rollin wrote:So we seem to have three schools of thought here.
I brought up the Lilliputian side of the story where we are getting dumbed down and are becoming ineffective and unable to respond, we keep wasting time arguing which end of the egg to crack and ignore the real problems all around us.
Another view is the "monkey" view, that humans are instinctual non-cognitive animals and really are incapable of controlling their destiny. In this case natural selection and DNA rule.
A third view is one where society cannot respond without a large stimulus that is direct and understandable by enough members to cause a response. Sort of a telepathic or telesocial connection between members that needs a "critical mass" to take action against larger threats. The democratic popular response factor.
A fourth view mentioned the 1 percent, the hierarchical view of life where power and money (and therefor responses) are controlled by a few who have amassed money and power to themselves. This is a systemic control syndrome with government, armies, companies and corporations controlling the societal response level.
People who hold the view that the 1% control everything often forget that they too are monkey-men, and that they too consist mostly of dumbed down people, that they too are riven by internal disagreements and partisanship, and that the 1%, just like everybody else, aren't going to roust themselves up to respond to problems until they become so pressing that they can no longer be ignored.
