What is wrong with this world...

cosmictotem said:
that there is a well followed weekly line up of Football programming but not a weekly science lecture drawing an equal portion of pageantry and interest? What is wrong with this planet that it would go that way as opposed to the other?

This is more venting at society than question, obviously. But feel free to add your perspective or hypotheses.
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Entertainment stimulates the reward centers in our brain, along with the semi-addictive junk foods and alcohol that generally accompany this indulgence. Science lectures and other programming that requires critical thinking is a much greater demand on our personal resources of time and energy but more significantly, does not immediately offer the same reward for most people.

For many people, watching sports and other forms of entertainment is a form of 'play' while we associate learning anything of some complexity to be 'work'. There might also be a lack of positive learning of the sciences in our public education systems. If science courses are often considered to be 'harder' than learning the arts or social sciences, then this attitude will prevail.

Science programming that 'tells a story' and is also very visual is a relatively new and more engaging way to reach a broader audience. Technology can be of great assistance in addressing this missing link in our collective thinking, though it still remains very challenging to compete with modern entertainment.

We humans are lazy by nature and critical thinking, even about fun and interesting topics, is more work than many care to engage in.
 
In addition to things already said, especially by scheherazade, a factor involved the public choosing sports over science is that scientific knowledge has advanced beyond where a general understanding, like in the lowest common denominator these days, isn't as useful to the average person as it was in the past. A few centuries ago, understanding electrical resistance and DC voltage and current tended to make a person relatively versed in the field of electronics of that time.
 
scheherazade said:
Entertainment stimulates the reward centers in our brain, along with the semi-addictive junk foods and alcohol that generally accompany this indulgence. Science lectures and other programming that requires critical thinking is a much greater demand on our personal resources of time and energy but more significantly, does not immediately offer the same reward for most people.

For many people, watching sports and other forms of entertainment is a form of 'play' while we associate learning anything of some complexity to be 'work'. There might also be a lack of positive learning of the sciences in our public education systems. If science courses are often considered to be 'harder' than learning the arts or social sciences, then this attitude will prevail.

Science programming that 'tells a story' and is also very visual is a relatively new and more engaging way to reach a broader audience. Technology can be of great assistance in addressing this missing link in our collective thinking, though it still remains very challenging to compete with modern entertainment.

We humans are lazy by nature and critical thinking, even about fun and interesting topics, is more work than many care to engage in.
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Several people, including 1 of my brothers, told me it hurts to think.
 
The media makes its money by selling advertising. Programming is designed to get an audience, who then has to sit and watch adds. It is easier to sell adds and peddle products to people, if they are less critical and cynical about marketing manipulation; critical thinking skills.

The media needs to do their part beyond just posting ads. They need to help condition people to be receptive to dubious reality, to allow themselves to be stimulated in a passive way. Football is exciting, with you not having to do anything, but sit and watch. I like to watch football because it is stimulating with ups and downs of emotion if your team is playing a close game.

There is a sex analogy to all this. Entertainment and ads are analogous to having the audience lying on the bottom, passively, being done by these top men. The bottom person will ooh and ahh without having to do anything. Education is more active and requires you be on the top, reacting, changing speed and rhythm to stay ahead of the action. Ads directly appeal to sexuality and/or insecurities, with marketeers needing to be the top man and you the passive gal, in a symbolic sense.

Most of the main stream media tend to support the Democratic party. The democrats are more feminized and appeal more to emotions more to logic. This is like the foreplay that makes the job of media and marketeers easier. Money is the real connection, not common ideals. If people got used to more analysis based on data and logic, they will expect these things from the ads. A mascot or jingle will not be enough. This makes it harder to sell, since you can't have two top men without an intellectual fight.
 
wellwisher said:
There is a sex analogy to all this. Entertainment and ads are analogous to having the audience lying on the bottom, passively, being done by these top men. The bottom person will ooh and ahh without having to do anything. Education is more active and requires you be on the top, reacting, changing speed and rhythm to stay ahead of the action. Ads directly appeal to sexuality and/or insecurities, with marketeers needing to be the top man and you the passive gal, in a symbolic sense.
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I think I need a cigarette.

A number of posters in this thread have hit upon the idea that watching sports is passive or takes less intellectual "work" than watching a science lecture.

But I don't see it that way. I can sit and passively watch a science lecture, falling in and out of attention, and enjoy tidbits here and there without getting too wrapped up with trying to understand everything all the time. That is because I don't watch or attend lectures for school so there is no pressure on me to remember anything or take notes or worry about a test or report. I literally watch science lectures just to enjoy the revealing of new bits of knowledge.

So it is a very passive and relaxed activity for me.
 
Enmos said:
Perhaps you meant to say: "What's wrong with (some) people."
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Is it safe to say that science material is not at the forefront of any society's list of intellectual consumables? So, in that context, I would say yes, the world.
 
cosmictotem said:
Is it safe to say that science material is not at the forefront of any society's list of intellectual consumables? So, in that context, I would say yes, the world.
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The world:

earth_2779014b.jpg



People:
free-toolbox.jpg
 
Enmos,

I tried to check out your webpage linked to on your profile page and received the following warning:

"Reported Attack Page!

This web page at [removed] has been reported as an attack page and has been blocked based on your security preferences.

Attack pages try to install programs that steal private information, use your computer to attack others, or damage your system.

Some attack pages intentionally distribute harmful software, but many are compromised without the knowledge or permission of their owners."

Not to distract from the current exchange on my use of the word "world" but would you care to tell what that's all about?
 
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scheherazade said:
Entertainment stimulates the reward centers in our brain, along with the semi-addictive junk foods and alcohol that generally accompany this indulgence. Science lectures and other programming that requires critical thinking is a much greater demand on our personal resources of time and energy but more significantly, does not immediately offer the same reward for most people.

For many people, watching sports and other forms of entertainment is a form of 'play' while we associate learning anything of some complexity to be 'work'. There might also be a lack of positive learning of the sciences in our public education systems. If science courses are often considered to be 'harder' than learning the arts or social sciences, then this attitude will prevail.

Science programming that 'tells a story' and is also very visual is a relatively new and more engaging way to reach a broader audience. Technology can be of great assistance in addressing this missing link in our collective thinking, though it still remains very challenging to compete with modern entertainment.

We humans are lazy by nature and critical thinking, even about fun and interesting topics, is more work than many care to engage in.
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I once knew two middle-aged women who were attending community college to better themselves. They were required to take a statistics course. So one evening their homework required that they roll a die, two dice, three dice, etc, and record the results. They were bitching and moaning as they performed the tedium. Statistics seemed the low point in their continuing college education to them. The next night, as they often did, they sat playing Yahtzee - enjoying themselves tremendously. o_O
 
cosmictotem said:
Enmos,

I tried to check out your webpage linked to on your profile page and received the following warning:

"Reported Attack Page!

This web page at [removed] has been reported as an attack page and has been blocked based on your security preferences.

Attack pages try to install programs that steal private information, use your computer to attack others, or damage your system.

Some attack pages intentionally distribute harmful software, but many are compromised without the knowledge or permission of their owners."

Not to distract from the current exchange on my use of the word "world" but would you care to tell what that's all about?
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Still? Thanks for reporting that. The website is gone so there is no threat. My website kept getting hacked into (inserted links to other websites much like the commercial spam you see on this website) so I finally deleted it. I told google to remove the threat warning since the website is gone. Surprised to hear that they did not...
If you don't mind I'll remove the name of my website from your post (and I'll remove the link from my profile).
 
cosmictotem said:
that there is a well followed weekly line up of Football programming but not a weekly science lecture drawing an equal portion of pageantry and interest? What is wrong with this planet that it would go that way as opposed to the other?
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The West, is not the World.

Travel to other countries and see the difference in lifestyle you have been missing.
 
cosmictotem said:
That's another one that I don't get. The inmates are controlling the asylum. How are the smart ones and the science "aware" not controlling the planet?
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Maybe they aren't sitting around watching television? :) Also, most scientific TV programming is pretty basic for anyone who is already scientifically literate.

You can find all of that level of scientific programming already on YouTube (and other places).
 
Seattle said:
Maybe they aren't sitting around watching television? :) Also, most scientific TV programming is pretty basic for anyone who is already scientifically literate.

You can find all of that level of scientific programming already on YouTube (and other places).
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To your TV programming statement , agreed , and I'm tired of it

I'm fed up with a doc. telling me that a female lion hunts and that a polar bear is white

We have become ...........simple
 
I got fed up with documentaries when they spent in one what seemed like five whole minutes of some guy dressed as Ptolemy with special effects and graphics whizzing around him to explain his geocentric theory, followed by seemingly five more similar minutes about Copernicus. All right already! We get it!
 
scheherazade said:
Entertainment stimulates the reward centers in our brain, along with the semi-addictive junk foods and alcohol that generally accompany this indulgence. Science lectures and other programming that requires critical thinking is a much greater demand on our personal resources of time and energy but more significantly, does not immediately offer the same reward for most people.

For many people, watching sports and other forms of entertainment is a form of 'play' while we associate learning anything of some complexity to be 'work'. There might also be a lack of positive learning of the sciences in our public education systems. If science courses are often considered to be 'harder' than learning the arts or social sciences, then this attitude will prevail.

Science programming that 'tells a story' and is also very visual is a relatively new and more engaging way to reach a broader audience. Technology can be of great assistance in addressing this missing link in our collective thinking, though it still remains very challenging to compete with modern entertainment.

We humans are lazy by nature and critical thinking, even about fun and interesting topics, is more work than many care to engage in.
Click to expand...
All true but not the basic problem - a reflection of it. We want to consume all we can now, not save for a better tomorrow - That is what working hard for a useful education really is: Saving or "investing in your self" - not pending all your time for current pleasure. There are plenty of high skill jobs with no one filling them.

Also "education" includes development of your physical skills - ride a bike, rock climb, swim, sail a boat, build a "tree house," cut the grass without gasoline; any physical activity instead of only "elbow bending" as you lift another beer in front of the NFL game on TV.
Here is my war plan on how to destroy any nation: Make sure all its people have a TV.
 
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