Dr. Floyd Ferris on "thought"

Posted by sdesapio 13 years, 5 months ago to Pics
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"Genius is a superstition. There's no such thing as the intellect. A man's brain is a social product. A sum of influences that he's picked up from those around him. Nobody invents anything, he merely reflects what's floating in the social atmosphere. A genius is an intellectual scavenger and a greedy hoarder of the ideas which rightfully belong to society, from which he stole them. All thought is theft. If we do away with private fortunes, we'll have a fairer distribution of wealth. If we do away with the genius, we'll have a fairer distribution of ideas." - Dr. Floyd Ferris

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  • Posted by flanap 13 years, 5 months ago
    Sounds like he subscribes to Rousseau's tabula rasa (that the mind is a clean slate). If Dr. Ferris's philosophy on "thought" holds true, then I can make an argument that we are all geniuses because from birth, we are taking in stimuli and hoarding it...the question is what is the social value we put on one's hoarded pile of ideas?

    You can see how messy it is when you take what God has given us and remove God and take the other side to the extreme in terms of not only removing God, but removing the individual.

    I will say that what Dr. Ferris is saying is rather elegantly consistent with evolution, by half, since evolution concludes we are all a bag of chemicals which are in a constant state of reaction; therefore, per Dr. Ferris, we need to somehow move evolution in a direction which is less based on survival of the fittest, but the survival of the collective.
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  • Posted by bill_edenfield 13 years, 5 months ago
    I couldn't possibly disagree more! If personal fortunes are expunged along with recognition for one's thoughts, ideas, inventions, and efforts, what is the motivation for due diligence? The public good? Malarkey!!!
    Did Gates bless us with the PC solely for the good of mankind? If Fleming's bread mold hadn't been profitable, how many millions would have died?

    I say again, "Malarkey!!"

    "Who is John Galt? I AM!!"
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  • Posted by khalling 13 years, 5 months ago
    people are option locked on guns right now. I understand, but there is so much more to be focused on
    keep your gun under your pillow, but is one eye open?
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  • Posted by khalling 13 years, 5 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I should say here that I don't think you'll go to your room if someone tells you to. Mancaves excluded
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  • Posted by khalling 13 years, 5 months ago in reply to this comment.
    good point, he is a democrat. But, I am always fighting people that just go to their room if the republican establishment tells them to. as to me being a good guy-
    "Perhaps you should check your premises."
    Atlas Shrugged
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  • Posted by khalling 13 years, 5 months ago in reply to this comment.
    actually, I will completely disagree with you. Paul Ryan used this justification many times in the House to steal from US inventors. The Patent and Trademark Office is the only government agency that is completely SELF funded. The general Treasury steals from the PTO (at the cost of small inventors) to pay SNAP, Solyndra, Obamacare, you name it. The productive paying the moochers. He was the Republican VP candidate for President most recently. yep, nobody invents anything. it rightfully belongs to society. see:
    http://hallingblog.com/america-invents-a...
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