This is written as a warning to those around me who, whether with a good motive or not, counsel me and when it fails, attempt to coerce me in a particular course of action. This is a statement of the process my mind goes through before embarking on a course of action.
If I do choose to ignore a certain counsel, do not think that I'm ignorant of the realities or risks which accompany this course. I'm not. I consider all counsel given. But in the end, as a free moral agent, depending on the priorities that I've set and the existing conditions, I may or may not choose to follow a certain set of guidelines. In the end, I believe that my actions are between me and my God and between me and the persons affected.
I have differing priority levels for different principles. All of them are weighted differently, some are influenced by circumstances, most are not. They're personal principles dictated by several things, among them firstly, my religion, secondly my familial considerations, thirdly financial and practical considerations. If I've made a decision, then it is the best that I believe it to be at that particular point in time, all other advice to the contrary taken into account.
Do not assume that I'm bloated on my own knowledge and assumptions. That's very very risky ground. When counselled, the first thing I do is question myself and the second is I do my research. If I'm proved clearly wrong then a course change will occur. You can attempt to convince me with additional proof but I do not appreciate coercion.
This declaration also states that I hold myself as ultimately responsible only to God and the agents which I choose. Any normal human has to make judgements at many points in their life. My judgements are guided by various factors but made by me. The consequences are mine to bear. If I choose a certain course, then yes, I am prepared to bear those consequences. Crying over spilt milk is not my thing.
Lastly, I do not have the time or the inclination to deal with such attempts. I will walk away. Don't push me to that. Even if you don't have faith that I'm have taken the right choice, let me assure you that I can turn my back on whatever it is and I can walk away. While that would be a very radical action, ask the select few who know me well, and know that painful radical choices are not something I fear.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda
Food for thought :
Selected Excerpts
from Goebbels Joseph, Nazi Propaganda Chief
Based upon Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda by Leonard W. Doob, published in Public Opinion and Propaganda; A Book of Readings edited for The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.
1. Propagandist must have access to intelligence concerning events and public opinion.
4. Propaganda must affect the enemy's policy and action.
a. By suppressing propagandistically desirable material which can provide the enemy with useful intelligence
b. By openly disseminating propaganda whose content or tone causes the enemy to draw the desired conclusions
c. By goading the enemy into revealing vital information about himself
6. To be perceived, propaganda must evoke the interest of an audience and must be transmitted through an attention-getting communications medium.
7. Credibility alone must determine whether propaganda output should be true or false.
9. Credibility, intelligence, and the possible effects of communicating determine whether materials should be censored.
11. Black rather than white propaganda may be employed when the latter is less credible or produces undesirable effects.
12. Propaganda may be facilitated by leaders with prestige.
13. Propaganda must be carefully timed.
a. The communication must reach the audience ahead of competing propaganda.
b. A propaganda campaign must begin at the optimum moment
c. A propaganda theme must be repeated, but not beyond some point of diminishing effectiveness
14. Propaganda must label events and people with distinctive phrases or slogans.
a. They must evoke desired responses which the audience previously possesses
b. They must be capable of being easily learned
c. They must be utilized again and again, but only in appropriate situations
16. Propaganda to the home front must create an optimum anxiety level.
18. Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of aggression by specifying the targets for hatred.
19. Propaganda cannot immediately affect strong counter-tendencies; instead it must offer some form of action or diversion, or both.
I'm not encouraging propaganda, quite the reverse, listing the characteristics to identify it. One would be surprise how much of "news" and hearsay falls within these category. Drawing the fine line between tolerable bias and propaganda...
Selected Excerpts
from Goebbels Joseph, Nazi Propaganda Chief
Based upon Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda by Leonard W. Doob, published in Public Opinion and Propaganda; A Book of Readings edited for The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.
1. Propagandist must have access to intelligence concerning events and public opinion.
4. Propaganda must affect the enemy's policy and action.
a. By suppressing propagandistically desirable material which can provide the enemy with useful intelligence
b. By openly disseminating propaganda whose content or tone causes the enemy to draw the desired conclusions
c. By goading the enemy into revealing vital information about himself
6. To be perceived, propaganda must evoke the interest of an audience and must be transmitted through an attention-getting communications medium.
7. Credibility alone must determine whether propaganda output should be true or false.
9. Credibility, intelligence, and the possible effects of communicating determine whether materials should be censored.
11. Black rather than white propaganda may be employed when the latter is less credible or produces undesirable effects.
12. Propaganda may be facilitated by leaders with prestige.
13. Propaganda must be carefully timed.
a. The communication must reach the audience ahead of competing propaganda.
b. A propaganda campaign must begin at the optimum moment
c. A propaganda theme must be repeated, but not beyond some point of diminishing effectiveness
14. Propaganda must label events and people with distinctive phrases or slogans.
a. They must evoke desired responses which the audience previously possesses
b. They must be capable of being easily learned
c. They must be utilized again and again, but only in appropriate situations
16. Propaganda to the home front must create an optimum anxiety level.
18. Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of aggression by specifying the targets for hatred.
19. Propaganda cannot immediately affect strong counter-tendencies; instead it must offer some form of action or diversion, or both.
I'm not encouraging propaganda, quite the reverse, listing the characteristics to identify it. One would be surprise how much of "news" and hearsay falls within these category. Drawing the fine line between tolerable bias and propaganda...
Friday, September 22, 2006
Just a Tad too WOWed
When a respected medical expert tells us that a whole bunch of people on one of the most successful MMORPG's in existence is addicted to it, it tends to make eyebrows go up.
Twitch Guru - Expert: 40 % of WOW Players Addicted
However, while it was a wake up call, it shouldn't have come as a huge surprise. Computer addiction has been bandied about for a long time, but it's not until recently that the mainstream started to recognise that it is a problem.
For me it's a tad scary when you seen an acquaintance sleeping in front of his computer, foregoing food and sleep because he's too enthralled in World of Warcraft. For them, their daily conversation revolves around the game they're currently playing. If you're someone who doesn't play the game, try being among a bunch of them who all play the game and see what happens. There's a high likelyhood that once they get started yapping about their online personas and that virtual life, you will be totally and truly lost. Listen to them for awhile however, and you realise the level of immersion involved. They end up planning what they will be doing in the virtual world while they're right here in the real world, to the exclusion of a great number of other things. The truly scary part is when you give it some thought and realise that these people actually end up giving more thought to decisions made in this virtual reality compared to those in real life.
To counter the howl of WOW players (I can hear it even now.) that this is all wild assertion, an examination of addiction is in order. What is addiction? Referring to an article from the Mayo Clinic on drug addiction (accessible below) contrasted with the symptoms of game addiction:
While this is admittedly a hardcore case, quite a few players I know do find a sense of identity and belonging in that world. Ultimately, they allow their interactions within the game itself to shape their perceptions. So what? Well, considering how our perceptions shape our decisions, I'd be worried if my perceptions and views weren't based in the real world. That's where there's a real potential for screwing things up. I doubt I really have to go on.
The really fun part of it all is defining when it turns into addiction. Well for drugs, this is how the Mayo Clinic defines it :
"Drug use or abuse crosses the line into drug addiction when you feel you have to have the drug, and you increase the amount of the drug you take."
Let's take that sentence in the context of game addiction:
Game use/play crosses the line into game addiction when you feel you have to play the game, and you increase the amount of the time spent on the game.
The worrying thing is that these people do not fit into the typical image of a person who is addicted per-se. While the common stereotype of an addict of any kind is a loser in life, someone who can't think for themselves, a visible failure, these new generation of addicts are actually very much so intelligent people with opinions and thoughts of their own. A new generation of games is arriving that is ever more inclusive and immersive, and addictive. While generations of past geek and nerd gamers got addicted on far less immersive two dimensional games and shallow story lines, what happens next when you've a virtual world which is ever more immersive? Draw your own conclusions...
For the piece de resistance, well,
References:
BBC Article - A cause for concern
Mayo Clinic - Symptoms of Drug Addiction
Computer Addiction - Symptoms
Twitch Guru - Expert: 40 % of WOW Players Addicted
However, while it was a wake up call, it shouldn't have come as a huge surprise. Computer addiction has been bandied about for a long time, but it's not until recently that the mainstream started to recognise that it is a problem.
For me it's a tad scary when you seen an acquaintance sleeping in front of his computer, foregoing food and sleep because he's too enthralled in World of Warcraft. For them, their daily conversation revolves around the game they're currently playing. If you're someone who doesn't play the game, try being among a bunch of them who all play the game and see what happens. There's a high likelyhood that once they get started yapping about their online personas and that virtual life, you will be totally and truly lost. Listen to them for awhile however, and you realise the level of immersion involved. They end up planning what they will be doing in the virtual world while they're right here in the real world, to the exclusion of a great number of other things. The truly scary part is when you give it some thought and realise that these people actually end up giving more thought to decisions made in this virtual reality compared to those in real life.
To counter the howl of WOW players (I can hear it even now.) that this is all wild assertion, an examination of addiction is in order. What is addiction? Referring to an article from the Mayo Clinic on drug addiction (accessible below) contrasted with the symptoms of game addiction:
Symptoms include :How many of these match the behaviour of people who are stuck to their computers? I'd dare say 4 out of the 6. The first point is a given, considering that many of these gamer addicts need their daily fix, not getting it can make them moody and disgruntle, even worried about how their virtual alter-ego's are fairing in that world. Even during examination periods, when they're deprived of their fix and under high stress, that's where they turn for release. The second, clearly symptomatic, when someone you know spends RM60 or more a month on WOW reload cards, it's maintenance of supply. The third, when these people try to stop, but after awhile relapse back into it. The fifth, while not as clearly parallel as the upper three is how these virtual addicts tend to use this virtual reality as an escape point. Quoting from one of Dr. Orzacks experiences,
- Feeling that you need the drug regularly and, in some cases, many times a day
- Making certain that you maintain a supply of the drug
- Failing repeatedly in your attempts to stop using the drug
- Doing things to obtain the drug that you normally wouldn't do, such as stealing
- Feeling that you need the drug to deal with your problems
- Driving or doing other activities that place you and others at risk of physical harm when you're under the influence of the drug
- Craving more and more time at the computer
- Feeling empty, depressed, irritable when not at the computer
- Having a sense of well-being or euphoria while at the computer
- Inability to stop the activity
- Lying to employers and family about activities
- Neglect of family and friends
- Problems with school or job
"I asked him what happens when he plays the game: was he simply playing a virtual character or did he feel like he was actually in the game? He told me when he plays, he is in the game completely. He had become immersed in World of Warcraft and had trouble removing himself from that virtual world. I also asked what he expected to find each time he turned on the game, and his answer was a sense of belonging. This individual came from a family that was unfortunately breaking up, and World of Warcraft was his way to escape that. This 18-year-old individual was miserable. He didn't get along with any of his family members and kept withdrawing into the game."
While this is admittedly a hardcore case, quite a few players I know do find a sense of identity and belonging in that world. Ultimately, they allow their interactions within the game itself to shape their perceptions. So what? Well, considering how our perceptions shape our decisions, I'd be worried if my perceptions and views weren't based in the real world. That's where there's a real potential for screwing things up. I doubt I really have to go on.
The really fun part of it all is defining when it turns into addiction. Well for drugs, this is how the Mayo Clinic defines it :
"Drug use or abuse crosses the line into drug addiction when you feel you have to have the drug, and you increase the amount of the drug you take."
Let's take that sentence in the context of game addiction:
Game use/play crosses the line into game addiction when you feel you have to play the game, and you increase the amount of the time spent on the game.
The worrying thing is that these people do not fit into the typical image of a person who is addicted per-se. While the common stereotype of an addict of any kind is a loser in life, someone who can't think for themselves, a visible failure, these new generation of addicts are actually very much so intelligent people with opinions and thoughts of their own. A new generation of games is arriving that is ever more inclusive and immersive, and addictive. While generations of past geek and nerd gamers got addicted on far less immersive two dimensional games and shallow story lines, what happens next when you've a virtual world which is ever more immersive? Draw your own conclusions...
For the piece de resistance, well,
"Physical addiction appears to occur when repeated use of a drug alters reward pathways in your brain. The addicting drug causes physical changes to some nerve cells (neurons) in your brain."has that already started happening to somebody you know? Maybe it is time to sit up and take note...
References:
BBC Article - A cause for concern
Mayo Clinic - Symptoms of Drug Addiction
Computer Addiction - Symptoms
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Freedom Singularity
It was a dark night, a hot night and a boring night. The books were there to be studied, the exams to be faced, and a host of other problems to be dealt with. Sometimes, the soul just needs relief. Freedom so to speak. For that, there is nothing quite like hopping on to a bike. (Bicycle mind you.. my dad would never let me ride a motorbike. But that's another story altogether.)
The feeling to be looked for is that singular melding of man and metal. A point in emotional space and time where you're in total control of every single point around you. One twist of the handle and like an extension of your thought, you go careering off into another direction. A continuum from the last but at the same time a whole new choice. Each cycle of the pedals bring a new response. You feel every bump on the road, every hole, every crack, and instinctively respond.
There is nothing quite like taking a ride to a different dimension of mind and soul altogether. For that, there is nothing quite like a bike ride on a hot night.
The feeling to be looked for is that singular melding of man and metal. A point in emotional space and time where you're in total control of every single point around you. One twist of the handle and like an extension of your thought, you go careering off into another direction. A continuum from the last but at the same time a whole new choice. Each cycle of the pedals bring a new response. You feel every bump on the road, every hole, every crack, and instinctively respond.
There is nothing quite like taking a ride to a different dimension of mind and soul altogether. For that, there is nothing quite like a bike ride on a hot night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)