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From: The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: The joy of actual numbers, was Democracy
Date: Sat, 9 Nov 2024 05:52:31 +0000
Organization: A little, after lunch
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On 08/11/2024 14:35, D wrote:
> 
> 
> On Fri, 8 Nov 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> 
>> On 08/11/2024 04:09, rbowman wrote:
>>> On Fri, 8 Nov 2024 03:08:16 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 08/11/2024 01:47, rbowman wrote:
>>>>> On Thu, 7 Nov 2024 21:19:05 -0000 (UTC), Rich wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> It is simply a reflection of the fact that, in almost all 
>>>>>> populations,
>>>>>> a small percentage of people have an innate curiosity that drives 
>>>>>> them
>>>>>> to learn, explore, make something of themselves, and often have an
>>>>>> outsize impact on the world as a whole, while a large percentage
>>>>>> simply seem to have no curiosity nor desire to do anything beyond the
>>>>>> barest minimum necessary to make the next paycheck appear by magic.
>>>>>
>>>>> I got out of Dodge in my early 20s as did many of my friends and my
>>>>> brother. According to the high school class data many didn't.
>>>>>
>>>>> What surprised me was the number of college educated people in Boston
>>>>> with decent jobs that had never ventured outside of the 128 perimeter.
>>>>> Those novelty maps that show Boston and NY with LA and San 
>>>>> Francisco on
>>>>> the west bank of the Hudson are their world view. The 'flyover states'
>>>>> are a reality.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> And even you seem never to have made it to Europe or Asia.
>>>
>>> Why would I bother with Europe? I do regret not making it to Asia.
>>>
>>
>> Because you might actually learn something?
> 
> I've learned nothing travelling which I couldn't have learned at home 
> with the help of the internet, good books and documentaries.

I find that absolutely staggering.
 From installing discos in Soweto to breaking cars in a Los Angeles 
scrapyard, you simply cant get that level of experience off the Internet..
The smell of a tropical colonial Spanish town steeped in poverty.
The smell of the African veldt and the rhinos...
The staggering arrogant cluelessness of the affluent German middle class 
public sector worker...
The extraordinary sight of crossing from Denmark to Sweden and being 
jolted by the fact that something had changed. Young couples were 
smiling and holding hands. Unheard of in Denmark.
Talking to a Mexican entrepreneur about the Spanish/Indian class structure.
The leftover Tannoy systems in Czechoslovakia post the collapse of the 
USSR where the communist propaganda was broadcast in every street in 
every village.
Driving through former East Germany and seeing no activity whatsoever 
apart from a drunk staggering down the street.
Spending twenty minutes on a greyhound bus talking down a drunk black 
man waving a loaded revolver who felt disrespected in Chicago.



-- 
There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale 
returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact.

Mark Twain