For whatever reason, I've always found myself at odds with the establishment. It's not that I'm just an immature, uncooperative punk, but it may seem that way. One of my core beliefs is that improvement is always possible. How can you improve something if you don't challenge it?
Many people adhere to the whole "if it aint broke, don't fix it" philosophy, but it precludes that one can perceive if something is broken. For example, throw ethics out the window and look at slavery in the preindustrial USA. It was accepted that slavery was the best way to provide affordable goods and services. It wasn't broke, so there was no reason to fix it. But then some very smart people realized (this is the condensed version, btw) that machines can work longer and harder than people, so slavery magically became "broke" - and machines fixed it. However, note that machines fixed the system before it was broken. Businesses that chose not use machines were destroyed by those that did.
How would you feel about your government if you've got a musket with bayonet, a sack of black powder, and some lead while your the enemy has high-velocity rifles, semi-auto hand guns, and a combat knife. You've got cannons; they have Gatling guns. You've got cavalry, and they're giving you the finger in their tanks. Sound ridiculous? That was reality for the Polish army in WWI. Yeah, Poland fell fast and hard.
Take a look at our economic problems. If we were constantly evolving our views and practices on banking and business we probably would have avoided the whole economic collapse. However, our current system is a reactionary system in an impossible fight against a proactive business world. Why is it that the government can spend so many trillions of dollars on various things like war and social programs, but when our heart and soul (our businesses) comes to a halt everyone scratches their head and acts like our laws of physics have just been broken.
In case you didn't know, our laws of physics are constantly being broken. This is because as we learn more and more we begin to comprehend how our "laws" are merely "perceptions." Take for example when it was discovered that light does in fact have mass. This blew out our preconceptions of the universe and rewrote physics.
What I'm getting at is that just because a system is in place does not mean that it is incapable of increasing efficiency. So many people I know would say, "My way of life is the way my parents lived, and their parents, and their parents, and it works." Okay, but couldn't things be better?
Look at research on behavior modification. We have discovered that rewarding people (kids, adults, seniors) for good behavior produces better results than punishment for bad behavior. Why? Because punishment teaches the punished that they should avoid getting caught where rewarding makes the rewarded seek their prize. If you are actively trying to be good, you'll have a better chance of others thinking you're good than if you're trying to fool them into thinking so. So for thousands of years our race thought that imprisoning and beating people reformed them. Guess what - thousands of years of human beliefs were wrong.
I'm not even really on the same topic as I started. It's that good of a rant.
Anyway, there is a reason for my rhyme. If I challenge you or your beliefs it is not to be a turd. I'm exploring your opinion and comparing it to others. What if my challenge strengthens your belief? What if my challenge causes you to abandon your belief in favor of a newer/better one? What if my challenge causes me to reevaluate my position? Was it not a benefit to be challenged? So when someone challenges you, don't get offended. Instead, thank them for helping you.
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