New Knowledge

 Is your cause worth dying for or is it better for you to just stay alive even if it compromises your values?
Christ was killed because he brought knowledge to the masses.
This knowledge was power and the elites of his day would have none of that...

 The same type of elevation of consciousness was taught by those like Martin Luther and Malcolm X as well.

 Prometheus was punished for all eternity (Or as long as their religion existed) for bringing fire to man.
Apparently, man was supposed to remain in darkness.

And don't even get me started on he who would entice the first man to partake in the knowledge of the heavens.
Since the beginning of time - he who would give the knowledge of the elites to the masses would be punished.

Apparently, giving knowledge to the masses is the most punishable of sins.
And who wants to be a martyr?

Swagger

 No, not the image of those who dress up to imitate the attire, walk and confidence of those with real swagger...

 But the attitude of those who, regardless of the odds,  know they will succeed.

 Swagger can be had by one who is alone but more often than not it comes from those who are members of a well-trained and skilled group.

Those who have put in the hard work and for them all that is left to do is to execute.

Why is the ghetto still the ghetto?
Because people still have not learned to work as a group to accomplish a common goal.
Because most still imagine that the affectation of confidence is the same thing as confidence.

Fashion

 One of my best friends once commented that I liked the requisite artists, designers, music and brands to enable myself to fit in with the whole artistic-hipster cliques popular throughout many parts of So-Cal. (and elsewhere).
But this was not an intentional process on my part.
It seems that as one becomes less generalized, he becomes more specialized in his tastes and desires. 

 Every group has it's own uniform and code. - and while these often overlap into other groups, there seems to be a certain amount of similarity required to enable one to be labeled as belonging to one group and not another.

 How many people follow fads, trends or traditions because they think that they are supposed to?

 Why are smart guys so often poorly dressed?
Do they have more important things to worry about than something as superfluous as fashion?

 Does wearing the uniform make you a member of a group?

 A quick measure is that of dirt.
Real cowboys show natural wear in their jeans.
Doctors have stains from bodily fluids on their clothes.
Nerds have ink stains where their pocket protectors have failed.
Preppies have clothes faded from days spent on crew or from their lack of care for the pretense of looking like a Preppy.

Pretenders are worried about dirt.
These are those who fret over a scuff on their travel bags because these accessories are intended to be more for show than they are for actual usage.

"Uppity Black Teen"?

"Uppity"?
That's how Christwire.org describes McGehee High School (Arkansas) co-Valedictorian Kymberly Wimberly (Yes, that's her real name.).
Apparently, Ms Wimberly attributes her race as the reason the school decided to name another (white) student as her co-Valedictorian even though Ms Wimberly had the higher GPA.
But some argue that the problem of "A big mess" (as quoted by her mother, Molly Bratton) was that Ms Wimberly was a teen mother and that that would not shine a positive light on the school nor the district.
Former students have noted that the school has had Asians, Eastern Indians and a Blacks (as recently as 1989) as former Valedictorians in the past and that Ms Wimberly's race should not have been an issue.
This case is difficult for this poor (Seventy percent of the students at this school are eligible for free (59%) or reduced (11%) lunches) school to defend as Title IX protects against discrimination directed towards pregnant female students.

One Too Many Video Games

Video game ideology +

Nationality based religion =

One Crazy Dude.

Making The Band?

 Of course I don't think P-Diddy is the smartest man in the world.
I was using him as an example to refute the argument that derivative products/ideas are a bigger advancement than those which are seminal.

 Some argue that the people who 'invented' sailing ships were smarter than those who first created simple carved water craft.

And that those who created vessels which could end the societies which they were created to protect are the smartest of them all.

P-Diddy an' dem are using the same model as much of Western culture - they appropriate and revise and then sell it as their own original thought.
But these rappers have taken it to another level - they sell people things (music) which can be had for free.

Okay, DesertFlower - One More Time...

What is 'Bacalao'?

The World's Smartest Man

No, he didn't 'invent' music - he didn't even invent Hip Hop.
Seminal/derivative... does it matter?
Original idea or better marketing?
P-did manage to take an under-exploited resource and repackage it to sell to the masses.
Sure, he just took what everyone had done before him and sold it as his own - but isn't this how many measure I.Q. and success anyway?
Didn't most great 'inventors' appropriate the ideas of others only to pass them off as their own original ideas or concepts?

I.Q.

I.Q. tests don't really measure intelligence - what they actually measure are gaps in intelligence.
Think of the tests as reference points on a Mo-Cap model.
The dots are useless unless one is able to fill in the spaces between the gaps - otherwise one just has a series of seemingly random dots with no purpose.
I.Q. tests just test ones ability to recognize and organize each reference point.
Like saying that being able to quote Faust is more important than being able to quote Pooty Tang - the author of the test determines the value of the answers.
Most of these test use an Occidental point of view as their starting point and anyone not familiar with this view is deemed to be inferior.
But what of those who can fill in the blanks without using such models or reference points?
What value is there in intuition,
or faith,
or talent?
What of one who ignores these constructs and decides to learn what is of real value to himself?
What do we do with one who has learned and excelled within the limitations of these rules but who has chosen to discard them in favor of a more natural process which can be understood by many?
What do we do with the one who seeks the simple instead of the esoteric?