AraiBob

Pathfinder, You are not alone in your 'wonderings'. The old way of putting it? "What is my purpose in life?" I had a 37 year career in computers, and enjoyed it a lot. But some of those I worked with hated the job they had, but would not quit because of the money. I tried to tell them, quit. Do something you enjoy. The longer you do what you enjoy, the more likely you will earn. As you get better and 'famous' people will show their appreciation for whatever you decided was the thing for YOU to do. Because those people hated the work they were supposed to be doing, they were not very good at it. Just good enough to not get fired? Is this a case of 'confidence'? In that case, nothing I, or anyone else, can say will 'give' you the confidence. It helps if you do something you like. Painting? carpentry? farming? whatever it is you like and enjoy. Take pride in that...

I saw another report and video related to the concern of nations over the lack of children. This is true for Japan, North America, and Northern Europe. What do they have in common? I wonder if what they have in common is the men are being 'put upon' by the women of those nations. A. Work... Japan's men work awful hours. Hard to be romantic after another 14 hour day. Is this similar to American and European workers? B. Respect by women. I cannot speak for Japan, but North America (especially US) and Northern Europe seem to have an idea that men should be blamed for everything, should be robbed of their money and dignity, and so on. So, I ask you, just how 'fertile' would you be? If you knew that a date, and an unplanned pregnancy could mean financial ruin. I get the idea that those women don't understand their hostile attitude is causing more than one physical reaction in men. Even those married men, who are supposed to live longer than bachelors? The stress of being accused of 'this or that' can lead to less conversation, and less sex. I won't go on, but the side effects of 'social abuse' are real, and in this case, measurable in a way that seems humorous... Best Regards, AraiBob

"Practical Implication"? How about all the false news and propaganda on social media? If you believe any of that, you will be handicapped in making good decisions. There is the notion that 'snow-flakes' are somehow low IQ? I think they have bought into the 'narrative', the false narrative, and have not, yet, figured out the true facts. And as long as they 'believe their own propaganda', they won't be able to make good decisions. I saw a movie yesterday... Perhaps it might help... The Celestine Prophecy (2006) << IQ, by itself, is not enough. Data, real and factual data, plus..

In the many confusions on many topics, is this one, God or gods. The clues are carefully hidden, but once in a while we get a story that fits our own discoveries. Zecharia Sitchin found stories in the ancient Sumerian baked clay tablets. That spoke of gods coming from 'on high'. Who created humans as a 'dumb work force', and so on. What is really interesting is the amazing amount of evidence supporting those stories. Evidence that is deliberately ignored or mis-characterized. Humanity does not want to know or remember these things. And it is likely those gods are still here, out of sight, but in charge. Start with his first book, "The 12th Planet". He describes the conditions of Uranus and Neptune years before a fly by space ship of ours and was accurate. His description came from those baked clay tablets. We don't know the purposes of those gods, today, but history is a good guide. War after war? economic looting, decade after decade? I found a movie that might provide another view of 'gods'... "Jupiter Ascending (2015)" what they propose is we are just another 'line item' for an industrial complex, managing us like cattle. Pay attention to those 'asides'.

Great Depression, What You Didn't Learn in School - Part 1 thru part 4 found in youtube

Hello, In my experience a 'high IQ' does not mean 'good decisions'. One of the abilities of a high intelligence is to hold contradictory ideas in the head, in order to contrast or to understand. But if the information is incomplete, the conclusion is often not correct. And we live in a world-wide lack of education and honest information. If you really want to know something, you have to work at learning, a LOT. Use resources 'others' won't, and to consider ideas that are NOT politically correct. Then, it helps to be a bit intuitive, to help you consider notions, for which you then get evidence for. Only then can anyone, of any IQ, make good decisions. And too many people are 'fixed' on the next social event, football game, dance, and so on. It takes a real and honest effort to find real information, which is difficult to do when you have a full-time job, with a family to take care of. The 'adult education' ends up too far down the list.

Hello, A good topic, but without real information difficult to come up with a plan or response. I found this video to be very helpful: Great Depression, What You Didn't Learn in School - Part 1 and there are 4 parts. The 'education' we received omitted a lot of this stuff. Be paranoid. They are really out to get you...

OFD, Regarding the issue of iron in concrete. One of the issue is the difference in reaction to heat and cold. This difference ends up with cavities in the structure. Where O2 and H20 can do its work to rust the iron, This rust puts pressure on the concrete and will crack the concrete. Does not happen overnight. But the end result is real and inevitable. The best alternative, today, is to use Basalt 're-bar', same coefficient as concrete (the heat vs cold), does not ever rust, and so on. Likely to last hundreds of years. I thought it interesting there is a dome in Rome that is still strong after 2000 years, and has NO iron in it. AraiBob

Hi, Let me describe it another way. Me and a friend were bar hopping, looking for girls. At the first place we went, I ordered a beer, as did he. He proceeded to drink his. I let mine sit. As we started to leave, he said "You did not drink your beer!" I said, "I have to buy it. I don't have to drink it." My point is that as long as I am allowed to ignore those speaking and saying things I am not interested in, let them speak. But if I am forced to stop, salute, listen and agree? Nope. Not going to happen. If they expect the 'right' to speak, they need to respect my right to "Not Listen'.

Hello, The 'act' allowing the taxation of income was written and published. However, as an amendment to the constitution, it was NEVER ratified by the states. That means when they 'implemented' this bad idea, all those involved were violating the constitution. SO, how to get rid of it? I don't know. Lots of people over the years have pointed out this problem, yet they continue to intimidate and imprison those who don't.

GatoVillano, In my own puzzles of history, I wondered at the differences, also. The people writing the constitution were mostly British, and some were minor royalty. Yet, they came up with ideas that we still find helpful, even if they have been mostly ignored. First, we do NOT live in a democracy. They were very careful about that, and called it a 'republic'. That one word could mean a lot of things, but the emphasis was on individual rights. As the writers were a minority, they did NOT want the 'general population' telling them what they could or could not do. Further, based on history, they decided they NEVER wanted Royalty to be in charge, and to never allow clergy to be in charge. Both of them have inherent faults that have to be overcome by extraordinary efforts by the leaders. Better to not give them the chance. And yet, they allowed a LOT of diversity. How? By allowing the states to be almost completely free of a national government. As long as they honored the Constitution rules, They could try out a lot of ideas. If those ideas had merit, then other states would accept them. If enough states liked it, it might be time for an addition to the national constitution. However, over time this method was bypassed. The Federal Reserve is one of those bypasses that caused a lot of troubles, of which we are living in. And the 'amendment' related to income taxes, was written, but was NEVER ratified by the states. It was implemented, but is an illegal 'enterprise' since it began. So, the debate of the last few years? Socialism? The constitution allows individual states to explore this idea. However, like any 'ism' they demand that ALL participate. One of the most 'famous' in this regard is California. Not the only state, but the loudest. And they are demanding ideas and taxes that other nations have tried, and have failed. Most famous, today, is Venezuela. Under the notions of those founders, if California wants to demonstrate why those ideas don't work, that is ok. But to demand the nation follow? Not so good. Worse, they expect the rest of the nation to pay for their ideas. And that is exactly what happened with ObamaCare. An imposed system, unproven and unwieldy, and today we know it failed. And instead of going back to what worked (perhaps what was around in 1950?). those in congress are attempting to re-write what was a bad idea. So the mess continues. I would like to say they are making a mistake. But they way they are doing things? makes me think of a deliberate action to force another thing that will fail upon the US.

Hello, I retired from "IT" after 37 years, and for the most part, enjoyed the experience. I got an AAS in Computer Science in 1970, and it was 10 years before I met another programmer with such a degree. Most programmers I met had a bachelors degree in English, History, and other such topics. By the 1990s, if you did not have the correct bachelors degree, or certification, you were likely to not be hired. Only my experience allowed me to continue working. Today, I see a lot of schools 'touting' computer classes for this, or for that, and almost none of it has to do with programming, systems analysis, data bases, and so on. Have you heard the saying about computer projects? I first saw it in an article in a magazine about 1979. It said that two-thirds of all projects failed. Either late and / or went over the estimate of costs. 66% of IT projects failing. Yet, my projects succeeded. I eventually figured out why? I grew up in the construction world, and my father taught me how to determine the bidding of a project, and how to manage the 'trades', and a bunch more things. When I was studying the computer languages, almost nothing was mentioned of project design or project architecture. So, when I was given a project, I used the construction model, and it worked. I continued using that model for the rest of my career, and the only time a failure happened? when people lied... IN my career I used at least 3 dozen programming languages, and so on. But it turned out my 'real talent'? was project design and project architecture. My early projects were often criticized as missing some required thing that I knew was not required, for the task at hand. What I noticed was they had a kind of spreadsheet model and used it, regardless of what steps in that model were completely unnecessary. Further, I made small projects. I made 4 small projects of 300,000USD each, instead of one project of 1.3 million USD. I found smaller projects tended to succeed, where large projects tended to fail. And often did work that was not necessary. About 1993, I was asked to write a paper identifying what I was doing different from the others around me. Since I did not know what they did (I ignored what I knew did not work), it took a year to write. And nowhere in that document did I describe the construction model I was following. Apparently it was good enough to the management that they gave me larger projects... And complaints by other managers that I had forgotten something important? Were ignored by senior management as they liked the results and the relatively low price of my projects.

Hi, I was a good 'student' in my days in school. Believed almost every thing stated. But I had 'puzzles'. One thing I noticed was almost everything I heard was called a 'theory'. What happened to 'fact'? And eventually, I was 'driven' to question gravity, when there are other 'notions' that could answer the question. The Electric Universe idea seems to counter a lot of the 'gravity' notions. So what happened to me? As a practicing Programmer and systems analyst? I had to deal with 'facts' not 'theory'. And over time began to suspect anything called a theory. I remember in the 1960s scientific inquiry about the weather concluded that in the 'near future' [Approx 2030?] we would be in another ice age, perhaps a small one? So, when I heard in the late 1990s the notion of global warming, I wondered what the heck was going on. And in response to those 'pushing' this idea, there were 'scholarly' rebuttals, mostly ignored. And that most of those 'pushing' this idea were politicians. Oooopppsss, run for the hills! Whenever any 'topic' becomes a political thing, you know the lies are going to be many, and not believable. Yet, legislation and action will be based on those distorted 'theories'. So, when I consider Socialism and the other forms, I had only to look at history to know it does not work. And Venezuela is an example of that, today. And when I took a look at 'the history of science', it seemed more like a 'club' of old men stuck on some idea (because they had published papers on that idea' who had to die before the 'new idea' could be accepted. [No, I am not the first to have this observation] If you are a 'young scientist' your 'progress' is dependent upon you passing the professors judging [and grading] of your papers. Dare not have a 'new' theory... This issue of 'knowledge' is also felt in the construction world. Supposedly the best thing to do is to embed iron in a caustic thing [called concrete]. I wondered at this one as a part time construction worker while in school. And now it seems the proof is in. After so many years [50] you end up with 'rust and dust'. Perhaps they might last 100 years, but the certainty is that every road will require massive replacement efforts and cost [if you decide to do such a thing]. I am thinking it is time for 'flying cars' so we don't have to do this monster. And for homes using concrete and iron rebar? all will have to be rebuilt and replaced. Ouch... Part of what 'enforced' this silly notion was the 30 year mortgage. It meant the home only had to last the life of the loan. I see a sad future coming...

Dylan Lawrence Moore, As I am sure you know, there are different kinds of anger. I found that I can use 'anger' to give me 'energy' to deal with an issue or problem. It is that energy that helped me stay focused. It is NOT a 'spray' all over kind of thing.

Hello, I am a retired "I T" guy, 37 years as a programmer, systems analyst, and a bunch more related jobs. I am an extreme introvert, who had to act as a 'extrovert' to get things done at work. I grew up in Wyoming, worked my career (mostly) in California. I am 'conservative', but some people had odd ideas of what that means. Mainly, I am driven by 'puzzles'. Things I see or hear that make me ponder... When I was a teen, the Vietnam War was the 'topic of the day'. And the oddest thing I heard? "My country, right or wrong." That one tied me up for years. I was a good math and science student, but over time I realize I had been lied to in the classroom and other places. I was excited to read Science Fiction, and hoped to be living on the moon by the mid 1980s. But by that date, I realized we were NEVER going to leave this place. And I had one very big puzzle about the space launches. Why was it that after a while, they 'rotated' and flew horizontal to the earth? Until out of sight. The quickest way to space is straight up. Yes, I heard a lot of stories and explanations, but that one thing made me suspect the whole NASA thing was a lie. Now, retired, I can examine some of those 'beliefs' and wonder why and how those false narratives came to be believed. I remember as a kid, watching the Three Stooges. And when I worked in Construction, part time as a student in middle and high school, I often saw on the work place a playing out of what the Three Stooges did on the TV. I wanted to laugh, but knew the people around me would get angry. I still wonder of that one. And puzzles NEVER go away. They stick in the mind. It was this that helped me solve a lot of issues at work. As a Systems Analyst, I remembered all the puzzles I tripped across in my work. and when I was assigned a problem, I could recall those things, and they helped in resolving those issues. As a kid of 14, the family was in the mountains of Wyoming. Approx 10k feet altitude. About 5:30AM on a June day. I am looking 'down the mountain' to the north east. And suddenly, a very bright light appears in the distance. I wondered what the heck it was, and how far away. I saw this same thing some other summers, and realized the sun was reflecting off the outdoor movie screen in our town. I guessed it was about 40 miles away. When I spoke of it with my father, he said closer to 50 miles. I was taught that the 'horizon' was 14 miles. So, here I am clearly looking at something much farther than that. And behind that light I could easily see two times that distance. So much for the globe earth LIE. I could be wrong, but whenever I flew, I tried to guess how far I could see. On my first intercontinental flight, we were supposed to be at 37,000 ft altitude (about 7 miles). We flew over a container ship, and I could see individual containers on that ship. A few years later I worked for an international shipping company, and saw such container ships up close, and concluded the flight indicator of 35,000 feet was a lie. And the speed? supposedly 550 MPH. Also a lie, as I saw the ship 'coming', while over it, for a lot longer than that speed would allow. This told me the airlines are 'in' on the lie. And I wondered, why? Why bother? Who the hell cares if the earth if flat or round? If the altitude reading is false? Or the speed is also false? Too many questions with no answers. Best regards, AraiBob Arai as a sound has several meanings. Arai is the name of a motorcycle helmet manufacturer. Aray is the way a Filipino says "ouch". I have "a wry" sense of humor, and some times I am 'awry', meaning out of level.

Crusader1986, I was tested in my junior year in high school. They told me the IQ value, and I was disappointed. I thought I was a genius. Eventually I learned what that 'number' meant. I was also tested for 'reading', as junior in high school I was tested as reading 3,500 words a minute, at 99 percent comprehension. It was years later I discovered just how unique that 'score' is. I learned that most university graduates read at 1,100 words a minute, at about 80 percent comprehension. They also gave me what I think was a Rorschach test. I don't know what the results of that one was. Eventually what I learned of the IQ number was I had a 'faster' brain clock speed. That 'notion' only came about after working in the computer industry for a while and learning the hardware, the clock speeds, and so on. Part of the reason I thought I was a genius? In the school system I was was in, starting the 5th grade, the American History would alternate with World History, every year. One year American, the next year World. In a class, I would remember not only that day's lesson, the that same lesson from two years earlier, and the lesson from 4 years earlier. Plus I had done a LOT of reading. Yet, my classmates could not remember yesterday's lesson. So, you are wondering why you cannot 'agree' with the notions of the people around you? The most likely reason is their 'notions' don't make sense. They have 'agreed' to believe something, and you have a different opinion, or perhaps no opinion on that 'something'. As a kid, I watched the Three Stooges, almost daily because they were so silly. But when I did some part time work in construction (My father and step-father were both in construction) while in middle and high school, I saw people on the job site do exactly the thing the three stooges had done. I was shocked. And I dared not comment on what I saw. And that was my introduction to the 'work world'. Too many people making silly and sometimes dangerous mistakes, on the job. Now retired, I can escape a lot of that. But on the job, this 'confusion' by other people meant I had an advantage. When the 'pain' of other's misconceptions of the world and how things actually work got too much, I would be asked to look at the problem. And in almost every case, I found a simple solution to the problem. What I found was a world of people who don't actually 'see' the world, as it is. They have ideas that overcome their eyes. They believe somethings so strongly, that what is in front of their face, that contradicts those ideas? They cannot see and won't allow the truth of things to 'get through' their self-programming. It gave me a long career. Thank 'God' for that... You will have to 'adjust' your words to that world, just as I had to, and as how many other people had to. In retirement I can relax. I can, mostly, ignore that mental illness that is all around us. Is it any wonder I am an extreme introvert? AraiBob