Name: Jacque Fresco on the problem of superstitious ignorance
Uploaded: 2017-08-10T14:14:29.000Z
Duration: 7 min 36 s
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Adverbs of degree

Science is really the ability to predict the next, most probable.

That's what the real meaning of science is.

Gaining the ability to predict the next, most probable.

When we talk about science, we're talking about a method of looking at a situation,

a method of evaluation that differs from the opinionated system.

The scientific method has no special connection to truth.

of looking at things than the earlier systems,

which everything was attributed to gods or demons.

This is where we get into applying the scientific method to society?

The scientific method applied to society is something people don't think about much,

but if you want to know where the answers may lie. It is in the application

of the methods of science with human concern and environmental concern.

The Future by Design refers to the application of the methods of science, not scientists,

the methods of science for the social system.

Naturally, even the methods of science undergo change,

If we use the scientific method throughout the world, the probability of war drops to zero,

the probability of human suffering disappears.

Deprivation, poverty, crime, all those things tend to disappear, because there's no basis for it.

Jacque spent a lot of time, before studying people,

and how to change the behavior of animals, or predict the behavior of animals,

and came to the conclusion that it's really the environment

that changes behavior, and enables us to behave the way we do.

We're not born with prejudice and bigotry and anger and greed.

It's really generated and nurtured by the environment that we live in.

That's why we feel that unless you change your environment and change the experiences,

we'll get the same aberrant behavior within people. Unless the environment is changed.

tries to educate people so they'll serve a function in that particular culture.

In other words, if you're brought up in a Nazi culture,

the flag waving and the swastika are the kind of things they put forth.

If you're brought up in a primitive tribe, handling the javelin, the bow and arrow

would be the kind of thing that you're exposed to.

So people are conditioned to serve the interest of an established culture.

Who does that to us? The owners of the institutions.

So, they give us a value system that will support existing structures.

Whether it be religious, non-religious, industrial, military.

When children say, "You know, daddy, what's the greatest country in the world?"

"Of course our country is the greatest country in the world."

"Our god. All the other gods are false gods."

So picture this: A roman family taking it's kids to see the Christians being fed to the lions.

And the kids are watching; "Dad, can we come next week to see Christians being fed to lions?"

Are these kids sick? No. Their value system is distorted.

So, I'm strictly concerned with the environment that people are reared in, raised in.

And, if that environment is altered, so will behavior be altered.

You re-orient the environment, and that in turn re-orients people.

But if you re-orient people, without touching the environment, it'll slip back.

So, when you try to think about the future, remember this:

the process with which you think about things is based upon indoctrination,

which you're given by your society. So your range of thought

is limited by the dominant values of your society.

So, learning to be flexible in values takes a long time.

And in talking to kids, when I was very young, I had to be very patient with them

if I were to make any progress. I talked about the concept of God.

Your concept of God, my concept of God and his concept of God. So different.

I wonder what God is really like, or if there is a god for that matter.

And why would God permit war and disease if he's all-loving?

It didn't make sense to me. Too many clashes. So, I questioned that.

Of course I felt a little uncomfortable during questioning the concept of God.

But then reading about the history and evolution of gods... There were many different gods.

The god of war, the god of peace, the god of love,

which was more like the people that invented them.

They behaved, they got angry,  they made sacrifices,

they created floods when they didn't like the way things were going,

and this did not come through a superior intelligence.

Primitive people, going back in time, when they saw lightning,

When a hurricane swept the land, they got rid of certain people in their tribe

as a sacrifice, hoping that the gods would not produce a second hurricane.

However, if it did occur again, then they'd sacrifice some of the younger people.

Rarely would the chief sacrifice himself.

But he's always got a whole line of people ready to sacrifice.

So, you have that problem with human beings.

Anything that occurs beyond their comprehension,

they have to invent an excuse for. They have to create gods and demons

to account for things, because people come to the leadership of that community.

No matter how primitive the tribe, they say:

"How come bad wind blow people off island?"

And say*: "You not behave good. You not make not 'nough contribution to volcano.

Throw your brother-in-law into volcano. Maybe it doesn't erupt then."

So if you throw your brother-in-law into the volcano and it still erupts,

you have to throw your sister-in-law in. So you get metaphysics.

You get religion. You get superstition. "Knock wood!"

Or you wear a rabbits foot. Just remember that the rabbit had four of them...

So, on down the line, superstition prevails wherever ignorance prevails.

Myth is a way of saying to the little guy working out there in the field

when he says: "What is all this about? I never seem to be getting anywhere."

"When you kick the bucket, everything is there for you.

If you don't get it in this life, you'll get it in the next, if you remain good."

The amount of superstition that a culture can absorb would be directly proportionate

to the amount of information people have.