Right? That's what I was thinking. We dropped the ball somewhere in the past with one of our social systems. We need to fix that or this social decay will get worse.

No worries. Thanks for the compliment. There are a lot of gringos like me. Hopefully you'll see us all show out in November. In the mean time let's have a conversation about what went wrong and how we can change it. I really want to know your thoughts on this matter.

In psychological terms: “Overdetermination”: The phenomenon is caused by multiple and different causes.

1. Nature: Humans are primates, and all primates (maybe all animals) tend to think first (and only) about themselves and their close family, and to ignore the realities and needs of other animals;
2. Nurture: Unless a powerful event shakes our minds, we will probably believe whatever we were taught to believe;
3. Prejudices: For example: The “preservation prejudice”: We prefer to believe an idea if that idea is convenient to us, with total disregard of its inherent truth or falsehood
4. Inertia: It is easier to go on believing what we have believed all along. Change is, often, painful;
5. Religion: Our god is the only god, and if we are his/her children, we are always right, and, of course, everyone else is wrong;
6. Politics: [I hope administrators doesn’t erase this item] Plato wrote that corruption and immorality flow downward, from those in power to the people. “People are corrupt because rulers are corrupt”. If Plato was right, then we (in present day USA) are in BIG trouble!
7. Pure selfishness: Who cares what others think, feel or need. I am important; my feelings are important; my country is always right because it is my country; to Hell with everyone else.
   Like Schopenhauer and other philosophers, I am a pessimist: I don’t think this “order of things” will significantly change ever. Generally speaking, “Haters will be haters”; Racists will be racists; Morons will be morons…until judgement day at 9:00 PM. However, there are things that can, and should be done to help minimize/reduce the problem: Teach, teach, teach…and teach important values (respect, love, tolerance, peace, equality, sympathy and empathy&hellip to young generations; Buy the right video games for your children; Vote for the right candidates… and many more things. [But this reply is already too long.]
   Disclaimer: English is not my first language. Please forgive any errors.

How do we refill the collective tank on critical thinking and desire?

@kensmile4u I try and spread that 'gospel' as best I can.

I agree. It seems like we either stopped caring about what others think or some other unidentified social movement is occurring. What do you think explains the lack of comparative thinking?

@kensmile4u Facebook and politics . Facebook there's to many groups with the same ideas agreeing with you echo chambers . In real life you learnt to get on with others with different opinions and compromised . Politicians are using this to divide and conquer not new I know but now it's a bit intensified ..... Oh and we are taught to remember facts in school and not think.

ah, been reading some good stuff on that, "If You Believe It, It's Truer," [google.com] and there was a better, older one that i can't find now, something about how we process info we already agree with as if they were facts, ah, [google.com]

I agree there are intrinsic thought patterns but IMO they can be modified to some degree by education or indoctrination. Consequently our social systems can be modified to attempt a correction. Do you agree?

@kensmile4u That's a hopeful thought. I feel like I grew up in a system where I didn't feel complete stifled in my spirit of inquiry but I was also privileged.

I agree that everyone is not the same but we do have standardized education to a certain extent. Therefore we should expect a modicum of critical thinking in the population. Perhaps they just stopped caring about it or each other. Thanks for all your thoughts.

Sorry I'm not sure what you mean. Are you saying religion is needed to fix the problem?

@kensmile4u no, that religion is condemned in the Bible, in many places. Basically every preacher version of a Bible story is wrong, off somehow. Read too literally usually, right. It never says anywhere that we go to heaven after we die, in fact quite a few passages demand otherwise, "no Son of Man may die for another's sins," on and on. "no one knows where they go when they die." "all go to the same place." it's just Dao, Dialecticism, raised to an interactive art form.

Find the point and the "problem" of lack of empathy in others goes away; and they all come to the same point, basically. religion has nothing to do with it tho rly.

putting yourself in the right frame in the stories ends up a kind of mirror. if the Bible is closed to you bc preachers then the Tao works too. that's all

do you think they avoid complexity out of sheer laziness? lack confidence? or something else?

@kensmile4u Laziness, lack of confidence in their intelligence, not really caring enough--all kinds of things mixed together.

I want you to be secretary of education! This is exactly the kind of thinking that should be a standard requirement for receiving a high school diploma. What class do you teach?

@kensmile4u I teach Introduction to Business (" What happens in marketing? In human resource management, finance," etc.), Principles of Management, and Organizational Behavior (in-depth analysis if people's behavior in organizations, including assessing individual, group, and orgaizational levels). Actually , I teach at the college level.

Reason doesn't appear to work with many people at the moment. Reason is essentially analysis of the gradients along with the fundamentals issues. That's why i'm questioning social systems related to reason.

@kensmile4u. Well we could move directly to KKgator's Human Earth cleanse Rapture, the systematic permanent removal of all Human life,...which incidentally will dramatically improve fish stocks.

I agree that is our current situation. Any thoughts on fixing it?

@kensmile4u Nope. Humans suck. The planet will be better off when we're all off it.

@KKGator Those are my exact words ("Humans suck".) But now that I read them "from the lips" of another thinker, they (the words) just doesn't seem right. There are a lot of under-developed apes out there, yes, but there are also a lot of humans who do not suck. I guess this forum proves it.

How do you see us dealing with it?

@kensmile4u That is above my pay grade and job description. However it seems we have always been able to deal with it.

@jlynn37 I've never seen a shit show as bad as this one. I think we need an intervention!

So you think the pace of life is overwhelming the average person's ability to be comprehensive?

@kensmile4u nope. I just don't think they give a shit

Hahahaha family reunion dating.

Thanks for the good wisdom.

All good thoughts! Thanks

Could we regulate fake news? For example there are already journalistic rules of ethics. Should we force political operatives masquerading as journalists to add a disclaimer to their shows? Should we add getting a C grade or better in Civics education as a requirement to get a school diploma? Can we get corporate out of politics by repealing Citizens United? These are just my thoughts. do you have anything to add?