I bring this topic up quite a bit, and I do think that the experience we gain with ‘hands on’ does cause us to experience the consequences of NOT thinking!
Can’t we all recall that last big mistake we made? “I knew I should have lifted the ground wire before I” ___ _____ ______ fill in the blanks..
Fact is, the Majority of the people we know have little or no hands on experience , some don’t know reality from a video game. They are easy marks, and easy prey.
The more we DIY, the more we learn to make assessments of the situation before we drill holes, or put power to it.. and we learn to look out the window to see if it’s raining before we choose our dress for the day.
We learn to make assessments of other peoples’ efforts…. an example might be a man who tells us he’s building a 5KW wind turbine, but we note he has made no effort to do any kind of wind study, and hasn’t yet picked a set of blades. It reminds me of a very expensive looking install of a wind turbine across the street from the ferry terminal in West Seattle. I was thinking the owner might rationalize it all as art, and don’t we know how much money some spend on such things?
I think about who I’d trust to check my oil, and instantly I think of the women in my life. My wife is a critical thinker, and more organized than myself. Through my years of study, I know we don’t prune woman from our ranks, as I know some very thoughtful and mechanically talented women. They are exactly where you find them.
Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh comes to mind. would she ask if the wind blows there before investing in a wind turbine? No doubt! Ileana is not without emotion, it’s that she’s not driven by emotion in making important decisions, choices, or investments, she’s hands on..
I see Ayn Rand as the same type of person, a good observer, and a person who would invest heavily in the study of a situation before she got out a wrench or her check book. Neither Ayn or Ileana would ever be caught marching behind a streaming banner without a good understanding of the message and who is carrying it and why.
Since I’ve decided to focus on woman for the moment, let’s look at Debbie Wasserman Shultz. How much would you bet on her ability to check the oil in the car she drives everyday? I see she’s got an online petition about Obama care being the law of the land, and you need sign it and help inform the opposition it’s just a wrong and extreme position to go against the law! It’s clear to me that we are only a footstep behind Greece, they too have spent a lot of money they don’t have, and they are now very angry that they find they were borrowing not from others, but from their own futures and those of their children.
A great article you must read follows…. we are mostly men here, but we need recognize that not all women would quickly indenture their children into the Slaver’s hands in exchange for temporary security.
Thoughtful people know that Obama care and the Hojo Motor are exactly the same machines, one attempts to make energy out of nothing.. , and one attempts to make economic benefits where none exist! Both work against the basic laws of physics or economics. The man or woman who buys either has not learned the fundamentals of critical thought.
But now we need understand where we invest our life’s energy…. Here’s a question asked by another and a profoundly wise answer!
So, how do we combat an emotional response to a false premise egged on by the refusal to think for oneself critically? Ayn Rand once said, “Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it. Leave them alone.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/10/18/ayn-rands-fight-was-for-the-rational-man-and-woman/
Will Atlas Shrug? count on it if we have four more years of this.. It’s not the Obama plan.. it’s the Greek plan..
George B.
And you thought I’d never post here?
Just a warning….. there are no drugs more dangerous than what you call koolaid, it was stolen from Pandora’s lunch box, and the effects of consumption have been well documented through the ages. The stuff almost cost Homer his life on that island, it’s the same stuff…….. don’t drink it!!
The Greeks.. The Trojan Horse taught them nothing!
best wishes,
John
Thanks for your post. I wished I had your way with words. I hope that the point gets thru to other’s. I agree with you on DWS and her thinking abilities. Looking forward to additional post on the Ford Think.
as a kid locked into a “milwakee” back brace and locked out of what most 12 to 17 year old did, i have lots of time to observe everything around me, everything from nature to man.
now all these years later, i am returning to the “observer” position in life as i spend far more time not being able to do what i want to do.
the upside is i have my own little observation laboratory right up the hill from where i live.
my two lab rats if you will, are both pushing the downhill side of their late 70’s, and they both are avid diy’ers
the interesting thing is one will work out most every conceivable detail before he picks up a tool or a piece of material, the other will never give it a seconds thought opting for simply grabbing the torch and whacking off a piece of whatever is handy to gobberweld onto some other piece.
it is downright entertaining watching them at first, but soon one realizes nothing good is going to happen and i find i have to leave quickly!
i am convinced that just like that movie “second hand lions” i will be there when they manage to kill themselves.
often i think that filming a documentary of these two old dudes would be very useful at illustrating the merits of critical thinking of younger men, perhaps as young as highschool.
the really odd thing with these two guys, is the most conservative builder is the one that is the most prone to believing in perpetual motion/free energy, while the one that will not spend a second thinking about what is being built will never by into anything so bizarre and even is difficult to convince with the laws of physics that something will work,, he is the perpetual doubter.
i often think this small sample i have to observe, really is an example of what is wrong with DC these days.
blind leading the blind is being quite generous, crooks leading idiots seems more likely to me.
bob g
Not the most intellectual post here for sure, sorry but hey, mostly guys here. And related to the women you mention. 🙂
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/there-is-no-way-youll-be-able-to-guess-who-this-is/
see what she usually looks like, if you don’t know already:
http://tinyurl.com/8es67h5
Say anything…do anything Wasserman Shultz. It only works with Liberals and Ayn knew it sooo long ago. In Wasserman’s honor, I present Mitt’s performance at the Alfred E Smith Dinner.
tonight (10-24-12) on O’Reilley show, john stossel complained that many of the dems were not critical thinkers. George, if he had read your posts, he would have known that on October 18, 2012. way to go
Bud, it’s really interesting how people development critical thinking skills.. or don’t. We discuss energy here quite a bit, and here’s where we can really see it come to play. We know that we never get out what we put it.. ever. The HHO generator testaments are fun to read.. we start with BTUs of gasoline in a 30% efficient engine, powering a 60% efficient alternator to produce hydrogen and oxygen at a guestimated six fold loss. Then we induct this tiny quantity of fuel back into the engine and claim a huge increase in mileage!
Critical Thought? The kid that was awake in his junior high school science class might (think), gee, we could measure the power into the HHO generator for an hour, and collect the gas over that period. Then we use the gas to see how much water we can heat, and to what temperature. We then convert the work done to BTUs, and note we paid way too much for the hydrogen, but note.. since we used an inefficient engine and inefficient alternator to make the gas, it’s a bad idea squared.
But I’m sure there were folks somewhere who bought an HHO generator today..
critical thinking looks to have died a horrible death in this country, november 6th, 2012, on both sides of the isle.
bob g
It is why we are here, we wished for more, but we got what we expected. DIYers for the most part know that men who depend on others for basic needs, and the majority of women will choose security over freedom most of the time.. Should we blame women for the way they are wired? Yes, many do become aware of the dangers of empty promises of security, but what efforts have any of us made to warn our daughters, and was it early enough? Perhaps we left it to others to teach her? WE need read Dr. Paugh’s post today.. The SCOTUS? They will soon understand they have handed over their authroity to the FED.. so I think..
As for DIY skills , your stock just went up!