Has Intelligent Thought Become A Lost Art at ATS ?

I'm new to this site, and have been looking through the different areas and something has come to light. The scarcity of free thought, and the abundance of parrots. Parrots are birds that used to be people, but somewhere along the way, they stopped thinking and began to only retort words that others had spoken. They use those words in defense of their position, without regard to where those they quote obtained their ideas

Mark Twain, summed it up perfectly when he said

“In religion and politics people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.”
― Mark Twain

So the next time you sit down to write a response to someones thoughts or questions, I have an idea. Why don't we molt, shed those feathers of another person's mouth and think for ourselves, speak for ourselves. Not the opinions or research of others, but for ourselves.

You may find it odd that I use another man's words to express this thought, but I do so for a reason. I have researched his life, and what made him and what he made of others. I know from this, that his words are if nothing else, his and his alone, and truthful, and it is because of this I wanted to show you what it was like to hear words of truth straight from the man who created them, and not those who paid to be taught them.

So, what is YOUR and only YOUR thoughts on this?

The site is filled with people who post endless disinformation, provocateur threads into complete chaos and generally try to stop any consistent intelligent conversation, regardless of what anyone says.

Why? Because a site like this with such a large user base can get some critical thinking done real quickly, and the elite don't want that. It's already fact that Obama sanctioned cyber-trolls. What better place for them to be than here?

They can smile and _ me.

reply to post by misfitofscience



Reply to and only to the title.

reply to post by winterkill

I'm assuming that you're only talking about religion and politics, or do you intend to get into scientific fields like global warming, Nibiru, UFO's, and quantum physics?

People can't have intelligent opinions without gaining information. The President gets his from advisors who offer their opinions, teachers rely on books which they didn't write, etc.

Religion and politics, in one form or another, go back thousands of years. They have been discussed and experimented with by some of the most intelligent men in the world in discussions which have, in some cases, continued over centuries. Are you suggesting we throw all that out and restart the process on our own?

I must be misunderstanding you, for what I think you're suggesting is, well, words don't do justice to my opinion.

I catch a lot of flak for not being a repeater.

I'm saying that if we open up a bible and read that man was made on the sixth day in chapter one and in chapter two before the plants were in the ground (day 3) Now we have a choice.
1. Chuck it based on the thousands of opinions that say it is junk.
2. Ignore it and except it on "faith" as the other side says.
3. Look for ourselves and ask questions. Why is it there? Would anyone be stupid enough to screw that up in the first 2 chapters. Has it been screwed with to keep something from me. What do I need to do to find the answer.

That is free thought. Look, ask, research, find the truth for yourself.

Are you trying to educate or motivate?

I think late night ATS is more like a MMORPD.....
Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Diary.

*

Gave myself a star for originality.

Mr Lears account is still active.

reply to post by winterkill


I think the real question is: are there any original thoughts left?

Second.

~ Wandering Scribe

Originally posted by winterkill
I'm saying that if we open up a bible and read that man was made on the sixth day in chapter one and in chapter two before the plants were in the ground (day 3) Now we have a choice.
1. Chuck it based on the thousands of opinions that say it is junk.
2. Ignore it and except it on "faith" as the other side says.
3. Look for ourselves and ask questions. Why is it there? Would anyone be stupid enough to screw that up in the first 2 chapters. Has it been screwed with to keep something from me. What do I need to do to find the answer.

That is free thought. Look, ask, research, find the truth for yourself.

Obviously, #3. Read it all for yourselves, draw your own conclusions and then research it against others' observations to come up with a final conclusion of your own.

Besides the fact that Genesis, Chapter 2 is nothing more than a detailed account of Chapter 1, it doesn't even list which of the days any of these events happened, so what makes people think that the order differs? Because of the order in which the verses are written? Even then, it appears that heaven and earth were created before plants and herbs, but then the earth was covered in water to allow the plants and herbs to spring forth before man is even mentioned.

Genesis 2:4-7

4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,

5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Originally posted by charles1952
reply to post by winterkill

 

I'm assuming that you're only talking about religion and politics, or do you intend to get into scientific fields like global warming, Nibiru, UFO's, and quantum physics?

Is it a mere unthinking reflex that causes you to assume that religion and UFOs are a separate field? Did you pick up a pattern of thought somewhere? Perhaps from pop-culture?

reply to post by winterkill

You may find it odd that I use another man's words to express this thought,

There is NO such thing as free thought, unless you were brought up by wolves on a deserted island.

Every thought you have has at one time been thought or spoken by and influenced by someone before you.



I have "thought" a lot about this.

Originally posted by Wandering Scribe
reply to post by winterkill

 

I think the real question is: are there any original thoughts left?

Second.

~ Wandering Scribe

Good one,

Is there a limit to imagination?

Originally posted by winterkill
I'm new to this site, and have been looking through the different areas and something has come to light. The scarcity of free thought, and the abundance of parrots.

Welcome to relative perception and the rest of your life. >.<

Random thoughts:

At least one time every intelligent person has replied to a person and mistaken the answer to come from a 'parrot' and not only rejected, but dismissed the ideas presented. It's amazing how two persons can look each other in the eye and both believe the other is an empty shell of rhetoric and nonsense.

In this modern age we simply don't have time to process all the information coming to us. Some of it slips by and we believe it without hesitation. Other parts become casualties of language and understanding and die at the gates of our minds before being taken seriously ... Fact of the matter is, most people that vote or do any other opinion based exercise do it from a narrow or even completely incorrect perspective even when their decision is the 'correct' one. Our minds seem pretty much designed to grab relevant bits of things and ignore the things around.

Sometimes we're all just looking in mirrors at our own parroty self I guess.

reply to post by winterkill

That is free thought. Look, ask, research, find the truth for yourself.

If you are researching, then you decided to accept or deny the evidence on a certain subject gained on what others have researched before you.

reply to post by Pinke


I used to write really bad poetry after mediation, and I thought some of my thoughts were original and inspired until I got on line and checked the search engine.

Originally posted by misfitofscience
They kicked John Lear off, so yes.

No offense, Misfit, But i did get a good laugh of this. Old John Lear... "There is a soul collector on the moon, but don't ask me anything about verifying it's existence." Yeah, he was one of the better minds here.