Notes, words & ideas to make society better
Social Philosopher β€’ Writer β€’ Ideologist
Practical Essayist β€’ Lawgiver β€’ Letterist

Have The Patience To Wait

We used to wait for it, now we're screaming sing the chorus again.

We Used To Wait - Arcade Fire

I used to write
I used to write letters, I used to sign my name
I used to sleep at night
Before the flashing light settled deep in my brain

Now our lives are changing fast
Now our lives are changing fast
Hope that something pure can last
Hope that something pure can last

Now it seems strange
How we used to wait for letters to arrive
But what's stranger still
Is how something so small can keep you alive

We used to wait for it
Now we're screaming sing the chorus again
We used to wait for it
Now we're screaming sing the chorus again

Only Use Technology If It Benefits Society

Each technology we create is always transforming society and we need to be careful about considering if and when different technologies may be affecting us either negatively or positively.

Study Says Technology Could Transform Society - NY Times (1982)

A report commissioned by the National Science Foundation and made public today speculates that by the end of this century electronic information technology will have transformed American home, business, manufacturing, school, family and political life. The report warned that the new technology would raise difficult issues of privacy and control that will have to be addressed soon to ''maximize its benefits and minimize its threats to society.''

  • The home will double as a place of employment, with men and women conducting much of their work at the computer terminal. This will affect both the architecture and location of the home. It will also blur the distinction between places of residence and places of business, with uncertain effects on zoning, travel patterns and neighborhoods.
  • Home-based shopping will permit consumers to control manufacturing directly, ordering exactly what they need for ''production on demand.''
  • There will be a shift away from conventional workplace and school socialization. Friends, peer groups and alliances will be determined electronically, creating classes of people based on interests and skills rather than age and social class.

Teach Love, Not Hate

The kids are having none of it. They can't be bought, they can't be taught your hate.

The Kids Are Having None Of It - Frazey Ford

Get out of the way
You've had your day
And it's no longer how we gon' play

The kids are having none of it
The kids are having none of it
They can't be bought, they can't be taught your hate

Always a mistake
To underestimate
Watch them now, they're stepping to the plate

The kids are having none of it
The kids are having none of it
They can't be bought, they can't be taught your hate

Be Careful Accepting Beliefs

If they ask you to stand, well they just want you to kneel.

Come On Come On - Jet

Now I am a young man I see cracks in the steel
If they ask you to stand, well they just want you to kneel
If you don't know what you want then you just have to take it all

Hey man, you gotta understand
I got the world in my two hands
Hey man, never goin' back, never going back

Come on come on
I don't need anyone
To tell me what to believe

Come on come on
Shout it out everyone
You can't tell me what to believe

Help People, Not Make Money

Superman never made any money, savin' the world from Solomon Grundy. And sometimes I despair the world will never see another man like him.

Superman's Song - Crash Test Dummies

Tarzan wasn't a ladies' man
He'd just come along and scoop 'em up under his arm like that
Quick as a cat in the jungle

But Clark Kent now there was a real gent
He would not be caught sittin' around in no junglescape,
Dumb as an ape doing nothing

Superman never made any money
For saving the world from Solomon Grundy
And sometimes I despair the world will never see another man like him

Dream About The World As One

Oh I've been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one. And I believe it could be, some day it's going to come.

Peace Train - Cat Stevens

Oh I've been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be, some day it's going to come

Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again

Now I've been smiling lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun

Oh peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train
Come on now peace train

Be Content Living Simply

He that is down needs fear no fall. He that is low, no pride.

He That Is Down Needs Fear No Fall - Hymnary

He that is down needs fear no fall;
He that is low, no pride;
He that is humble ever shall
Have God to be his guide.

I am content with what I have,
Little be it or much;
And, Lord, contentment still I crave,
Because thou savest such.

Fulness to such a burden is
That go on pilgrimage;
Here little, and hereafter bliss,
Is best from age to age.

Respect Outsiders And All Groups

People may often do inconsiderate things when they are in groups, and people who strongly affiliate with one group of people may naturally want to harm outsiders who are not in that group.

When good people do bad things - MIT News Office

When people get together in groups, unusual things can happen β€” both good and bad. Groups create important social institutions that an individual could not achieve alone, but there can be a darker side to such alliances: Belonging to a group makes people more likely to harm others outside the group.

In a study that recently went online in the journal NeuroImage, the researchers measured brain activity in a part of the brain involved in thinking about oneself. They found that in some people, this activity was reduced when the subjects participated in a competition as part of a group, compared with when they competed as individuals. Those people were more likely to harm their competitors than people who did not exhibit this decreased brain activity.

Write And Analyze Original Ideas

But if all of that isn't built on your own original ideas and truthful analysis, it doesn't mean anything.

The Whale - Rotten Tomatoes

At this point in the course, I have given you all that I can in terms of structure, building a thesis, paragraph organization. But if all of that isn't built on your own original ideas and truthful analysis, it doesn't mean anything. Think about that, as you write and revise. Think about the truth of your argument.