This is YOUR Fault
Congratulations, people are taking away my rights and protections and it’s your fault. In this world of technology, we have two types of people, those who use technology and have, at least, a vague understanding of what they are doing and those who use technology and have no clue. Given the sheer volume of clueless people I’ve met, I could make an educated guess as to who you are.
What’s worse, most of you have no idea what you are even losing. Most likely you won’t know until it’s already far FAR too late. By that time, you will be locked out of what could have been by years of red tape and poor administration you let go on.
Let’s take a look at why I say this is your fault. Consider the state of education today. Though some have managed to make it over the hurdles put in front of them, most people fall into the bottomless pit of “it’s too hard.”
Math and science are the coin of the realm. That computer you’re using to read this post was created with math and science. So was your car. So was your TV. So were most of the things you take for granted on a daily basis.
Though math and science are key to making these things work, people often chalk this kind of education up as being too difficult. They opt for ignorance. They say things like “nah, I didn’t learn how to do basic math, who needs that anyway?”
Of course, you don’t need math. Math is for those people that actually need to accomplish things like balancing a checkbook, solving problems and measuring for cooking. Math is for people that need to work on their cars and provide change to customers.
Banks will “balance” your checkbook. If the ATM says you have money, you must, right? Those pesky math problems that come up can be solved with a calculator, right? Measuring and computing portions for a recipe are unnecessary because you just make the batch no matter how huge. That will all fit in your fat ass anyway.
When you don’t understand math you will never understand science. Never. You may think you understand science because you read popular science and watch Discovery, but that isn’t science. That’s someone pulling together discoveries which have already been made so you don’t have to think.
So, what happens when you don’t understand science, but you use technology?
You lose. You have the carpet slowly dragged out from under you and you don’t even know why. Things happen like the FCC hands YOUR rights over to Hollywood and the music industry. You lose control of your identity as companies like Facebook steal your information and forsake your privacy, sharing it with whomever they feel like.
Since you don’t understand the technology you use, and you make no effort to learn, you respond with “so what? It’s not like any of that matters anyway.” Correction, it all matters.
Privacy matters. Rights matter. Your ability to live revolves around your rights and privacy. When you give these up, you give up the ability to live. This kind of thing isn’t going away any time soon, either.
Barbie said “math class is tough,” and “art is fun.” These lessons stick. Math class might be tough and art might be fun, but in the end the roles are actually reversed.
Once you live in the real world, it is the life of the artist that is tough. Artists work longer hours for less pay than anyone else I can think of. Meanwhile, getting a bachelor’s degree in math garners the same respect by many as having a graduate degree in a different discipline.
Moreover, in this world where science is key, and math is the language that scientists speak, you are opting out of communication with the science world. This is not the world of garbage sold as science. Rather this is the world of intelligent inquiry and discovery. You are either in or you are fucked.
By taking the time to educate yourself and care for your rights, you will gain more in your life than you might have imagined. By opting for the easy way out, you will simply cruise through life letting everyone else make decisions for you. Things are falling apart and it is your fault. Do something about it.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by leni lava, Chris. Chris said: New blog post: This is YOUR Fault http://bit.ly/aOUMGH #blogodoom [...]
Dude… that requires independent thinking. Definitely too hard for 99% of the population. That leaves us with 1% that can do it of which the majority appears to have some sort of evil in them.
We’re doomed.