Newton, Dirac, Curie, Focault stood not on the shoulders of giants in order to see further. They stood on the dead bodies of millions of coloured men and women.

Idéfix wrote:Newton, really? The guy died before the overseas colonies became big money spinners for the English.

Idéfix wrote:Newton, really? The guy died before the overseas colonies became big money spinners for the English.

Rishi wrote:Inequality is a fact of life, but the desire to be rich, impossibly rich, to lead a life of immense comfort that would allow a culture, a kind of culture to prosper, books to be written, music to be composed, science to be conducted – is not promoting inequality, it is building an empire. Perversely, it was an incorrect and convenient interpretation of one of science’s unshakable axioms that allowed empires to be built – Darwinism; that if one has the means to kill or conquer, one should go right ahead, that man sits at the top of the pyramid of life. And not just man, but a particular mutant of man, a white man. For, in actuality, what is skin colour but a mutation, an adaptation to a particular environment?

Empires necessitated a slow percolation of racism to the subconscious, so that even the congenial and the sympathetic were programmed not to disrupt the status quo that was ultimately rewarding to them and their race. Newton, Dirac, Curie, Focault stood not on the shoulders of giants in order to see further. They stood on the dead bodies of millions of coloured men and women. They prospered because their nations allowed them quietly to prosper at the expense of a mind-crushing vacuum that was forced upon all subjugated lands. They helped peddle this vicious cycle. Every invention, every new thought, new idea, was touted as a natural result of an advanced mind, an advanced civilisation at work, spurring the notion of superiority that ultimately rusted their Arab spring.

http://www.newslaundry.com/2013/07/mandela-never-let-him-go/

Kris wrote:

Rishi wrote:Inequality is a fact of life, but the desire to be rich, impossibly rich, to lead a life of immense comfort that would allow a culture, a kind of culture to prosper, books to be written, music to be composed, science to be conducted – is not promoting inequality, it is building an empire. Perversely, it was an incorrect and convenient interpretation of one of science’s unshakable axioms that allowed empires to be built – Darwinism; that if one has the means to kill or conquer, one should go right ahead, that man sits at the top of the pyramid of life. And not just man, but a particular mutant of man, a white man. For, in actuality, what is skin colour but a mutation, an adaptation to a particular environment?

Empires necessitated a slow percolation of racism to the subconscious, so that even the congenial and the sympathetic were programmed not to disrupt the status quo that was ultimately rewarding to them and their race. Newton, Dirac, Curie, Focault stood not on the shoulders of giants in order to see further. They stood on the dead bodies of millions of coloured men and women. They prospered because their nations allowed them quietly to prosper at the expense of a mind-crushing vacuum that was forced upon all subjugated lands. They helped peddle this vicious cycle. Every invention, every new thought, new idea, was touted as a natural result of an advanced mind, an advanced civilisation at work, spurring the notion of superiority that ultimately rusted their Arab spring.

http://www.newslaundry.com/2013/07/mandela-never-let-him-go/

>>>>What is really mind-numbing is the ease with which power over oneself is conceded to someone else. A quick story:

X says to Y:

"You know you are inferior to me."

Y responds (pick one):

1) "Get lost, you jackass! Who gives a crap what you think..."

2) "You really think so? Hmm, maybe there is something to what you say, but then again, I am hurt.  I will never measure up to what you expect of me. I have become victimized by you. Come to think of it, I will spread this message and also repeatedly tell myself this and write articles about this. After all, I have no sense of self than how you perceive me."

Which of these Y's do you think will get the girl/ the promotion/maybe even the boss whom X reports to a few years from now? Think about it or answer from your own observations.

Rishi wrote:

Kris wrote:

Rishi wrote:Inequality is a fact of life, but the desire to be rich, impossibly rich, to lead a life of immense comfort that would allow a culture, a kind of culture to prosper, books to be written, music to be composed, science to be conducted – is not promoting inequality, it is building an empire. Perversely, it was an incorrect and convenient interpretation of one of science’s unshakable axioms that allowed empires to be built – Darwinism; that if one has the means to kill or conquer, one should go right ahead, that man sits at the top of the pyramid of life. And not just man, but a particular mutant of man, a white man. For, in actuality, what is skin colour but a mutation, an adaptation to a particular environment?

Empires necessitated a slow percolation of racism to the subconscious, so that even the congenial and the sympathetic were programmed not to disrupt the status quo that was ultimately rewarding to them and their race. Newton, Dirac, Curie, Focault stood not on the shoulders of giants in order to see further. They stood on the dead bodies of millions of coloured men and women. They prospered because their nations allowed them quietly to prosper at the expense of a mind-crushing vacuum that was forced upon all subjugated lands. They helped peddle this vicious cycle. Every invention, every new thought, new idea, was touted as a natural result of an advanced mind, an advanced civilisation at work, spurring the notion of superiority that ultimately rusted their Arab spring.

http://www.newslaundry.com/2013/07/mandela-never-let-him-go/

>>>>What is really mind-numbing is the ease with which power over oneself is conceded to someone else. A quick story:

X says to Y:

"You know you are inferior to me."

Y responds (pick one):

1) "Get lost, you jackass! Who gives a crap what you think..."

2) "You really think so? Hmm, maybe there is something to what you say, but then again, I am hurt.  I will never measure up to what you expect of me. I have become victimized by you. Come to think of it, I will spread this message and also repeatedly tell myself this and write articles about this. After all, I have no sense of self than how you perceive me."

Which of these Y's do you think will get the girl/ the promotion/maybe even the boss whom X reports to a few years from now? Think about it or answer from your own observations.

 Kris,

I guess you are addressing the question to me.

I posted the article because, the author of the article who has a Ph.D in science from Cambridge was making a statement about Newton and other European scientists which I thought was interesting. The article was about Mandela and the system of  apartheid which ceratainly oppressed the Blacks. Years of oppression by one group over the other has deep psychological effects for both groups.

What you have pointed out is a different situation. Y's response "Get lost, you jackass! Who gives a crap what you think..." is possible today only because of the struggles and protests led by people like MLK and Mandela.

Sometime in 1940s, the Indian scientist S. Chandrasekhar had an assignment at a research center at Aberdeen Proving grounds in MD. He presented his papers at the gate. The security guard told him "Blackie, you will have to wait."  Chandra did not say anything. Do you think any Indian would have told the security guard to shut up?

Rishi wrote:

Idéfix wrote:Newton, really? The guy died before the overseas colonies became big money spinners for the English.

 http://www.google.com/search?q=when+did+newton+die%3F&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=ubuntu&channel=fs

Kris wrote: The Brits bullied China into giving them Hong Kong. 99 years later, did you hear a peep from them when the lease was up?        

garam_kuta wrote:actually, this famous quote i gather, originated from Newton when he made the tongue-in-cheek comment that 'if i have seen farther, it's by standing on the shoulders of giants' as the president of the royal society at that time  was relatively short in stature, never liked Newton - no surprise there!  not sure, it was Cook- and used to put him down or ignore him all the time;  this was a great opportunity for  Newton to get even with him. Nevertheless, the ïf in the '' íf i have seen...'' itself is shocking as newton is not known to be a modest man who needed lots of gravity;)

Rishi wrote:

garam_kuta wrote:actually, this famous quote i gather, originated from Newton when he made the tongue-in-cheek comment that 'if i have seen farther, it's by standing on the shoulders of giants' as the president of the royal society at that time  was relatively short in stature, never liked Newton - no surprise there!  not sure, it was Cook- and used to put him down or ignore him all the time;  this was a great opportunity for  Newton to get even with him. Nevertheless, the ïf in the '' íf i have seen...'' itself is shocking as newton is not known to be a modest man who needed lots of gravity;)

 I think you are referring to Robert Hooke. Remember the Hooke's law?

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100516224919AAqgR5K