I for one welcome our new wire bending Overlord. All Hail Bendo the Magnificent!

I love big hair. 2:09 - Just magnificent.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'walking, strutting, skipping, winning' to 'walking, strutting, winning, skipping, magnificent' - edited by calvados

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Warning: May cause Herpes.

</commercial>

This IS my civil disobedience!

Most of these commenters want me to be silent. I know that. I knew that when I started this Sift Talk.

Did it anyway. And Dft wrote that magnificent comment.

I am one happy camper right now.



>> ^berticus:

@bareboards2, there have been a number of times that i've almost left this place due to people's stupid shit. but the reality is that you can't possibly get them to stop, and trying just encourages more stupidity, so... you're gonna have to take the good with the bad. of course, there's always the option of a little civil disobedience, too...

Stupid - I even saw the American flag on your page and it still didn't click that you were joking.

No, I've never seen Coneheads. What have I missed?

In reply to this comment by chicchorea:
...eat what?!

Never watched Coneheads for one?

Alright, I'm from Texas. That should provide stereotype cannon fodder enough.

As for Francais, I know a little Cajun French. However, before I demonstrate my acumen or lack thereof, I think I need the above query satisfied.

As to Rennes,...read a bit about Rennes Le Chateau and seen a bit of footage. It looks to be a magnificent region.

...eat what?!

Never watched Coneheads for one?

Alright, I'm from Texas. That should provide stereotype cannon fodder enough.

As for Francais, I know a little Cajun French. However, before I demonstrate my acumen or lack thereof, I think I need the above query satisfied.

As to Rennes,...read a bit about Rennes Le Chateau and seen a bit of footage. It looks to be a magnificent region.


In reply to this comment by kymbos:
Zut alors, un Francais - sacre bleu! J'espere que tu as mange ton croissant deja aujourd-hui!

Phew! While I lived in Rennes for six months over ten years ago, writing French was never my strong point. I am well versed in French stereotypes, however. So be warned...

>> ^draak13:

People make stupid comments all the time. Whether or not it was intended, this thread was essentially trolled off-topic with enormous rants about religion vs. atheism. Instead of going on forever about it, why not pay as much attention to it as it deserves? Immediately after the religious posting, Enoch magnificently addressed and concluded that religion doesn't consistently shape behavior nearly as much as good parenting in just 1 post. Of course the religious faction is going to reply back; their religion is a strong component of their identity. Just don't mind it and continue the thread forward.
If it's possible to salvage this thread at all, we were actually talking about how behavioral shaping comes most strongly in 2 forms revealed so far:
1) Mass showing of materials which help instill understanding of people who are very different from normal in some way, with sincere discussion (such as dealing with bullying the gay or mentally retarded individuals)
2) Parenting, to ensure that children hold strong values about understanding each other and treating each other well.
Are there any other interesting ideas to add to the list? Also, point 2 is huge; how do you get more parents to parent better?


I think 2) is in fact overrated. Most of a child's development nowadays comes from social interactions at school and in their neighborhood. Judith Harris expounded on this in her book, The Nurture Assumption. Parents have the most impact on their child's early development, before they can socialize on their own. In that small period of time, you can develop a child's intellectual potential, but the moral character, if not already determined or strongly limited by genetics, will be molded by future social interactions. Of course, parents are included in these social interactions, but their influence will be much diluted, especially compared to the school authority figures, the real authority in a school kid's life (they can make life miserable for them both at school and at home, by telling the parents).

So, as the saying goes in Africa, it takes a village to raise a child. Again, something known in the time of the ancient Greeks. Even Plato admitted this, although he tried to bring religion in, hence why he wasn't taken seriously. In this perspective, 1) should be an integral part of society's behavior at large, not just in videos. Although of course videos can have a pregnant effect on a child's mind and act as a surrogate to real life examples. The problem arises when those children are let go after school: they see that real life is not like the videos. They can then try to change the real world, become apathetic or worse, become cynical. And this is what is wrong with preaching: the hypocrisy of the "do as I say not as I do".

To prevent this, you have to teach intellectual self-defense at the same time as the reasons why behavior as shown in the videos is more desirable than behavior seen in real life. This would be hard for even philosophers to do, not to mention underpaid elementary school teachers. In our philosophy department here, there is a minor in "philosophy of children". It has nothing to do with describing the essence of children, but more with how to talk about philosophy with children: how to approach concepts in general and how to touch difficult subject matters. Still, the goal is not for the philosopher to teach children about moral/ethics, but to teach how to think about such things.

So, as a parent be a good role model and teach your child how to fish (think) instead of just giving him fish (preaching). For example, instead of trying to always be the best you can be around your child, be yourself. And when you fail to uphold a principle or whatever, instead of giving excuses be frank and explain why people sometimes fail even if they start with the best of intentions. The important thing is not that you be the best today, but that you be better tomorrow.

Also, never think you can shield your child from anything. Better it be you that show him the ugly things than he finds out by himself or through friends/society. That way you can explain and answer his questions. So: sex, drugs, violence and death education at a very young age repeated at various times to ingrain the facts (not the moral preaching). No need to be hands-on of course! Don't want you all to go rape and kill your children or something.

This is as much as you can do, I think, to "protect" or "arm" your children against society's more nefarious influences without resorting to indoctrination or physical confinement (although these last two options sound more like blinding and amputating than protecting really). If all children were educated like this, we may not get a perfect society (the genes!), but at least it should be a better society and certainly a more honest and open one.

People make stupid comments all the time. Whether or not it was intended, this thread was essentially trolled off-topic with enormous rants about religion vs. atheism. Instead of going on forever about it, why not pay as much attention to it as it deserves? Immediately after the religious posting, Enoch magnificently addressed and concluded that religion doesn't consistently shape behavior nearly as much as good parenting in just 1 post. Of course the religious faction is going to reply back; their religion is a strong component of their identity. Just don't mind it and continue the thread forward.

If it's possible to salvage this thread at all, we were actually talking about how behavioral shaping comes most strongly in 2 forms revealed so far:

1) Mass showing of materials which help instill understanding of people who are very different from normal in some way, with sincere discussion (such as dealing with bullying the gay or mentally retarded individuals)
2) Parenting, to ensure that children hold strong values about understanding each other and treating each other well.

Are there any other interesting ideas to add to the list? Also, point 2 is huge; how do you get more parents to parent better?

>> ^Bidouleroux:

>> ^draak13:
It's too bad that this all became about religion; we had a lot of worthwhile discussion about social reform and behavioral shaping until it became a religion slugfest.

Well, religious idiots think such reforms must come with some kind of religious doctrine attached. Wintstonfield et al would deny it so as to appear virtuous and selfless, but ultimately indoctrination is the goal of religions themselves even if it may not be the goal of every individual member. And as every dealer knows, giving the first dose free is the best way to create addicts.
This is the original "religion is good and should be encouraged" argument by Winston:

(A) You need to instill the population with a moral belief system
(B) Churches are one of only a few organizations which have the development of a moral belief system in the population as their primary function
(C) Supporting religion in this effort of morality development is inherently a good thing for society

Feel free to use your power point in my magnificent pque.

Is it wrong to want to hug that man's magnificent mane?

Thanks for promoting the arts and culture in our community!

In reply to this comment by lucky760:
I applaud your horrible Sift ethic, but I still can't bring myself to upvote it.

[edit]
But aww crap. I give in. Just because I want to imagine the WTF plastered on people's faces when they see this garbage at the top of the front page, I'll *quality it, you magnificent asshole.

(Let's see how well this whole community-based quality control actually works. @EndAll has the right idea.)

I applaud your horrible Sift ethic, but I still can't bring myself to upvote it.

[edit]
But aww crap. I give in. Just because I want to imagine the WTF plastered on people's faces when they see this garbage at the top of the front page, I'll *quality it, you magnificent asshole.

(Let's see how well this whole community-based quality control actually works. @EndAll has the right idea.)

Magnificent creatures.

Thank you. That was a really nice thing to say.

In reply to this comment by Offsajdh:
Magnificent, and utterly captivating. Those who find the early bits too dreary, just skip ahead and follow his step by step deconversion and its effects on the mind. Although, by doing so you will to some extent skip the "character investment" part of the story.

Best thing dystopianfuturetoday ever sifted? Yes. And that's saying something.