens me to think that some people partially shape their worldviews based on it. Because that newspaper is rubbish: petty, hateful, irrelevant, small-minded, reactionary, anti-intellectual, anti-scientific, propagandistic rubbish. I have all the respect and empathy in the world for its readers, but I have no respect whatsoever for the Herald Sun.

[Wokko]

[stui magpie]

David you would have to be the least pretentious person I know. You are also totally lacking in guile, I don't believe you have a nasty bone in your body but you also exhibit an extraordinary lack of insight on some occasions and can be as naive as a new born.

You're welcome to have your opinion of the Herald Sun. I think that this

[David]

Is it that radical an assertion, though? Perhaps you don't share my opinion of the Herald Sun, but I'm sure you've come across some terrible newspapers in your time. Some of the British tabloids, for example. And even if you think they're good for a laugh, I'm sure you can at least imagine a hypothetical newspaper that is of demonstratively lower quality than another in every respect—something that, say, has bad writing, heaps of spelling errors and no interesting stories (like the infamous Illawarra Mercury, for instance). Wouldn't you argue that any given newspaper is of a higher "quality" than that one? Would that really be a snobbish or pretentious thing to say?

[pietillidie]

David, don't get sucked in to other people's fears and insecurities. Outside of entertainment and genuine direct experience, which we all agree are good and necessary, people can't maintain a heavy diet of mental rubbish at the exclusion of serious research and develop complex insight at the same time. There are simply not enough hours in the day to do so.

It just makes no sense to think that a person's "opinion" on difficult, non-intuitive topics well beyond limited personal experience, without reference to the best historical and contemporary thinking on the matter, the discipline of formal argument and peer review, and the logical check of statistics and experimental testing, ought to be granted much credence beyond personal deference.

Anyone who claims to know something, yet hasn't bothered to consult the best and most disciplined expertise in the field from across the world, and wants to impose their undeveloped, random thoughts on society, is both arrogant and negligent. Just recall the people who knew, just knew, that invading Iraq was the right thing to do, despite struggling to even locate it on a map.

It always astonishes me that people can accept a differential in sporting prowess, but not knowledge and insight. Some footballers have natural talent, but natural talent and formal discipline is what makes players guns in the big league of ideas.

Or perhaps people do recognise this, but struggle to deal with its implications.

[stui magpie]

[Tannin]

[stui magpie]

Yep, case in point.

[think positive]

Hey guys, thanks to Stui and Jezza I now know I'm, um, a bit right I think it was. Or maybe I'm right about being a bit left.