Not to get too philosophical, but....

[somasociety]

HappyJR: University = a trade school?

HAHAHAHAHAHA.

That may be the way certain Conservative governments that willremain nameless might want it to be, but that's certainly not the way it is.

realistically, the only 'trade' lined up for those studying things like philosophy, art history, semiotics,e tc... may be how to critically analyze the burger-flipping techniques you will be perfecting after graduation!

^^^ (not at all a slight against those studying such things, hell, I'm pretty much one of them)

oh, and plato, pyrovitae -- you win the what's-the-reference name game! or you would, if there was such a thing..

I think alot of people are already living in a 'soma society', though perhaps not quite in the way huxley conceptualized it. then again, i think it was supposed to be a bit of a metaphor anyway...

 

[PosTMOd]

I'm pretty sure HappyJr meant "trade school" in a metaphorical sense. Try to generalize a little, people

Oh, and the real quote is:

small minds talk about people
average minds talk about quotes
great minds are quotable

 

[mingster]

Originally posted by somasociety
Is the development of some form of a 'social class' bias avoidable?

If you're talking about society having a bias towards itself, I think that it's avoidable but would take some major restructuring and lots of time to achieve.

If you're talking about yourself having a bias towards certain "classes" in society, then it's definitely avoidable. It's within you. Within the "classes" are real people. Some just as intelligent as the next. And they can each enrich your life as much as the next.

I remind myself that people are people. EVERYBODY IS JUST A PERSON. And they are complicated. And sometimes we are afraid of people we can't relate to or understand and we feel these people will think the same of us.

I really only am attracted to, and want to be with, people who have been exposed to the level of knowledge/experience/existence that I have been. So, am I biased or what? And if so, is this at all avoidable or destructible?

As some have already said, intelligence doesn't come from education. Neither does conversation. Just as the desire to learn isn't necessarily exercised by going to school. Open yourself to learning from other people. Getting to know what's out there makes you a more complete person. Confused....yes. It's definitely avoidable. Just open your mind.

Ming.

 

[PosTMOd]

Originally posted by PosTMOd
small minds talk about people
average minds talk about quotes
great minds are quotable

Okay, I made that up, but now that I'm quoting it, am I an average mind? Oh, wait, it was never quotable anyway, so I never quite hit the great mind level. Shit. Cock. Piss.

Hmmm, let's talk about somebody. Anyone will do, for I want a small mind. Oh, and then we can quote them, making them great.

Or sumfin, ionno.

 

[HotSauce]

A class bias in terms of an economic standpoint is certainly easily avoided. However, you are perfectly right to be biased towards someone with no class.

P.S.

I like to touch my bum <-- you can quote me!!!

 

[Guest]

Originally posted by PosTMOd


Okay, I made that up, but now that I'm quoting it, am I an average mind? Oh, wait, it was never quotable anyway, so I never quite hit the great mind level. Shit. Cock. Piss.

Hmmm, let's talk about somebody. Anyone will do, for I want a small mind. Oh, and then we can quote them, making them great.

Or sumfin, ionno.

Every day I make someone great by clickin that quote button. Much like I did now. Timo, you're great. And probably high too.

 

[Jeffsus]

Originally posted by somasociety
..at all biased towards any of my fellow human beings on a day-in-day-out basis. Racially, nope. Gender-wise, no. Sexual orientation, no. religion, no.

All thoughts are biased. It is the nature of thought. All thoughts by definition MUST be biased. Thoughts without bias are called 'processes'. Most people are processes, and most people are boring. If you are not boring, you are not a process. If you are not a process, then you think, but if you think, you are biased.

A distributed neural network needs 'conditioning' before it can be useful. I will make the assumption that you are useful. Therefore, you are conditioned, therefore, you are biased. We all are (those of us who aren't boring, ie. the rare ones). It's naught to be ashamed of.

More importantly than being "unbiased" is to know how bias affects your(!) decisions and perceptions, and try to develop a controlled feedback loop (of sorts) to double check your biases.

YAY.

-jM
A&d

 

[PosTMOd]

^^^^ Nice!

I think, therefore I am.... biased.

 

[mingster]

I think we must consult MC Bias on this topic...

 

[somasociety]

More importantly than being "unbiased" is to know how bias affects your(!) decisions and perceptions, and try to develop a controlled feedback loop (of sorts) to double check your biases.

^^^ Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know!!

I'm just curious now whether the creation of the loop is possible in all cases... in other words, is there an ingrained, uncontrollable bias in some cases? For some, I think there is (extreme and arguable example: the rehabilitation of offenders **rarely** ever is truly "successful")

Oh, and if anyone cares, through some PMing with Pyrovitae (that should be a song, or something) I've kind of realized the bias I may possess would be more against the close-minded 'process' people in general, rather than non-uni edu-ma-cated people per se.

 

[dlerium88]

Wow I was quoted like 6 times in this thread...I must be super great!

But yeah I think Allie got the quote right...

One thing I've learned though, is that no matter how dumb you might perceive a person to be, you can always learn something from them; that is if you keep your mind open to what they are saying. Now this is much easier said than done..most people don't actually listen when other people are talking. Most people are busy thinking about what they're going to say next...but if you truly listen, you can learn something. Even if that person doesn't know what it is you're learning. If the person was truly idiotic they wouldn't exist, because they would have been dead by now!

Ritika <-- needs to remind herself of this sometimes

 

[HappyJR]

Well

What Jeffus said makes sence to me, sort of...

I don't know about a mind needing conditioning before it can be usefull, but I also can't conceinve of a mind that isn't conditioned...

I mean... all experience is conditioning of some kind... so naturaly all minds are going to be conditioned a certain way. So they are going to have certain biases.

And yes, in order to think, one must have a bias.

For example, if you give me some information, I'm going to analize it from an anarchist position. That's my bias. Someone else might analize it from... err... a conservative position, or even a scientific position (one based on logic, ie, the belif that if A equals B, then A cannot equal notB) or a spiritual position (one wich defies logic)

One can't annalise information without coming at it from a certain direction.

So one certainly can't escape their biases... Well... at least without having perfected meditation to the point of being able to acheive true nihrvanna... Or... by being dead...

So... the way I see it, all we can really do about biases is try to look at them and decide wich set of biases, wich mindset would lead to the most pleasant existence... and then swich to that mindset.

Wich... then I suppose is kind of the same concept as the "controlled feedback loop" but wich I think is better defined by Timothey Leary as a 5 (or is it 6th) brained human.

 

[Rosey]

taking a swing at the original question regarding attraction and 'class/education'.

a university education is not right for everybody regardless of intelligence. for some people temperment or lack of ability/desire to conform to the formalities of schooling will make university unsuitable for them.

i could have a relationship with somebody who was not university educated. i could not have a relationship with somebody who was going nowhere in life.

i value my 6 year BA that i struggled through while painfully evolving socially, maturing, and working full time above the 4 year honours that the rich kid jackass got without ever having to worry where their next meal/rent cheque/semester's tuition is going to come from.

i admit to a class bias, i tend to hate rich kids. that doesn't mean that if you come from a wealthy family i will find you distasteful. but it does mean that i dispise the 'daddy-i-want-it' whining and fallback that too many people have got away with until they ahve to face the real world, if they ever do.