Melting Snow

The Sunday News: Certifiably Insane

Sunday, July 2, 2017

"We are approaching a new age of synthesis. Knowledge cannot be merely a degree or a skill... it demands a broader vision, capabilities in critical thinking and logical deduction without which we cannot have constructive progress."

Li Ka-shing

The Sunday News prompt for "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" 
This week, there was another mass shooting...this time at a concert in a night club in Arkansas  . Coincidentally, earlier this past year the governor of Arkansas signed legislation allowing concealed handguns to be carried in certain venues (including colleges, bars and night clubs, and government buildings). What can be done to prevent these incidents of violence?

Certifiably Insane

The world has gone certifiably insane,
with everyone packing phallic symbols1,
ready to take out anyone
who pisses them off.

What can be done to prevent violence? Stricter background checks will help, but it will not solve the problem. If a person--no matter how angry or insane--wants a weapon they can procure the weapon. There are always greedy people out there whose focus is profit rather then anything else. There are selfish people who care little about anyone else, and who attempt to get even with perceived insults. There are also people who believe that the color of their skin, their political party, or their religion make them better then anyone else in the world and places them above the law. Last there are those who think "that might makes right", so screw the rest of the world.

One thing that might help is critical thinking because critical thinkers depend upon their own search for truth rather then accepting the opinions of their political party or religious leaders. Critical thinking is not innate to every human being, some people need to be educated on the process of critical thinking. Most schools today do not teach critical thinking. Some people learn to use critical thinking as they mature while other people find the process too difficult or they do not use it in every situation.

Footnotes
1  "any object, as a cigar or skyscraper, that may broadly resemble or represent the penis, especially such an object that symbolizes power, as an automobile." http://www.dictionary.com/browse/phallic-symbol