All:
Other than the links associated with blindness I have not contacted any social
links.
Richard
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 12, 2019, at 10:09 AM, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The following is a personal opinion, and not to be confused with actual
facts:
With that being said, it is my opinion that what we are encountering
is a normal process. A new fad comes along...like Email. Suddenly we
can all chatter from nearly anywhere in the world. Free! Well, after
the cost of the Internet. And so we gather in little special interest
groups. Eventually the newness wears off and we turn to other
interesting distractions.
My kids and their kids are mostly on Facebook. Something about
"liking" strangers is annoying to me, so I keep swearing I'll never
hook up with Facebook.
I've learned a great deal from my involvement with several Lists. But
I've also come up against interesting behaviors that I have no answer
for.
A major question for me is why we can't accept the opinions of others
as just that, opinions. Opinions offer us the luxury of exploring
subjects without committing ourselves. We can explore, challenge,
disagree, and alter our own opinions on countless subjects.
But what I find, is a strong resistance to interaction. rather than
debating an opinion, folks want to defend their own belief by trashing
the opinions of others. We end up with what looks like a bunch of Fox
News Channels, each one shouting out their beliefs while closing their
eyes and ears to all around them.
I wonder if this is learned behavior, or is it part of our Human makeup?
For my way of thinking, the great value I derive from Blind Democracy
is the open forum on which I can explore what I have thought, and how
the new information fits in, or alters what I believed. If that makes
any sense. The offering of out of the way articles stimulates my
thinking. I don't have to accept it as factual, or trash it as lies.
It is simply fodder for mind expansion.
Don't others on this list...assuming that there really are, "others",
feel the thrill of exploring new ideas, and plugging them into our
existing beliefs?
Over and over we see examples of emerging dictators shutting down the
exchange of thought, as the nations become less and less free.
And yet, this is exactly what I see on several lists. Either I am
asked to shut my Marxist or Socialist mouth, or people announce they
are leaving the list because they don't enjoy the arguing. In other
words, they don't like my opinions, but can't offer theirs. Instead
of a discussion that leads to mind expansion, we see folks slam the
door against anything they feel might challenge their own beliefs.
Finally, for this rant, disagreement is not to be confused with
turning people or groups against one another. Disagreement, given
with respect, is the door to a stronger world.
Carl Jarvis, wanting to be an Opinion er, not a Preacher!
On 10/11/19, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'm not sure how many people actually read this sadly depleted list. A few
of us keep on posting, most likely to fill our own needs for self
expression. Once in a great while, Bob Hachey, Penny, or Frank posts a
message. Richard comments briefly, upon occasion. But we have two people
who
basically dominate the list. Roger is our instructor-in-chief. He
consistently instructs us in logic, and keeps our thoughts and language
usage within, what he believes to be, appropriate boundaries. Carl is our
loving and gentle preacher. It is not traditional religion that he
preaches,
but a gentle version of what Roger is attempting to teach. Roger enjoys
debate. Carl never argues and is always kind and thoughtful. It's kind of
like, "good cop, bad cop". Roger and I post articles. Carl is supportive by
always commenting on our articles, although I'm not sure that he gets time
to read many of them. It's a kindness because of he didn't comment, neither
of us would know if anyone bothered to read what we post. Most people
aren't
interested or they just get turned off by the occasional arguments. Few
people are left from the original list and our recent visitors appear to
have left. Evan left because, as he told me, he just doesn't like to spend
time arguing. I come across some articles that seem really interesting and
that are very different from what is available from mainstream websites,
and
I can't resist posting them in case there's some lurker who would benefit
from reading the article and who wouldn't know that it existed, if I didn't
post it. But I do wonder, sometimes Unlike our two white male leaders, who
pretend that they're not leading, I don't particularly enjoy teaching or
preaching. I'm also a rebellious soul so I have issues with having my
wayward thoughts and emotions, corrected. But I suspect that most people
feel that way. Most people like to express their thoughts and feelings and
they can usually tolerate a gentle disagreement. Carl and I, for example,
will never agree about how to define class. But it doesn't matter. We just
occasionally disagree. I've learned from listening to podcasts on which I
hear younger people talk, and also from articles, that the battles and
insults on twitter are a whole lot worse than most of the really angry
interchanges we've had on this list. I guess that's one of the down sides
of
technology.
Miriam
