Intelligent Children?

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Interestingly enough this book has caused a stir regarding the level of intelligence that children really have. I must say for my part I agree with the author's assessment. I think children are smarter than most adults give them credit for. In fact, I merely think of children as little people; for that is who they really are. A lot of people act/talk differently around children "condescending to their level." I, on the other hand, talk differently when I am around adults-adults wear masks-and plainly when I speak to children. I have to craft my words when I talk to adults when I am around children all I have to do is be myself.

I know that I am "grown up," but I don't "feel" grown up. I think/feel the same as when I was a child-child defined as younger than 18yrs old. Adults make such sharp distinctions on what it is to be adult. Drinking coffee, dissociating with children, getting into debt; these are some of the telltale signs of adulthood...I practice none of these (I know these are not the same for everyone but these are my example of why I do not "feel" adult).

And...I am an adult. I can start a sentence with "and" if I want to. "Being an adult is having the ability to make the choice." Well, I had the cognitive ability to make that choice when I was 5-and many other choices growing up.

I'll admit that I have matured, but my theories have not drastically changed. I am still the same creature philosophically and theologically-meaning I see the world through the same eyes as when I was a "child."

More admissions: God has put parents in authority over their children so what they say is right bottom line. Not necessarily right before God, but right for the child to obey w/o a divisive and questioning attitude. There is supposedly a recourse for children to call into question whether the parent's ruling is in accordance with God's law but usually parents make it very difficult to appeal.

My antipathy regarding this entire affair under consideration is the unjust, unfair, and unequal treatment of children. Jesus said "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them" (Matthew 19:14).

I believe that they must learn their place in humanity: as under authority and never autonomous.

I believe that they must learn their place in humanity: persons yet maturing.

Constitution Party

Whether you are a "Constitutionalist," a conspiracy theorist, or you enjoy reading dystopian/utopian sci fi stories on what the future could look like, you must admit that more Government bureaucracy is not good. More involvement in the affairs of the common citizen is bad. If you don't think so think "IRS."

America needs God. This is the work of the church, pastors, church planters, committees, missionaries and evangelists.

America needs its Constitution. This is the work of citizens, Constitutional lawyers, statesmen, and the Constitution Party.

America's Largest "Third Party"

"The Constitution Party (www.constitutionparty.com), the third largest party in the United States measured by voter registrations, is growing fast and is made up of Americans who believe a return to constitutional government is imperative." (Quoted from CP Email Update)

Dystopian Future II?

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Much like 1984, Brave New World is an eerie revelation of what life could be like without the restraint of the Holy Spirit in this world. In fact both accounts detail what may appear to be the undermining of Freedom in America. Not to sound like an alarmist or anything: Wake up, "don't you want to be free?"

Concepts:

Continuous war=War on terror.

Uneducation=Implementation of the "look-say" method of teaching students how to read. "No child left behind."

Conditioning=Government(public) schools

Happiness=Trading our freedoms for "safety."

Big Brother=Patriot Act legalizing internal surveillance to the extent that it does



If I think of more I will update this list.

Something Decent to "Fwd:"

The “ICE” Campaign

Recently, the concept of "ICE" is catching on quickly. It is simple and
important method of contact during emergency situations.

As cell phones are carried by majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or person who should be contacted during an emergency as "ICE" (meaning In Case of Emergency).

The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but he didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose.

Following a disaster in London, the East Anglican Ambulance Service has launched a national "In Case of Emergency (ICE)" campaign. In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital staff would then be able to quickly contact your next of kin, by simply dialing the number stored as "ICE".

Please forward this. It won't take too many "forwards" before every body will know about this. It really could save your life, or put a loved one's mind at rest.

For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc.

A great idea that will make a difference! Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our mobile phones today! Please forward to your all nearest and dearest.

(A decent forwarded email for once; deserves to be read by all.)

Dystopian Future?

Nineteen Eighty-Four By George Orwell

Quotes:

War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength

Big Brother is Watching You

Who controls the past controls the future:
who controls the present controls the past.

Until they become conscious they will never rebel,
and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.

The problem was how to keep the wheels of industry turning
without increasing the real wealth of the world.
Goods must be produced,
but they need not be distributed.
And in practice the only way
of achieving this was by continuous warfare.

The command of the old despotisms was 'Thou shalt not.'
The command of the totalitarians was 'Thou shalt.'
Our command is 'Thou art.'

There are three stages in your reintegration...
There is learning, there is understanding, and there is acceptance.

Newspeak:

Ingsoc

Doublethink

Crimestop

Goodthink

Doubleplusgood Duckspeaker

Oldspeak:

According to the book, "War is Peace," referred to the condition of the state. Through a continuous war, no side would ever gain the advantage placing the citizens at the mercy of a wartime economy. Freedom truly is slavery of a sort. For true liberty to exist we as Americans would be enslaved to "Responsibility." In the book, ignorance of true liberty allows you to survive day to day. Big Brother, oh yeah, we live in a surveillant society.

Ingsoc=English Socialism

Doublethink=To think contradictorily in such a way as to accept anything.

Crimestop=To stop a logical train of thought before it becomes a thought crime.

Goodthink=Thoughts that agree with whatever the powers that be deem is "right."

Doubleplusgood Duckspeaker=Read the book and figure it out for yourself.

Love and Marriage

God created woman for man, saying "It is not good that the man should be alone" (Gen 2:18). In fact a man's true wealth can be seen in his family, for his "wife shall be as a fruitful vine...and [his] children like olive plants" (Psalm 128:3). Additionally, a man that has a family is fulfilling the commission of God to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion...over every living thing that moves on the earth" (Gen 1:28).

Some say that the Bible teaches that it is better that man should be alone for these days are evil, for Paul the Apostle said "I wish all were as I myself am" that is single. But it is clear when it says that "some will depart from the faith...who forbid marriage" (I Timothy 4:1-3). "But if you do marry, you have not sinned" (I Cor 7:28). And that if you, well, have a sex drive then "each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband" (I Cor 7:2). The fact is most people have a sex drive that God put there. Without it, the human race would perish on the earth. The reason Paul made such a statement was that in singleness he could devote himself entirely to ministry. But the truth is that God has not called all to be an apostle/missionary church planter. "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ" (I Cor 12:12). Thus, celibacy is not for everyone. In fact, it is not for the majority to be celibate. In response to the statement "It is better not to marry" (Mt 19:10), Jesus said, "Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given" (Mt 19:11). So the Scripture is clear only some are given by God to be Spiritual Eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom.

What others think

Altogether 36,322 have taken that quiz so far and like a poll it can tell us something about people.

• 37% of the quizzed were labeled interpersonal intelligence (mob/masses)
  
• 15% were intra personal (loners/thinkers)
  
• 14% musical intelligence (left brainers/artsy types)
  
• 11% bodily kinesthetic (hands-on type/brutes)
  
• 8% spatial intelligence (?/!)
  
• 8% linguistic intelligence (writers/speakers)
  
• 4% logical-mathematical (nerds/nerds)

(I inserted the parenthetical comments from what I think these types of intelligence are referring to.)

It would seem from everyday experience that most people really are a part of the crowd. They do not think entirely for themselves. Much of what they believe or 'know' has been told to them by another person who heard it from someone else. They are a part of "the masses". The masses will not stop being the masses either. No amount of education or information will change the way they relate to others and the world around them. Influence gets the masses to move though. Hollywood movies, pop icons, targeted advertising, 'news' media and Federal government (which includes government schools) are the prime movers.

Think about it, no really; don't just accept it because I said it, think about it.

Intelligence

A further development on my previous post is the idea of different types of intelligence. I have seen master memorizers first hand, and they are incredible. I am an analytical intellect. I have some memorizing ability but my strength lies in my ability to put things together and figure out how they work.

Now, I do not take these internet quizzes very often but this one proved interesting enough and validated my thoughts concerning myself ( not that I needed the quiz to prove anything to me). Here it is...

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Intra personal Intelligence
Some people thing you're a loner, but you just like spending time in your own head with your own thoughts. You're attracted to the works of great philosophers. You've got an intense understanding of yourself, and wish other people were as self-aware as you are. The company of others can be a distraction and an irritant sometimes. You learn best when left alone to figure out the problem for yourself. You'd be best suited to a career as an academic, theologian, philosopher, psychiatrist, or writer.

I refer to myself as an analytical intellect, how about you?

Mind Matters

I enjoyed this article so I thought I would share it with any who might read this blog. I have supposed for some time now that we (people in general) give ourselves too little credit for the level of our intelligence. "For I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14).

I have been in the Navy now for about two years. I have successfully completed my training in one of the military's toughest schools, academically. I have observed the intellectual growth of several different types of individuals in a harsh academic environment. I have seen young men and women of average intellect radically change their views of themselves after passing through this program. Before they joined the Navy, most of these individuals would never have considered that they could accomplish this much (what they can now look back on as history). No intellectual field is closed to a majority of these individuals. I, for one, stymied myself from the elite pursuits thinking I could never hack it. But now I realize that I could have...Or is it that after I have completed a year and a half of mental training that I am now ready for any academic pursuit known to man. All that I truly lack is motivation. And for those who have motivation; you can accomplish nearly all that you put your mind to.

I believe that we have larger mental capacities than we think. I think we have more intellectual ability than we will admit. Why would anyone want to be dummed down? With greater knowledge comes greater responsibility. In addition, we don't want to give up cable television. Because if we gave up television and games and such, we would spend our time in intellectual pursuits: classical education, self government (morally and politically), and Christian Theism. For some the intellect is harder to exercise than the body, for others vice versa. We should not neglect the conditioning of either. Although society places such a great emphasis upon our bodies we should place greater emphasis on our minds especially for those of us whose minds are renewed.

"...for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." I Timothy 4:8

A mind is a terrible thing to waste

GARY NORTH'S TIP OF THE WEEK


Gary North's Tip of the Week - January 13, 2007 Brain Training
===============================================================
 After I turned 45, my memory skills began to fade.  I
could not recall things as fast as before.  This is common
at age 45.  Fortunately, the Web has helped me compensate
in my writing.  Wiki is a wonder.

 A recent study reveals that there is a tremendous
payoff for simple mental exercising.  "The Washington Post"
(Dec. 20, 2006) reports on mental exercise vs. physical.

 If anything, the study suggests, there is a
 bigger payoff to mental exercise, because the
 brief training sessions seemed to confer enormous
 benefits as many as five years later. That would
 be as if someone went to the gym Monday through
 Friday for the first two weeks of the new year,
 did no exercise for five years, and still saw
 significant physical benefits in 2012. . . .

 Each of the groups being trained had 10 sessions,
 each lasting an hour to 75 minutes, and each
 session presented progressively more challenging
 problems. Compared with the control group, those
 who got memory training did 75 percent better on
 memory tasks five years later, those who got the
 reasoning training did 40 percent better on
 reasoning tasks, and those who got the speed
 training did 300 percent better than the control
 group.

 The study group was for people age 65 and older.  Some
were in their nineties.

 There was a warning that applies to me.

 To reap the benefits, [Sherri] Willis said,
 people need to get outside their comfort zones.
 For someone who likes to solve crossword puzzles,
 it is important to make sure the puzzles get
 harder with time -- or to start playing chess.
 Someone who hates to play games, she said, should
 find something else that stretches the mind.

          http://snipurl.com/braintrain

 I hate games.  I hate puzzles.  I also hate learning a
new piece of software.  But I'll do the latter if there is
a big enough benefit.  I hope that's enough.

 My tip: Learn a new program this year.  It can be
freeware.  Master it.  Put it to use.

 Then do it again next year.

Gary "Pumping Digits" North

==============================================================
Recent articles posted at www.garynorth.com