Yes, and it was a lament.

But really, how much rapid progress would you have expected from an organization which believed (at the time) that an effective way to spread the love of Jesus was torturing people to death? I mean, I've read the Bible and the words of Christ -- I couldn't find "hold an Inquisition" or "torture your neighbor" anywhere in it.

Then I submit that they were not really so willing to accept new cosmological theories.

The correct way is according to the evidence. The correct schedule is according to when advancements are made and new evidence is discovered. Anything else is unwillingness and refusal.

Jeopardy... I never did understand how "Popular Culture" belonged with things like History, Astronomy, and the like. Because people who learn about astrophysics are truly concerned about what Snookie is up to these days? I say leave that kind of information where it belongs: among the small-minded.

Seemed like a poorly-executed ratings grab to me.

Having to take them is not the same as being limited by them.

Someone who really understands the subject matter can pass a standardized test on that subject. But someone who was only taught to the test may have difficulty actually practically applying what they were taught. (The bureaucrats that were mentioned earlier and the politics involved with the school system are certainly not helping things either).

The shortcomings of rote memorization become apparent once someone who learned that way has to think abstractly and apply what they know to a real-world problem. Abstract reasoning is important, too. It just doesn't fit the "cog in a corporate machine" philosophy for which most public schools prepare their students. There is a reason why the politicians and other power elites don't usually send their children to public schools.

It does make sense that people who want to be lazy about one thing that's relatively easy to do correctly might also be lazy (or procrastinate) on other things that are easy to understand, such as due dates.

We increasingly live in a society where avoiding the slightest effort anytime one can get away with it is viewed as some kind of luxury lifestyle. If these people wind up paying more, not to punish them but because they genuinely are bad risks, that's fine with me.

If you're not satisfied with his answer, I can provide another for you. I don't think you really need to have this explained to you. I think you just wanted a simple, lazy, effortless slam-dunk "victory" so you can congratulate yourself for ending the thread. Continuing...

For one, mentioning Nazi Germany is perfectly valid when the topic is government power and how it incrementally escalates beyond control. It's just a fact that forcing gun owners to register their firearms made it a simple matter for Hitler's government to confiscate them. It's also a fact that dictators commonly take guns away from law-abiding citizens prior to becoming despotic. Most (all, I hope) people don't want to live under a brutal dictatorship, dictators know this, therefore dictators want the citizens to be as helpless and powerless as possible.

From Wikipedia:
Godwin's law applies especially to inappropriate, inordinate, or hyperbolic comparisons of other situations (or one's opponent) with Nazis. The law and its corollaries would not apply to discussions covering known mainstays of Nazi Germany such as genocide, eugenics or racial superiority, nor, more debatably, to a discussion of other totalitarian regimes or ideologies, if that was the explicit topic of conversation, since a Nazi comparison in those circumstances may be appropriate, in effect committing the fallacist's fallacy.

"Genocide, eugenics, racial superiority ..." would reasonably include how a government becomes powerful enough to implement such horrifying policies.

Also from Wikipedia:
This principle is itself frequently referred to as Godwin's law. It is considered poor form to raise such a comparison arbitrarily with the motive of ending the thread. There is a widely recognized corollary that any such ulterior-motive invocation of Godwin's law will be unsuccessful.

That would apply to you.

The US wants to have a heavy influence (which is a form of power) over the rest of the world. It also tends to act like the world's police.

Maybe, just maybe, increased power, influence, and prestige actually should come with increased responsibility and scrutiny.

It's not necessarily "anti-US" sentiment.

If we still keep failing to learn from history (continue using fiat currencies for one example*) then it really would make you feel hopeless.


* All of them, without exception, have ended with hyperinflation. Perhaps we think we're special?

That's not what some are pretending.

They're pretending that the emotional feel-good sentiment of saying "but but don't blame victim!" and the sense of superiority they get from feeling like you're a bad guy for having done so, is more important than the facts of the matter. It's the position of the faint-hearted who cannot cope with reality anytime that reality is even slightly unpleasant. They seldom dispute the facts of the matter or suggest alternatives because they are generally not interested in solving the problem. They just want to look good and feel better about themselves. Ergo, when you suggest adults should learn the most basic precautions, they view it as an opportunity to twist your words into evil, dirty, sinister victim-blaming.

When people like this make important decisions, you get the bankrupt nation we know today. But at least everyone feels good and pats themselves on the back right up until it all collapses. That's what matters, right?

Let's not do this with computer security.

I appreciate the succinct, eloquent manner in which you stated that.

I may just quote you on it (with attribution of course) the next time discussion degrades into another one of these weak "but languages evolve over time" bullshit episodes.

Of course, "languages evolve over time" is almost always code for "I can't be bothered to learn to do things correctly, besides everyone is a winner and no one is ever wrong or mistaken if they just weasel out of admitting it". Perhaps that phrase has been used legitimately by someone who is not too prideful/weak-hearted to admit error, but I've never personally witnessed it.

If that's what you think the decay of a nation is about, your perspective is incredibly shallow and self-limited.

There was a time when it did mean that. Ask your grandparents or your oldest living relative about that, maybe they will be old enough to remember. It was definitely a long time ago. Now we in the "Western nations" do the very same things we used to look down on "Communist" countries for doing. That includes things like imprisonment without trial, secret FISA courts, summary executions of citizens, etc.

This is a great idea -- use their own system against them. I hope that clever dude makes millions because that would encourage others to do the same!

It's not the glass that is transparent. It's the person looking through it.