What happened with notations over history, especially since the leaving of space between words, is to create a medium which is an aesthetic of deprival – no sound, no movement, no color. What it does is empower propositional thinking. It has driven propositional thinking.- Lanham
Book Knowledge A new idea of the nature of learning is beginning to spread. In a recent conference a Texas a professor discussed the old book-form of learning. This sort of learning is modeled as packages of knowledge and learning, perhaps bound in leather covers, that are digested by readers. The reader consumes the book, page by page, and upon completing states “I have read it.” This means that they have some comprehensive degree of knowledge; the finishing of the book is like the issuing of a diploma.
What will be the greatest challenge to face the Lord’s people in the latter days? Endless persecutions? Violent mobs? The final battle? Consider the words of two prophets. “Every generation has its tests and its chance to stand and prove itself. Would you like to know of one of our toughest tests? Hear the warning words of President Brigham Young, ‘The worst fear I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and His people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell.
We have recently discovered the ability to edit our DVDs, allowing us to remove offensive content and, possibly, add movies to our collections that would otherwise be inappropriate. This has led to some important questions that need to be answered with regards to what you watch, collect, and edit. What really makes a movie bad may not be so simple as a rating letter or the absence of explicit content.
Recent attention has been turned to the evolution of education and the new nature of information. For the first time in the history of the world there is actually an over-abundance of information: it is easy to suffer information overload. With a simple Google search or a trip to the Wikipedia most questions of fact can be quickly and simply answered. However, while the knowledge-base of society is going to grow to sizes never before known, the distinction between knowledge and intelligence – between information and Truth – is going to become simultaneously clearer and more muddling.
This is a continuation of the discussion of Elder Oaks’ “Selfless Service” talk. Here is the original discussion. The post to which this writing is responding is found here. To borrow from Elder Oak’s talk: He who lives only unto himself withers and dies, while he who forgets himself in the service of others grows and blossoms in this life and in eternity. It seems like it is a paradox, but this is only because of the way this was said.
In a recent lecture given at the University of Texas at Dallas (found here) David Parry talked about the way the world of information is going to change. The essence of his discussion was that we are currently following a book pattern of knowledge transmission. The printed book was an outstanding innovation in its time; suddenly, information was no longer relegated to the elite and was no longer solely under the vanguard of scribes and monks.
I have recently found myself in deep pondering upon the nature of Self Interest and whether it is truly a principle aligned with the highest good, as Ayn Rand and Adam Smith contend. One friend helped to define Self Interest with the explanation, “With the understanding that a self-interested act is self-benefiting and enhances your life, then acting against your self-interest is to act against your life. If one consistently acts against his own self-interest, he will die.
A great read with insights into what is happening in technology and the economy. Discussion welcome, more thoughts to come. https://changethis.com/53.01.BeyondFree
What is the divine motive that would drive a celestial economy? In our worldly economy we can find nothing better than competition, which makes a market honest and lets self-interest drive action, when Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand comes into play. Pr. Benson stated that competitiveness is an aspect of pride. Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against God’s. When we direct our pride toward God, it is in the spirit of “my will and not thine be done.