Random Thoughts

Coercive Cultures & Selective Breeding Bottlenecks in Biology and Thought

Monod got the Nobel prize for his work on constraints of gene expression and wrote a beautiful book titled "Chance and Necessity". It is very easy to take a smidgeon of a particular colony of bacteria and inoculate in a restrictive medium, lacking a single nutrient or having an unwanted harmful chemical inhibiting growth. Only those organisms capable of overcoming the obstacle will grow and thrive under these constrained circumstances. Human cultures are no different. Capitalist, Socialist and Communist governments actively promote and foster selective flourishment for preferred views by providing a milieu conducive to their growth and dissemination, while retarding or being lethal to adverse opinion holders. This unfortunate flaw of character is not restricted to governments and by its ubiquitous nature pervades websites, periodicals, newspapers and the broadcast industry. Thus the media lead to coercive cultures and selective breeding by creating bottlenecks in biology and thought. Even Z Net is struck by this affliction and needs to heal itself. It is common for fervent espousers of even just causes, to develop a myopic mindset and scotomas in their vision, which obscure the true picture and lead to obsessive fanaticism which stifles free thought and expression.

The history of the left and right is full of such constrictive catastrophes, that have caused the numerous wrecks on the road to utopia. It is the nature of the masses to form cults due to their low collective least common multiples. Why else would religions flourish? There are many enlightened and fair minded contributors on Z Net, who know that the unifying bridge between the chasm of preaching and practice is principle. Unbridgeable disparities reveal fraudulent intentions and while justifiable on pragmatic or evolutionary basis, are nevertheless incompatible with ethics or moral authority. There are some contributors who are knee-jerk leftists, shrilly espousing their gospel and trying to drown out dissenting voices. Still others distort the facts or are motivated by self-loathing. The appeal of Chomsky, Herman, Duboff or Fiske, to name a few, is that they meticulously document the inconsistencies or lies in the arguments or premises of their opponents and while condemning the passive acquiescence or connivance of the media, do not attribute undeserving malice or premeditated conspiratorial intentions to their frequent or persistent follies. It is so easy to accuse and condemn. What is needed is an environment and forum for dissenting opinions or critiques on Z Net, so that differing minority views can be aired and allowed an epidemic spread, restrained by the rejection or acceptance by the immune systems of the minds of the readers. Otherwise this will become a pulpit for proselyters preaching only to the converted. I would presume that the raison d' etre for the site is to inform the unknowing about the truth and then let them make the choice, hopefully the correct one. All else smacks of coerced or channeled outcomes like Plato's Republic of free citizens only, the Hindu caste system or the US Constitution, which disenfranchised the non-owners of property, women and African-Americans. Recent passage of the patriot act in America, implementation of POTO in India and similar legislation in UK is the amazing beginning of strangulation of freedom, where Britain formerly ruled. Do I hear laughter in France and Spain? Do I see Z Net squirming?

We all need to have the humility to understand that we have neither the intellect and authority, nor the wisdom to reform human nature; only the ambition to strive with patience and perseverance to make the playing field level and the contest fair. If the desire of powers that be, is to hear the strident shrill screams of believers chanting in unison, then the assembly becomes a school of indoctrination or a place of worship and those gave us the terrorists. I am not asking for abandoning the philosophy, which I too share, but at least some space on the same stage with the same lighting to dissenting voices uttering valid logical thoughts or facts in proper language lucidly, coherently and succinctly. This is to prevent Z Net or any publication from committing the sinful error of history, where card carrying party political animals were given privileged seats on the preferential podium, and at the first opportunity metamorphosed into unprincipled greedy pigs from their prior avatar of apparatchiks or political appointees, depending on what language they previously grunted in.  


20-Jan-2002

More by :  Gaurang Bhatt, MD

Top | Random Thoughts

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