as the assembly-line cylinders of chunky-style dogfood that we have become.They know that allowing people to think for themselves can be a dangerous thing. For instance, thinking for one's self can lead to long, lonely nights in the basement, converting semi-automatic rifles to full auto, mixing up home-made napalm, and thinking up ever more explosive and/or virulent methods of outwardly expressing one's vague yet undeniable rage and disappointment at a society seemingly oblivious to the wishes of all but the wealthiest of the power elite. They do their best to supply any potential loose cannons with an endless stream of mind-numbing, stultifying opiate in the form of round-the-clock television programming. You can't build bombs if you're busy watching Friends. You'll never find the time to develop that new strain of anthrax when you're otherwise preoccupied by the pseudo-sexual shenanigans of Niles and Daphne. These days - media-fed paranoia to the contrary - acts of cultural rebellion are so rare as to be statistically insignificant. They are very good at what they do.Aristotle said that any man who is truly alone is either a beast or a god, but certainly not a man. As we struggle to make our way through the psychic flux of everyday life, the key to true, liberating independence of thought lies not in total independence from your fellow man, which is an impossibility. It lies in learning to recognize the difference between being enlightened and having your chain pulled. It lies in developing the skills necessary to accurately judge information based on facts, logic and reason. It lies in learning to let go of beliefs that you know to be false, but to which you cling out of either habit, convenience or superstition.Ignorance is bliss. Thinking for yourself is hard work....
