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Monday, May 14, 2012

Revolutionary Notes #4 - The Undesirables

Who are the undesirables?

The efficacy of a government at its root depends on two factors, the system within which it operates, and the members who constitute it. This is true whether the governing body is a single person, group of people, or the collective society itself.

How to define governmental efficacy, or what features comprise a good system are outside the scope of this writing, and will be covered at a later date.

The aim here is to discuss who should form that government, and who are the undesirables.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Freemason Open House

It was reported recently that the Port Lincoln Freemason lodge will be opening its doors to the public for the first time, claiming that this is an attempt to convince the public that it is not a society full of secrets.

The degree of contradictions in this statement is staggering, and while it is a somewhat bold attempt to polish the image of the often maligned group it fails to address major concerns about their organization.

The past master of the lodge explains that he only wants the public to know that:

"It's a group of men that believe in a supreme being and have a common interest in life, which is based on strict morals and a betterment of life."

He then continues, and admits that it is part of an widespread attempt to attract the next generation of Masons.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Mitt Romney - A disaster in logic

I will resit the temptation to accuse the republicans of relying almost solely on flawed logic.

From Mitt Romney:

"Now we have more chronic long-term unemployment than this country has ever seen before, twenty million people out of work, stopped looking for work, or in part-time jobs that need full-time jobs, we've got housing prices continuing to decline, and we have foreclosures at record levels. This president has failed."

Post hoc ergo propter hoc I say. Meaning - after this, therefore because of this.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Too much democracy

For those who haven't been here, Indonesia is a strange place. In many ways it is a great place to live, but for those of you who have never been outside of Europe or North America you have never seen pollution, traffic, or blatant corruption until travelling through some of the cities in Asia, Jakarta being no exception.


In recent surveys Indonesia scored as one of the happiest countries on earth, but it is also a place that can quickly flare into full-scale riots, as seen a few weeks ago although not widely reported in western media.

Obama's Speech - Cognitive Dissonance

First post in a new series about logical fallacies and cognitive dissonance in the political space.
In this first post we take a look at a seemingly innocuous speech given by Obama on Feb 15, 2012 in Milwaukee, WI.

Briefly stated cognitive dissonance is when a person simultaneously holds two conflicting beliefs, ideas, feelings, or values.The theory holds that a person will sub-consciously work to reconcile the conflict by altering their inner state so that it is in alignment. Even short, cognitive dissonance leads to behavioral modification.

In the speech, Obama is addressing a blue collar crowd, and makes mention of the long running trend of US manufactures outsourcing jobs to countries with lower costs, specifically China.


Monday, May 7, 2012

Revolutioinary Notes #2 - What is a revolution?

Before going too far on this topic it is important to step back and clarify what this subject is about. To first ask 'What is a revolution?'
     Tseu-Leu asked: If the Prince of Mei appointed you head of government. to what wd. you first set your mind?
     Confucius: to call people and things by their names, that is by the correct denominations, to see that terminology was exact.
     "You mean that is the first?" Said Tseu-Leu. "Aren't you dodging the question? What's the use of that?"
     Confucius: You are a blank. An intelligent man hesitates to talk of what he does not understand, he feels embarrassed.
     If the terminology be not exact, if it fit not the thing, the governmental instructions will not be explicit, if the instructions aren't clear and the names don't fit, you cannot conduct business properly.
     If business is not properly run the rites and music will not be honored, if the rites and music be not honored, penalties and punishments will not achieve their intended effects, if penalties and punishments do not produce equity and justice, the people won't know where to out their feet or what to lay hold of or to whom they should stretch out their hands.
     That is why an intelligent man cares for his terminology. 
     
Some people in the past have recognized the importance of tending to their words. As the quote above illustrates Confucius saw definitions as an important factor in maintaining the stability and cohesion of a society. Something often lacking in his Greek counterparts. And where we see Confucian ideas taking root and going into action for 1000's of years, no one has ever set aside the smallest piece of land to try out Plato's republic.


Saturday, May 5, 2012

How Hypocrisy Leads to Behavioral Change - part 1 background

A recent tool in the behavioral modification arsenal used by governments and other large institutions is the dissonance paradigm of hypocrisy.

This is a very subtle technique that was developed out of cognitive dissonance theories. To state it briefly, cognitive dissonance is when a person holds two mutually inconsistent cognition. What research has shown is that people will modify their beliefs or self-concept to eliminate this conflict, without being aware that any modification has taken place.

A simple example can be shown from The Fox and the Grapes parable by Aesop. In this tale a fox see some grapes high up in vine and wishes to eat them, when the fox is unable to find a way to eat the grapes it then concludes that the grapes are probably not ripe anyway, and would just taste sour. In cognitive research research this is called the "adaptive preference formation"


Friday, May 4, 2012

Revolutionary Notes #3 - Revolutionaries are Liars

Revolutionary leaders do not exist, but their spokespeople are liars.

Don't misunderstand, this is not to say that the voices associated with the heads of revolutionary movements are not sincere in their intent - that is unknowable, can only make judgement based on a person's actions. Nor does it mean that there is any deceit in the promises of a new world they have made to their followers.

What it does mean is that there is an inherent (self) lie in assuming that any vision can fully encompass a new socio-economic system, fully formed, with all of its moving interconnected parts.

So why don't revolutionary leaders exist?


Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Anti-Mason - Oath of the Jesuits

If you thought you hated the Freemasons:

(The following material contained in Congressional Record, House Bill 1523, Contested election case of Eugene C. Bonniwell, against Thos. S. Butler, February 15, 1913
 "I do further promise and declare that I will, when opportunity presents, make and wage relentless war, secretly and openly against all heretics, Protestants and Masons, as I am directed to do to extirpate them from the face of the whole earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex, or condition, and that will hang, bum, waste, boil, flay, strangle, and bury alive these infamous heretics; rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women, and crush their infants' heads against the wails in order to annihilate their execrable race. That when the same can not be done openly, I will secretly use the poisonous cup, the strangulation cord, the steel of the poniard, or the leaden bullet, regardless of the honor, rank, dignity, or authority of the persons, whatever may be their condition in life, either public or private, as I at any time may be directed so to do by any agents of the Pope or superior of the Brotherhood of the Holy Father of the Society of Jesus"

http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/jesuits.htm

Revolutionary Notes #1 - An Open Letter

From Frobenius:

I am not firmly convinced that a revolution is coming, or for that matter that there is any kind of trend towards growing awareness or even discontent.

Our system is one with a built in pressure valve, and like any successful social system succeeds because of the majority who have something invested in seeing it continue to be perpetuated.

When I speak of a pressure valve I am referring to periodic elections, which, by design or not, are a system of minimal renewal whereby a low-resistance path is provided for people to have an outlet for their discontent. If I am not happy, and am not sure why or what to do about it, a ready answer is there in an election I can participate in, observe, or simply complain about after the fact.

And keep in mind 20-30% is a majority in a fractured society.

The stake that is put into this system? The long hours at university, the things sacrificed for that first down payment on a car or a house. The time spent envying another's possessions, or arguments spent convincing or being convinced to being on the right side of taste or common sense. All the energy expended caring in order to succeed at some job, or the real feeling of reward at seeing paychecks come in.

Who could face all that having meant nothing? Not when there is an easier route to take.

All of this creates a state of existence where even those who can point to things they would change - the politicians - the top 1% - would do so only to see all else remain the same, or merely improve along the existing scale.

Not possible.

Society is far too interconnected to pick and choose which pieces to keep or remove, not where there is something that is fundamentally wrong.

To overcome this sodden inertia is the real barrier to revolution.

If it is you who would wish to see a new world, then to you I would say find a way to bring things to a state where the easiest thing to do is for the average person to embrace anarchy. Feed the corruption, protect the hoarders, make all of those who you'd wish to see gone so proud and so safe that they couldn't help but flaunt it. Make them secure enough to do the things they wish for now, but wouldn't dare. Raise the pitch until there is no choice but find some way to turn it off.

Transcribed by Ans Wallonia

For more posts in this series see:

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

ANNOUNCEMENT - Revolutionary Notes Series

A new series of revolutionary notes sent to us by someone operating under the name Frobenius starts tomorrow!


Initial correspondence with this covert source indicates a person or group of people highly-knowledgeable in fringe conspiracy theories, and able to bring deep insights to bear regarding what the meaning of all this hidden activity is.


Frobenius claims to be motivated by 'disinterest in the Victorian sense', and when asked about the motivation behind this new series responded only with the Chinese proverbs:



and 

一以贯之


No agreement on the meaning of these sayings seems to exist, so readers are invited to submit their interpretations as the series continues.


Information on Frobenius as a historical figure can be found here, and recent posting possibly relating to our new source are available via the Panawave.