Social "scientists"

[Junket]

Don't be an arrogant dickwad.

I'll assume this is "sarcasm" and take that as a compliment.

[anachronistic]

No, I am serious. You're admitting that you aren't taking people into account. How ignorant is that? Of course there are lazy people mumbling around just trying to get by, but I disagree that they are the majority of poverty-stricken people. What did you see in Guatemala or wherever you went for Americorps?

[misombra]

sociological research follows the scientific method and has quite a bit to do with numbers.

[IndiReloaded]

Also, I would like to say that reading Karl Marx has made me wonder how ANYONE could have been dumb enough to believe he had good ideas. The guy was fuccking retarded beyond help

Amazing such a little book made such a big deal of, huh?

I warned you about the artsy/philosophy classes. You can read this stuff yourself on your own time. FWIW, the only class I ever came close to failing was Medical Ethics. Showing up counted, & I could only bring myself to show up to just over 1/2 (so I could pass).

Save that kind of nose-thumbing for your graduate transcript, tho.

[Junket]

No, I am serious. You're admitting that you aren't taking people into account. How ignorant is that? Of course there are lazy people mumbling around just trying to get by, but I disagree that they are the majority of poverty-stricken people. What did you see in Guatemala or wherever you went for Americorps?

Disagreeing with who?

Secondly the reason why I'm factoring out these bums is because I have a feeling these are the people DM is thinking off. The lazy-drunken-do-nothings. That's an assumption I made based off his initial post.

[misombra]

poor people being lazy is an excuse that people with too much money use to justify their existence.

[Junket]

poor people being lazy is an excuse that people with too much money use to justify their existence.

Well, there are definitely a percentage of them that do not put forth an effort to get beyond where they are.

Plus, what are we defining as poor?

People that can't afford luxuries? Or people that cannot afford basic necessities?

[anachronistic]

Amazing such a little book made such a big deal of, huh?

I warned you about the artsy/philosophy classes. You can read this stuff yourself on your own time. FWIW, the only class I ever came close to failing was Medical Ethics. Showing up counted, & I could only bring myself to show up to just over 1/2 (so I could pass).

Save that kind of nose-thumbing for your graduate transcript, tho.

I think it takes quite a bit of studying in order to understand philosophical/artistic concepts. Sometimes you have to read things a million times before you really understand them. It's the most frustrating of them all, unlike science which is very straightforward, and in my opinion, easy to study.

I think DM should be reading about it more.

Disagreeing with who?

Secondly the reason why I'm factoring out these bums is because I have a feeling these are the people DM is thinking off. The lazy-drunken-do-nothings. That's an assumption I made based off his initial post.

Oi, I am sorry, I totally misinterpreted your post!

[misombra]

Well, there are definitely a percentage of them that do not put forth an effort to get beyond where they are.

Plus, what are we defining as poor?

People that can't afford luxuries? Or people that cannot afford basic necessities?

there are definitely people who don't put forth the effort. but i think a lot of people are taught that they shouldn't. learned helplessness.

but i think those who are lazy and don't put the effort to move forward shouldn't define people who are poor. i guess poor, in this case, would be people who can barely or cannot afford basic necessities.

[Junket]

The thing is, nowadays, there are already many government, as well as nonprofit programs that help provide food for struggling families.

I'm talking about the ones you don't see sleeping out on the street.

In that regard, we are fortunate to be living during a time period where there is such a surplus of food. It may not always be obvious or easy, but there are ways of getting to it.

[IndiReloaded]

I think there's productive wealth & non-productive.

Someone like Paris Hilton is living off someone else's hard work. For that reason, I don't feel bad when such wealth is lost. They had ample opportunity to grow their wealth sideways or differently.

I don't think that's the same as a professional or entrepreneur who earned their wealth thru their own hard-work and ingenuity. Even celebrities, like Will Smith (who is currently the highest paid actor, I believe), and Madonna, have earned their income thru their talent & hard work. They are banking on the fact that society happens to highly value what they can provide, and society pays willingly, so good for them. They are the ultimate service-providers & do a good job of it.

I said it before, but anyone who can afford an internet connection is NOT poor. If they are wanting, then they probably need to be doing something different. Which might include realizing they aren't as bad off as they think.

True poverty is something else entirely.

[IndiReloaded]

I think it takes quite a bit of studying in order to understand philosophical/artistic concepts. Sometimes you have to read things a million times before you really understand them. It's the most frustrating of them all, unlike science which is very straightforward, and in my opinion, easy to study.

I think DM should be reading about it more.

To be clear: I am not saying the problems of society are unworthy of study, nor that DM shouldn't be thinking about them. I just think that the value of taking a class to simply be told to read a book & write an essay about it, has limited value.

The whole idea of required arts electives in science programs is to ensure we aren't producing a generation of narrow-focussed scientists who don't know their head from their ass when it comes to non-science subjects. At least based on my experience, it was not terribly useful.

Personally, I think DM's money would be better spent on a year's subscription to the Economist than a course like this. That's all.

[misombra]

The thing is, nowadays, there are already many government, as well as nonprofit programs that help provide food for struggling families.

I'm talking about the ones you don't see sleeping out on the street.

In that regard, we are fortunate to be living during a time period where there is such a surplus of food. It may not always be obvious or easy, but there are ways of getting to it.

yeah, i hope you're right.

i always hate it when i see people begging for money on the side of the road, but they're my age. they look physically abled, they look young, and i'm like wtf get a job. this one guy ran to me to ask if i had money and he was younger than me. way younger. if you're a physically abled person with social skills and reading and writing abillities, then there is a way to do something about it.

[Lipp]

And this is all about the poor in rich countries.

[IndiReloaded]

Exactly. Its like Chris Rock, Oprah & Obama having an argument about who's more Black.