* Kaleidoscopic BrainWashing *

[Marda]

"I've been trying for some time to develop a life style that doesn't require my presence."
Gary Trudeau

/Marda

[Marda]

"The genius of you Americans is that you never make clear-cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves which make us wonder at the possibility that there may be something to them we are missing."
Gamel Abdel Nasser

/Marda

[Marda]

"PLATO'S CAVE"
"Organizations As Psychic Prisons"
--------------------------------
***
Human beings have a knack of getting trapped in webs of their own creation. ... examine ... the ways this occurs by exploring the idea of organizations as psychic prisons. This metaphor joins the idea that organizations are psychic phenomena, in the sense that they are ultimately created and sustained by conscious and unconscious processes, with the notion that people can actually become imprisoned or confined by the images, ideas, thoughts, and actions to which these processes give rise. The metaphor encourages us to understand that while organizations may be socially constructed realities, these constructions are often attributed an existence and power of their own that allow them to exercise a measure of control over their creators.

The idea of a psychic prison was first explored in Plato's "Republic" in the famous allegory of the cave where Socrates addresses the relations among appearance, reality and knowledge. The allegory pictures an underground cave with its mouth open toward the light of a blazing fire. Within the cave are people chained so that they cannot move. They can see only the cave wall directly in front of them. This is illuminated by the light of the fire, which throws shadows of people and objects onto the wall. The cave dwellers equate the shadows with reality, naming them, talking about them, and even linking sounds from outside the cave with the movement on the wall. Truth and reality for the prisoners rest in this shadowy world, because they have no knowledge of any other.

However, as Socrates relates, if one of the inhabitants were allowed to leave the cave, he would realize that the shadows are but dark reflections of a more complex reality, and that the knowledge and perceptions of his fellow cave dwellers are distorted and flawed. If he were then to return to the cave, he would never be able to live in the old way, since for him the world would be a very different place. No doubt he would find difficulty in accepting his confinement, and would pity the plight of his fellows. However, if he were to try and share his new knowledge with them, he would probably be ridiculed for his views. For the cave prisoners, the familiar images of the cave would be much more meaningful than any story about a world they had never seen. Moreover, since the person espousing this new knowledge would now no longer be able to act with conviction in relation to the shadows, his fellow inmates would no doubt view his knowledge as being extremely dangerous. They would probably regard the world outside the cave as a potential source of danger, to be avoided rather than embraced as a source of wisdom and insight. The experience of the person who left the cave could thus actually lead the cave dwellers to tighten their grip on their familiar way of seeing.

The cave stands for the world of appearance and the journey outside stands for the ascent to knowledge. People in everyday life are trapped by illusions, hence the way they understand reality is limited and flawed. By appreciating this, and by making a determined effort to see beyond the superficial, people have an ability to free themselves from imperfect ways of seeing. However, as the allegory suggests, many of us often ridicule efforts at enlightenment, preferring to remain in the dark rather than to risk exposure to a new world and its threat to the old ways."

"Images Of Organization"
Gareth Morgan

/Marda

[Marda]

"An intense and fully authentic life is not without risk ... but it is better than the only possible alternative ... a life of self-deception and quiet desperation."
R.G.Olsen

/Marda

[Marda]

The following statement was made by a caller to my friend, Call-In Show Hostess Ms.Jane Vynelism ...

"... Miss Vynelism, while I am of the belief that *some* liberty is good for *some* people, it is, in the main, *bad* for most"
***

/Marda

[Marda]

copy from CBC News
"Black boxes for every car, urges U.S. safety board
Last Updated Tue, 03 Aug 2004 19:22:11 EDT
WASHINGTON - The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board recommended to federal regulators Tuesday the mandatory installation in all passenger vehicles of black boxes that record speed, seat belt use, braking and other factors.
It's the first time the board has made such a recommendation. It stems from an investigation into the July 2003 farmers market crash in Santa Monica, Calif.
The elderly driver, who claimed to have accidentally stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake, drove into a pedestrian-only open-air market, ultimately killing 10 and injuring more than 60.
Safety investigators were unable to interview the driver and the board concluded they could have gained better information about his behaviour had his car been fitted with an event data recorder.
"We believe very strongly that vehicles should have a black box," said board chairperson Ellen Engleman Conners. "

***
OOb: Breaker Breaker .... Yahhh ... is this GM OnStar ??

GMOS: Yessir ... this is GM OnStar ... Thank You for calling ... my name is Razzberi ... how may I help you ?

OOb: Yahhh ... is that uhhh Miss Razzberi, or ... uhhh Mr. Razzberi?

GMOS: Excuse me sir but asking gender specific questions is a violation of federal law ... do you wish that I send a signal via satellite and terminate your present driving experience ??

OOb: Uhhh ... no ... uhhh ... I didn't mean nothin' by it ... I wuz ... uhhh ... jis tryin' to be polite and I couldn't tell by your voice if you was a girl or a guy ...

GMOS: The information you were attempting to determine is irrelevant sir ... do you require assistance or some driving experience related information sir ??

OOb: Uhhh ... yeahhh ... this is Officer Obie and my Little BlackBox Scanner detected a motor vehicle exceeding the posted speed limit by 5 mph up there on Interstate 001 near the Drivin-Theatre cutoff and I want you to send a signal via satellite to the vehicle and terminate *that* driver's driving experience ??

GMOS: Sir, it's outside GM OnStar's mandate to terminate someone's driving experience at the verbal request of a law enforcement officer without first receiving a certified electronic facsimile court order ... is there some unique and special reason you wish us to terminate this particular individual's driving experience at this time ??

OOb: Uhhh ... Yahhh ... uhhh ... this ... uhhh ... particular individual is a known CD/TG and I'm ... uhhh ... having some trouble with my mascara smearing on rainy days ...

GMOS: *Oh!* *My!* ... *Dear!* .. Why didn't you *Say* so ??? I'd be more than *Happy* to help you with that ... I used to have the *Same* trouble when I worked on construction ... look Dear ... I have another call coming in ... login to Crossdressers-Forum.com tonite and look for *Me* ... *Razzberi* ... ttfn / click

***

/Marda

[Kersten Lee]

Hi Marda,
I agree many movies pretend to be complex but are in the end hollow.

I am under-educated compared to you and other girls here. The Plato's Cave says in a wonderful way what I have tried to convey about myself and others for a hundred posts. Here it is in a thousands year old essay.

This tells the story of how I have felt imprisoned by people and institutions that surround me. To express something outside this cave made me an evil boy. I know that's not true now, but deep recesses of my mind still assault my being occasionally, trying to get me to hate myself again. And sometimes the cave wins.

My therapist has tried to give me the freedom to explore uninhibited to the limit of harming myself or others. All of the people here have done the same for me. All of us are very special.

You are special!
Kersten

[Marda]

* "Message For Posterity" *
***
" OUR TIME IS RICH in inventive minds, the inventions of which could facilitate our lives considerably. We are crossing the seas by power and utilize power also in order to relieve humanity from all tiring muscular work. We have learned to fly and we are able to send messages and news without any difficulty over the entire world through electric waves.

However, the production and distribution of commodities is entirely unorganized so that everybody must live in fear of being eliminated from the economic cycle, in this way suffering for the want of everything. Furthermore, people living in different countries kill each other at regular time intervals, so that also for this reason any one who thinks about the future must live in fear and terror. This is due to the fact that the intelligence and the character of the masses are incomparably lower than the intelligence and character of the few who produce something valuable for the community.

I trust that posterity will read these statements with a feeling of proud and justified superiority."

Albert Einstein
"Out of My Later Years"
(1938)

/Marda

[Jassmine(SO)]

Howdy Marda

Thanks for the brain stimulating posts!

*Hugs & Love*

[Lorna]

Hi Marda,

This is great stuff!!

[Virginia]

Ole Albert E sure had some questions and comments? He hit it with the Civil War (economics and slavery) but what would he have thought of WalMart.
Great post, Marda.
Deborah

[Virginia]

Kersten, honey, I don't want to hear anymore about you feeling "under-educated!" If some of us had half the common-sense and insight that you do we would be well ahead of the game! We love ya, girl!
Deborah

[Marda]

Hi Kersten Lee,

It brings me joy to hear that you found something of benefit in "Plato's Cave".

Here, for everyone, in your name, is something to your point about "education".

Can we agree from here on that you *Are* in fact "educated"? Probably moreso than many with considerably higher levels of "schooling"!

/Marda
***

"Specialized Knowledge"

"An educated man is not, necessarily, one who has an abundance of general or specialized knowledge. An educated man is one who has so developed the faculties of his mind that he may acquire anything he wants, or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others.

During the first World War, a Chicago newspaper published certain editorials in which, among other statements, Henry Ford was called an "ignorant pacifist." Mr. Ford objected to the statements, and brought suit against the paper for libeling him. When the suit was tried in the courts, the attorneys for the paper pleaded justification, and placed Mr. Ford, himself, on the witness stand, for the purpose of proving to the jury that he was ignorant. The attorneys asked Mr. Ford a great variety of questions, all of them intended to prove, by his own evidence that, while he might possess considerable specialized knowledge pertaining to the manufacture of automobiles, he was, in the main, ignorant.

Mr. Ford was plied with such questions as the following: "Who was Benedict Arnold?" and "How many soldiers did the British send over to America to put down the Rebellion of 1776?" In answer to the last question, Mr. Ford replied, "I do not know the exact number of soldiers the British sent over, but I have heard that it was a considerably larger number than ever went back."

Finally, Mr. Ford became tired of this line of questioning, and in reply to a particularly offensive question, he leaned over, pointed his finger at the lawyer who had asked the question and said, "If I should really want to answer the foolish question you have just asked, or any of the other questions you have been asking me, let me remind you that I have a row of electric push-buttons on my desk, and by pushing the right button, I can summon to my aid men who can answer any question I desire to ask concerning the business to which I am devoting most of my efforts. Now will you kindly tell me, why I should clutter up my mind with general knowledge, for the purpose of being able to answer questions, when I have men around me who can supply any knowledge I require?"

There certainly was logic to that reply.

That answer floored the lawyer. Every person in the courtroom realized it was the answer, not of an ignorant man, but of a man of education. Any man is educated who knows where to get knowledge when he needs it, and how to organize that knowledge into definite plans of action.

... Henry Ford had at his command all the specialized knowledge he needed ... It was not essential that he have this knowledge in his own mind."

"Think And Grow Rich"
Napolean Hill
***


Love / Marda

[Virginia]

Yes Marda, it is the sign of an intelligent person who, should "she" have the ability to hire and fire, hires people who are smarter than she is.
I was at an insurance meeting once and probably one of the most successful people in the room was a general agent with only a couple of years of college. His agency was the no.1 producing agency in a 15 state area - big $$$$$. He was being chided for not having his CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter) kinda like a DR. degree in the insurance industry. After several minutes of this he had had enough, he stood up turned around to his "detractors," and you know what he said! " If I want a CLU -- I'll hire one!" End of conservation!!!! It is still the old saying," money talks and bull.... walks!!"
Deborah

[Marda]

QOTD From Pegusus Mailer
***
For the time will come when men
will not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit their own desires,
they will gather around them
a great number of teachers to say
what their itching ears want to hear.
- II Timothy 4:3
***

Love / Marda