ATS the Garden of the Mind

a reply to: Asktheanimals

The US has invented 50% of all of the technology in use today?

I'm gonna get flamed for this...but it's this mentality and arrogance that is responsible for the hatred towards the US across the world, particularly the USA foreign policy and addition to control.

The US really seems to think they are the top dog and official global police for the world, when in actual fact the US as it currently is, is literally only a few hundred years old and most of the technology today has roots in Europe and elsewhere.

I suppose it isnt the American people's fault, when they are socially programmed to believe they are the best country to be in the world, people will wave their flags and chant USA, they are merely a product of their environment and internal propaganda.

As far as being free, that depends on what you define as freedom....none of us are truly free, we are slaves to a system that most people unknowingly worship.

I don't disagree with most of your opening statement and I mean that with the greatest of respect. Critical thinking is something that most people don't even consider, they are too bound by thier own confirmation bias that they didn't come.to themselves.

We need to start thinking as a species rather than bound by cultures, borders and imaginary lines on maps.

Ats is a good place, but there are still agenda and other things at play.

a reply to: Asktheanimals

So you retract that 50% statement? Because it´s ridiculously bold and also not true...

If not for the US´s pillaging technology from other countries during their endless wars and huge MIC, to this day, the US would not be where it is today.

Remember that guy from Munich who invented that RAM? US came and took it away.
That special pointed mirror? US came and took it away.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: Asktheanimals

If ATS is the Garden of the Mind, then that makes me the fertilizer.

Oh Poo!

a reply to: Asktheanimals

Aye I'd agree ATS is a place where we can learn from each other without resorting to name calling like other online portals !
we can have discussions, agree , not agree, and still be friends and carry on with debate.
Of course there are exceptions on ATS like anywhere, we do have the usual suspects .


As for your point there
50% (DID YE AYE ?)


that's a big percentage !

I would have to debate you on that

I'm not as impressed with ATS and the majority of the comments on these forums with one of its most popular subjects being aliens and UFO's. The other being politics and in particular US politics with most threads being about the world's most famous clown, comedy actor or entertainer with nothing truly interesting to say (or worth your time and thinking potential). It's usually why I end up looking through the rant forum to see if someone else has some issue with that waste of human potential as well (see also another way of putting it in my signature and text under my accountname), imagine my reaction upon finding the opposite.

FLATTERY

The act of pleasing by artful commendation; adulation; false, insincere, or excessive praise. It is usually done to gratify the self-love or vanity of the one flattered and is therefore damaging to him.
...
Insincerity, lying, adulating or glorifying men, and playing on the vanity of others are all displeasing to God.​—2Co 1:12; Ga 1:10; Eph 4:25; Col 3:9; Re 21:8.
...
While the use of flattery may appear to be the gainful course, the Bible points out that “he that is reproving a man will afterward find more favor than he will that is flattering with his tongue.” (Pr 28:23) When a person employs flattery to gain advantage over another person, it is the opposite of love.

Source: Flattery: Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 1

The proud person is drunk with self-flattery and self-esteem.

A little snippet from the article in my signature, cause it relates to this topic of flattery when done to gratify the self-love or vanity of the one flattered, i.e. playing on the vanity of others (with a short introduction from the preceding page now that I've said that):

AS MEANS of communicating have expanded—from printing to the telephone, radio, television, and the Internet—the flow of persuasive messages has dramatically accelerated. This communications revolution has led to information overload, as people are inundated by countless messages from every quarter. Many respond to this pressure by absorbing messages more quickly and accepting them without questioning or analyzing them.

The cunning propagandist loves such shortcuts—especially those that short-circuit rational thought. Propaganda encourages this by agitating the emotions, by exploiting insecurities, by capitalizing on the ambiguity of language, and by bending rules of logic. As history bears out, such tactics can prove all too effective.
...
Playing on the Emotions

Even though feelings might be irrelevant when it comes to factual claims or the logic of an argument, they play a crucial role in persuasion. Emotional appeals are fabricated by practiced publicists, who play on feelings as skillfully as a virtuoso plays the piano.
...[next page]
Use discernment: Discernment is “acuteness of judgment.” It is “the power or faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes one thing from another.” A person with discernment perceives subtleties of ideas or things and has good judgment.

Using discernment, we will be able to recognize those who are merely using “smooth talk and complimentary speech” in order to “seduce the hearts of guileless ones.” (Romans 16:18) Discernment enables you to discard irrelevant information or misleading facts and distinguish the substance of a matter. But how can you discern when something is misleading?

Put information to the test: ... Some people today are like sponges; they soak up whatever they come across. It is all too easy to absorb whatever is around us.

But it is far better for each individual personally to choose what he will feed his mind. It is said that we are what we eat, and this can apply to food for both the body and the mind. No matter what you are reading or watching or listening to, test to see whether it has propagandistic overtones or is truthful.

Moreover, if we want to be fair-minded, we must be willing to subject our own opinions to continual testing as we take in new information. We must realize that they are, after all, opinions. Their trustworthiness depends on the validity of our facts, on the quality of our reasoning, and on the standards or values that we choose to apply.

Ask questions: As we have seen, there are many today who would like to ‘delude us with persuasive arguments.’ (Colossians 2:4) Therefore, when we are presented with persuasive arguments, we should ask questions.

First, examine whether there is bias. What is the motive for the message? ...

Is it just to get some flags, stars, attention and responses? To draw traffic to the site? Or perhaps because someone is benefitting from the distraction of such an "information overload" about a multitude of subjects that will not "make you wise for salvation" (2 Tim. 3:15)? That would not be the direct motive for the one making a comment or thread then, but I encourage everyone to think it through like that. The underlying motive for getting people to talk about the main subjects I mentioned earlier (aliens and politics for example) at the neglect of another subject such as the truth that sets men free that Jesus spoke about. See my later commentary in this thread for details.

originally posted by: verschickter
a reply to: Asktheanimals

So you retract that 50% statement? Because it´s ridiculously bold and also not true...

Some

a reply to: pigsy2400

no one is truly free, as we are all slaves to thought !

originally posted by: pigsy2400
a reply to: Asktheanimals

As far as being free, that depends on what you define as freedom....none of us are truly free, we are slaves to a system that most people unknowingly worship.

Now you're beginning to get it, maybe; perhaps some additional information about this system you speak of may be of help.

2 Cor. 4:3,4

If, in fact, the good news we declare is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, 4 among whom the god of this system of things* [Or “this age.” See Glossary] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the illumination* [Or “light.”] of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through.

Showing how appropiate your choice of words at the end there was: "unknowingly worship". As well as your choice of words when you used "slaves" (shown in another bible text).

John 8:31-34

Then Jesus went on to say to the Jews who had believed him: “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They replied to him: “We are Abraham’s offspring* [Lit., “seed.”] and never have been slaves to anyone. How is it you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them: “Most truly I say to you, every doer of sin is a slave of sin.

Details:

What “Truth” Will Set People Free? Awake!—1979
Spirit of the World: Reasoning From the Scriptures

speaking of gardens, they all need someone to tend to them lest they return to the natural order and grow unkept and wild.

So it is all our responsibility to do some tidying up , some weeding , and make sure we can see the forest from the trees etc