What is the most powerful but under-appreciated way we can shape the future?

Question

What do we overlook as a resource or solution for shaping a better future? Is there something we have lost sight of? Some solution that can serve other purposes? Give us your thoughts!

Answer 1

There's only one way to reshape the future. It's the one almost no one talks about in the U.S.

"Admit that without a definition that is categorizing in level--based upon the 5--6 internal prioritized essentials of what makes something normative as what it is--then by definition lacking such a tool, any man knows too little--attitudes, opinions, myths and guesses will be all he has."

Why is scientific definition--of how natural things work and of how man-made things are created--so vital?

Simple.  It's the key to HONESTY.  About when you really know something and when you really don't--you and everyone else. Nobody asked you how much you know.  Honesty is about knowing when you know and admitting when you don't. It's that simple.

This honesty I say is what's missing in the U.S. from top to bottom. I once heard a 12 year old in a movie theater ask his friend how he'd liked the movie.  The reply was, "I didn't understand much of it--it was cool."  If I couldn't understand a movie, I'd leave, dislike it or go have my brain checked for needed repairs.

I once spent ten minutes explaining to someone with an MA why you need a scientists' definition of fiction and of what a movie is in order to be absolutely certain if any movie you study is really good or it isn't.  Her reply after all I'd said was, "Well, I like such and such a series."...

Knowing how to make this sort of definition IS Education! "Education"...It's what you were supposed to learn how to do between ages 8--12 in school, in place of using appearances, after you'd learned enough proto-English to get by, shop math and a second language starting at age six.

This has to be the basis of standards-based evaluations, legal definitions, job descriptions, critical thinking, science, the humanities, marketplaces, elections and appointments, buying and selling, hiring and getting promoted for ability--of every limited contract of partnership and human being ever signs with another adult.

This is the only way to have a meaningful meeting of two minds.

And this is almost completely missing in the United States--that's why we invariably rate 20th out of 23 in every meaningful international test of education, learning, intelligence, civil rights and national sanity.

That's why all the voucher teaching experiments have been hideous and stupid failures, like the hundreds of millions of waste in the Bush anti-educational nonsense.

It's why we have no marketplace of jobs, no justice available to individuals, no categorical equality of rights, no market wherein we can buy and pay for television programs, no justice in the humanities, a blighted academia, no meaningful news or non-fiction.

The lack of this form of definition is why our non-fictional elitists refuse to differentiate between reality and their own demented pipe dreams--

between attested facts and myths,

between standards-based evaluations and mere attitudes, between full scientific proofs presented in sequence and discontexted beliefs shouted loudly for unknown reasons

by ignoramuses.

The first ways of presenting evidence just listed entitle someone to use words such as it's a fact that , I know, good, bad, excellent, terrible, think, proven, etc.--rather than just what in my opinion  they must be restricted to using--terms such as I feel, in my opinion, I guess, I like it better or worse, I believe, etc.

Until we have a regulated marketplace of non-fictional presentations--comprising headlines, advertisements, electioneering, criticism, evaluation, teaching, text writing, TV, movies, radio and all--we can never have a country.

Our Founding Fathers knew this.

That's why they talked about an "informed electorate" and wanted schooling until 12 but for everyone, with guided instruction only and some work after that.

Until we do have such a regulated marketplace of ideas, none of the other marketplaces I mentioned--goods and services, hiring and leadership, elective and appointive office holding--will amount to a hill of beans.  

We'll just continue to sink lower and lower into worse and worse levels of totalitarian benevolent government; and all the while we'll be told by our gatekeeper--monitor--boss---thug tsars in every field of thought and endeavor,  "Somehow this always works, to make us the greatest country that ever was--just ask our infallible leader, the pseudo-theocratic would-be caesar himself!"

Learn or die.  The category is missing from our schools, colleges, media, election, legal system and humanities and science.  Until you see it in place--nothing can ever be made better.  Because it alone is the building block of all human creation--it's knowledge in its atomic form; the foundation of all true institutions, achievements, contract signings, relationships and Constitutional adequacies.

And it's gone MISSING!

Answer 2

We need more free children's libraries staffed with competent, caring, properly trained people.

Answer 3

Yes- Making our own neighborhoods and communities safe, beautiful, friendly, tolerant, cared for, functional and environmentally conscious.  If every single person in America got to know their own neighbors and did two hours of work each week in their own area to help make it a better place to live, then ALL of America would be all right. People would be sharing garden foods they grew, they would be helping each other fix things by sharing tools knowledge time and work. If neighbors knew that someone needed food or assitance, they could get together and help out, share what they have, baby sit, take an older person to the store or shop for them etc.

It's not about just helping people on the other side of the planet. There are people who need help very near each of us. Last winter-here in Mid Michigan- a homeless man died in a small park that was four blocks from my house in a beautiful college town neighborhood. He froze to death overnight out there. No one knew he was there until he was found. THAT is a tragedy.  Think Global. Act Local.

Answer 4

Being nice to people. Every day I come across rude people, and in return I am nice. People are full of worry, full of spite, full of regret, full of indifference toward others. Eventually it will eat them away as a person, and their hatred spreads.  

Even just saying hello and a smile. No matter what your day is, no matter who you're mad at, no matter what eats you up inside - just smile at other people around you. Niceness goes much farther than hatred.

On a save the earth note - I am a member of freecycle.org - I give away my childrens' clothes and toys that they no longer need/want, and sometimes we get wonderful things from other members.  I not only know that I can help other needy families, but I also know that I can save the landfills.

Answer 5

Going vegan.

Answer 6

Reducing pollution and recycling, it's simple, yet we ignore it...

Answer 7

by having children and being good parents to them.

Answer 8

being an available, plugged in parent to our children would be the best start.

Answer 9

our children....duh

Answer 10

i would say that what we-especially you and i-have overlooked as a resource for shaping a better future,is that

(theory) of Darwinism.

Everyone knows what it means(including us),but do we know

how its shaping-the-future.

And we have seemingly lost site of the fact that this educational tool- currently in use- is just one of many

alternatives;i mean other equally better future mass tools,

for example(and i know that they are rare) Spencer-ism

(when darwinism was discovered,so too did herbert

Spencer rival it).

Darwinism,even as you and i have been educated in it,will

never go away quickly.This is because too many people

rely on it;they work with it and they dont need any alternative.

But their children might well;even their children's children.

So we should take heed and explore the consequences of

  any better theory;consequences not just for those in education but for those outside the confines of that system

too.

Answer 11

I would actually say marriage/family.  People are so flip and careless about getting married and divorced these days.  We are setting horrible examples for our future, which is our children.  

As the family goes, so goes the nation.

Answer 12

Frame of mind.  You don't have to agree with another person, you don't even have to like them.  Just have to respect their way of life no matter how different and evil it may seem.  

Go back in time and assassinate albert einstien, god bless his soul the genious, but I would rather burn coals than burn bodies.

Answer 13

Discipline your kids! Notice how statistically Asians do the best on SATS and in school because they typically are disciplined.

It covers EVERYTHING! For example more discipline = less crime. More discipline = Better Education.

Answer 14

learn and teach

Answer 15

KNOW YOUR PSYCHOPATHS!  No joke, here.  A good introduction is the book, "Without Conscience: the Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us" by Robert D. Hare.  While we usually think of the term in connection with murderers, the affliction is more general and many of these people wander among us destroying families, careers, self-confidence--and they do it without a care in the world and never even get close to committing a crime.  While the murderers are a concern, these others are the subcriminal psychopaths.  They cannot feel emotions like the rest of us, so they are undisturbed by conscience.  They simply can't relate to the pain they cause others.  In addition, they are narcissists--the only thing worth worshipping is themselves and don't ever try to tell them otherwise.  Mainly because they are great liars and actors, so there's no point.  At one time there was an attempt to teach criminal psychopaths the behavior that civilized society expected of them and it backfired.  It made them more dangerous because it taught them how to be even more undetectable.  Hare points out that they are emotion blind, in the same sense that one can be colorblind or tone deaf.  So they are capable of doing things that would turn a normal person's stomach, but they feel nothing and can't identify with whatever pain they cause their victims.

I've had to deal with one for years in the workplace.  The department I work in could be so much more productive and so much more stress free, except for him.  The problem is, he plays people against each other and he is a superb actor--coming off as refined and knowledgable when he has in fact crippled that department.  He is the architect of one person's incompetence simply by reassuring him that his work is good enough.  He's damaged another by reassuring him that there's nothing wrong with him when in fact he desperately needs psychiatric help.

How many times must we read of a business executive who will serve a few years in prison, while hundreds of employees have lost their retirement because of him?  Psychopath.  He doesn't care or he wouldn't have gone down that path in the first place.  Don't forget that the BTK killer (Dennis Rader) was on the church council, worked with a scout troop, was married and had two kids.  He killed at least ten people over thirty years.  But even if they never kill, even if they never break any laws, they make life miserable for those around them.

Answer 16

I think we've lost site of the ability for people to get by without technology. We've lost sight of simplicity, or if you're like me, you've never experienced simplicity in the way that, for example, the Amish experience it on a day-to-day basis. That's my two-cents, apart from shaping the future out of Play-Doh or Silly Putty.

Answer 17

I think the internet itself is very  much underestimated in its ability to shape our future.  have a child with a learning problem?  go to starfall,com   Want to compare news we here here with news from other nations?  Newsboy.com.  Wonder whether global warming is true or not?  Union of Concerned Scientists.

perhaps you want to know if you can trust a new boy friend or spouse - handwriting wizard.com

for that matter, have a question you want opinions on, yahoo answers.  The internet can be used to view p**n but it can also be used to start or sign petitions to change the world we live in or learn what needs to be changed but I think it is very much under-appreciated for the life changing things it can be used for

Answer 18

Helping out people immediately near to us (physically or emotionally).  We often think that in order to have an impact on the world, things must be done on a grand scale --- and this can often have the undesired result of making people less likely to try, making them view all "obvious" solutions with some hint of despair because it can seem so hard to affect change on such a large scale, or making them offload the responsibility of shaping the future on to our designated leaders because we think that only they have the power to bring about great change.

However, there is great power in helping those right next to you.  If everyone did a little bit of that, we'd reach everyone in the world almost instantaneously. Think about how colonies of ants work together by helping their most immediate neighbors.  Individually the responsibilities are much smaller than having to worry about the whole group, but when viewed from high above by us humans, their collective effort is completely obvious and often overwhelming in its power.

Answer 19

Dear Poster,

You can always learn more by listening to others. This is important because if we just put enough time to keep our mouth shut just long enough to listen to what someone else has to say then we can know exactly how to respond.

Sincerely,

Mike

Answer 20

This might seem mean but it is real: stop population growth.

Answer 21

Reading as many non-fiction books as we can.

Answer 22

Donation of profits made off of recycled goods can influence the future in ways that are both anti poverty and environmentally friendly.

Answer 23

each one, teaching one!

Answer 24

Take care of the enviroment! Care for all wildlife and Never leave a suffering animal on the road! This will help our world become a better place. This world needs us to help it become a better planet! Always take care of wildlife and pick up any fallin rubbish. Thank you

Answer 25

How about the simple stuff.  Raise our kids right, teach them right from wrong, and give them a sense of respect.

Answer 26

Raise responsible children!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Focus on your children's education not their extra curricular activities. Stop spoiling them and raise them to be creative thinkers who can handle both responsibility and disappointment. Don't give them the answers make them seek them out. Stop fighting the schools (if your child is slower it benefits your child to be in a class that teaches at his level, I know Mommy and Daddy have a hurt ego through this but they are failing their children and everyones elses by insisting that their child be in a more advanced level than he can handle.) If your child fails in school reteach him. Don't go raise h**l and threaten lawsuits until your child gets a A they were incapable of earning themselves.

Our children are our future. We have to educate them as well as teaching them how to think for themselves. They are our only TRUE resource.

Answer 27

Drug test for all people on welfare.  Lower taxes.  Lower taxes. Lower taxes. Lower taxes.

Answer 28

To get in your head that you do not live in a country alone, but with a lot of people.

and to live in society means leaving with all of humanity and not just your neighbors.

Answer 29

PRAYERS, PRAYERS AND MORE PRAYERS WITH LOVE & RESPECT FOR OUR FELLOWMEN.

Answer 30

Make people that earn under a certain amount of money to not  pay taxes. I mean if it is less than $200 for the week.

Answer 31

The most powerful, and most certainly under-appreciated way to shape the future in a positive way is the exercise of thoughtful, personal integrity.