I hate large groups of people. The larger a group of people get, the more collectively irrational and stupid they become.
I would have agreed with you at one point. The so-called "mob mentality" is a very strong factor in the collective intelligence of groups of humans, and the bigger the group, the worse and more simplistic its critical reasoning becomes. Real intelligence tends to be destructive--because real intelligence is difficult both to obtain and to acknowledge in others--whereas emotion and hearsay are amplified considerably.
Therefore, all else being equal, I think you may be right. However, there are other factors that influence group intelligence, which can compensate, to a degree, for the "dumbening" effect. I would suppose most of these factors trace back to either intelligence itself, or discipline.
I'm not disagreeing, or arguing...kinda just adding to your point, with a point of my own.
Perhaps thats why I too hate religion. That is not to say I hate faith, but the intstitutionalization of it in a group prevents the individual from making his own personal decisons on it.
You have it backwards. Faith is what is dangerous--religious faith especially. Institutionalized religion is a symptom of faith. Indeed, organized religion is probably a lot less virulent than the personal spirituality that many people might develop on their own, were they so inclined.
I hate the direction the U.S. government is headed for lately. Look for national i.d. cards and suspention of habeus corpus on the whim of the president in the near future!
National ID cards are a good idea, but you're right that we don't want
Republicans writing the legislation for it. We need to have one hell of a long, frank discussion about how these cards will and will not be used.
As for habeus corpus, it's toast...as you well know, since you bothered to mention it.
November 7, baby!
ZeaLitY, baby, fetch the good champagne! Drinks for all, on me! November 8. Win or lose, in this political environment we're gonna want 'em.
