Funny that

Something that was said in this video....

... reminds me of how I felt when motorcycling.

"The things that appeared extremely important to you yesterday when you left your office will seem unimportant when you land your plane."

Thanx Bruce!

You know, it's becomming more and more obvious as I get older that a lot of the stuff I've learned from others, via publications of some sort, TV or online news media, or even just message boards or word of mouth, IS CRAP! Furthermore, it's consistent across knowledge domains as well. Programming, History or Geo-Politics, and even high performance engine development. We are most often started down a path or direction that is essentially a line of thought only to find that it's only part true and in some cases causes patterns of thought or understanding that is detrimental to further development or growth in that area. (Dayum brah!)

Ultimately, this boils down to the source of the information. This was really brought home to me in a big way just a moment ago while re-discovering my love for Artima.com (I'm not a Java guy, but good converstaion about coding is just plain good for you!) and reading a recent post by Bruce Eckel. In it, he explains succinctly what has been kind of hazy around the fringes of my thoughts via an experience he had. In short, his attitude about the language C++ was largely the
result of James Gosling and others responsible for the creation of the language Java.

...many people jump to the conclusion that C++ was badly designed, which is far from the truth.

Java fed this perception with its cavalier attitude about language design. I've written about this in Thinking in Java and in many weblogs, so longtime followers already know that Java tweaked me the wrong way from the start, because of the dismissive attitude of Gosling and the language designers.

... and ...

I have no idea how much this formative experience with Gosling influenced my later feelings about his work, but the fact that the attitude about C++ was "we looked at it and it sucked so we decided to whip out a language of our own" didn't help.

Accepting the fact that sometimes our information is tainted by the source, we have to then realize that perhaps there is something in us that causes to rest on what we've been given and follow it into the ditch so to speak. What

is it or why is it that we can't be open enough to at least re-appraise what it is we believe or have been told? Large swaths of our population as Americans suffer from this, as well as the entire world. I initially believed that is was simply a question of temperment (some being more open to introspection and self improvement) but I now for a fact that temperment and socialization play big parts in this. How many scientists or inventors have been hindered by Societies, Committees, or Councils with "The World is Flat!" type attitudes? How many of these have gone to their graves without their due honor thanks to these associations of clowns? If you really look into this, you'll find the number is pretty damn high and spread across a good many disciplines. Even war planning and doctrine suffered from this. General LeMay's insistence during WWII that daylight bombing with huge squadrons of B-17's and B-24's would continue to be the way forward was far from the truth. Especially considering that pilots that were actually doing the fighting came to realize that the job could be done with more efficiency and less loss of life by servicing more
targets with Fighter Bombers. This was the very recommendation of General Robin Olds and others during WWII that was scoffed at by the deaf "Flat Earthers", but later accepted as doctrine at a point later in time. How many lives would have been saved had LeMay and others just listened?

Obviously, collections of people that no longer question their knowledge sources are a detriment to society and human endeavor as a whole.

I've encountered this in the high performance community regarding Somender Singh's discovery that grooving quench pads in combustion chambers can dramatically increase turbulence and improve fuel burn to nearly 100% (!) with the side effects of engine oil lasting 5 to 10 times longer, no detonation, and lowered emissions. In spite of this being verified not only by experience from people like me that have actually tried it, but also independent engineers that have tested his claims and found them to be true, there remains a huge flock of derisive zealots that refuse to accept what has been found. In other words, they are clinging to some line of thought that is wrong REGARDLESS OF BEING PRESENTED WITH EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY!

This is a downright amazing thing to witness.

I can't help but wonder how much further along or how much things would be different if guys like Babbage, Tesla, Singh, Ataturk, Whittle, Olds, and so on, were listened too WHEN THEY ACTUALLY FIRST HAD OR DEVELOPED THEIR IDEAS.

Getting back on track, how does one avoid not letting themselves become closed to the truth, however it may come? Are you really honest enough to yourself to wonder if you have it wrong or believe it wrong? Do you dismiss other out of hand instead of really considering what is they say?

You HAVE TO BE AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT in your quest for knowledge! It's a must. If you rest on what's been handed to you, I'm positive you'll find yourself in a ditch. Now this isn't to say that nobody is to be believed, but those worthy of your attention will suffer your questions. And even more so if they do it with a kind attitude.

The list grows

To the list of historical figures that can truly be considered great and worthy of mention, I must add Gazi Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Talk about kickin' some arse, this was the man!

I'm sure most of you won't bat an eye reading this.

Some thoughts

There is never an excuse to do wrong.
Not a one.
If you feel the need to do wrong, it's compulsion.
If you feel you have a reason, you are lying to yourself
and it's just in you to do bad.
So if you plan to do bad, at least be honest about you're reasoning,
or what's driving you.

The other option is to stand up to what's wrong
because you're standing up for what's right. Perhaps it's not easier said then done, but it's worth the effort and it's worth it to not cause pain to yourself or anyone else.

You've got be kidding me!

I just stumbled on to this.

Uhhh....., isn't that "unused portion" called the Duodenum?

WTF!?!?

I can't say what the Flabbergaster Eagle said, but....

...somebody shoot me please.

Turbine Dump top tip: Make sure business partners are on the same level of understanding and ability you are. IF YOU FAIL TO DO THAT at least take comfort in the fact that suicide is a way out.

And BTW you would be counselors, stewards of my well being, this is closer to the reason FB, and indeed everything, ****'EN SUCKS!

But alas, this is just frustration. A couple of rounds with the Planet Smasher and I'll be just fine. :-)

Soon

Ahh yes, this feels like a new dawning
It feels like some people just can't let go
It feels like I'm letting go

I'll soon be cut

Ahh yes, my spirit knows this is that true thing
That fighting thing
That breaking through the shell that all plants must do

I'll soon be lean

Ahh yes, the morning is nigh
And after a long eve of labor
And after a long eve of resolution

I know I'll soon be good