[From Dag Forssell (930424 10.30) Rick Marken (930424.0800)
To me, the PCT solution is very obvious. It sounds simplistic, but
I believe it is fairly accurate to say that:
1) What we perceive depends on what we already understand.
2) What we want depends on what we already understand.
3) And what we do with any error signal depends on what we
already understand.
1A) Certainly, what we are willing to learn depends on what we
already understand. Witness debates on this net.
The issue - the only issue - is information content in individuals.
"Leaders" in the past were quite able to control and direct the
information content in their subjects. That is why Goebbels was so
important to Hitler.
The breakup of the Soviet Union came about largely due to modern
communications and information content, as I understand it. Too
much radio, telephone, faxes, TV and of course perestroika, letting
the genie of information content out of the bottle.
Ignorance - a void of good, tested information is a necessary
requirement for any kind of fanaticism. Unfortunately, there are
lots of ignorant people all over the place. As long as there are,
they will use violence to satisfy their fanatic reference signals.
Ignorance is the rule, not the exception anyway. No-one is capable
of knowing everything. But the hallmark of ignorance is the total
absence of any critical reasoning and desire to test validity of
"facts."
What is the standard of living in the former Yugoslavia? Do they
have a good, impartial newsservice? No! Do they have satellite
dishes so they can pick up 40 different european TV channels? No!
In coming decades, I anticipate that we will see ever more of a
global village in the sense of information availability. Both by
satellite direct TV and with CD rom for computers - one per person
on this earth. With time young people (who by definition are the
ones with an open mind) will choose to adopt tested and validated
information over untested demagoguery of all kinds.
Leaders in the present and in the future will lead by offering
information, just like Hitler. The issue and the difference is in
the quality of the information offered, and in the capability of
individuals to independently pass judgement on that information,
before they adopt it as their own.
The PCT solution is the dissemination of good information -
significantly including the good, tested and validated information
about PCT itself.
Best to all, Dag