Bill O'Reilly and the Potty-Mouthed Eight-Year-Old Girl

[Typhoid]

Originally Posted by Professor S

Listening to what others have to say can help strengthen your own opinion or better yet, help change your opinion for the better once you've thought about a topic from a new light. The point is to LISTEN and THINK before allowing it to help shape your thoughts. Those are two activities that one can never do too much.

I was meaning strictly people in a media position, not just "regular" people.
Like, people put more stock and credability in someone, just because they are on TV, forgetting that they can be on TV for various reasons, and that can falsly influence people with really...really bad advice and outlooks. IE: Ann Coulter.

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by Typhoid

I was meaning strictly people in a media position, not just "regular" people.
Like, people put more stock and credability in someone, just because they are on TV, forgetting that they can be on TV for various reasons, and that can falsly influence people with really...really bad advice and outlooks. IE: Ann Coulter.

I totally agree with that. Many people let others determine their opinion, simply because its easier than thinking about it. But don't think that this only takes place in the media. Just look to our schools and universities to see endoctrination replace education.

I have a education certification from a highly regarded school in that field; a school that had Sociological Foundations of Education as a required course. That sounds wonderful, until you realize that most of the course covered the writings of Karl Marx and the benefits of his theories. Many people in my class took his word as absolute truth.

The man had a doctorate and was immensely intelligent, yet I did not agree with most of his theories. Still, I listened to him and learned a lot about topics I never learned about before. I did not simply accept his opinion, but I can't deny that his opinions and materials changed the way I thought about Marx and education.

Allowing others to help shape your opinions is not the same as becoming a sheep, but one can become one if they stop thinking and allow others to do it for them.

[Typhoid]

Originally Posted by Professor S

I totally agree with that.

...'but'?

[manasecret]

Originally Posted by Professor S

I totally agree with that.

I thought I saw Satan skating to work today.

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by manasecret

I thought I saw Satan skating to work today.

Now that was funny

Typhoid and I are not political parties. I'm not going to disagree with him simply because he is Typhoid. I disagree with many of his ideas and questionable methods in which he supports them, but I don't just disregard anything he says because he is Typhoid.

If we see eye to eye on something, the admission of that is not a sign of weakness, its simply stating the truth. The exchange of ideas is not a debate in which you are competing with arguments. Ideas can be heated and strongly felt, but they are not exclusive or infallible.

The exclusivity and infallibility of ideas is called Idealism, which is a dangerous and intelelctually stagnating mindset.

[manasecret]

Originally Posted by Professor S

Now that was funny

Typhoid and I are not political parties. I'm not going to disagree with him simply because he is Typhoid. I disagree with many of his ideas and questionable methods in which he supports them, but I don't just disregard anything he says because he is Typhoid.

If we see eye to eye on something, the admission of that is not a sign of weakness, its simply stating the truth. The exchange of ideas is not a debate in which you are competing with arguments. Ideas can be heated and strongly felt, but they are not exclusive or infallible.

The exclusivity and infallibility of ideas is called Idealism, which is a dangerous and intelelctually stagnating mindset.

I don't agree with that...

I know all of this of course. Still, it's nice to read what we all perhaps take for granted in our minds put down into explicit words.