Dilbert

by teejay 4 Replies latest jw friends

  • teejay
    teejay

    Did you see the Dilbert comic strip in the paper this past Sunday?

    There was a staff meeting. A visiting consultant asked the assembled
    managers what their most valuable asset was. Someone tendered the
    idea that "workers" were the most important, but the consultant shot
    that down. Instead, "IGNORANCE" was shown to be the key asset.
    Ignorance on the part of the workers--they never realized that a better
    job, for a higher salary, could be had at the firm right across the street.
    And ignorance on the part of the firm's customers who never seemed
    able to figure out that a better product could be had from the
    competition for less money.

    In the end, the consultant's recommendation was that everyone wear a
    trash barrel over their heads to keep them safe and protected from the
    wayward bit of knowledge they might accidentally encounter. Turns
    out that the consultant was representing a plastic trash barrel
    manufacturer.

    It wasn't just funny. it was insightful, summing up a vital truth
    humorously. Rarely does a comic strip make me laugh out loud while
    tickling my brain at the same time. This one did.

    When I was a good Witness, I prided myself for being a first-rate
    pupil. For many years, decades even, I faithfully lapped up all of the
    governing body's wondrous words of "truth." Like those self-
    proclaimed Holy Ones, I had answers, crystal clear and far beyond
    even the slightest hint of doubt, regardless of the question, although I
    was barely out of my teens. I knew it all. Since then I've grown a
    little, slowly unburdening myself from the trash barrel that covered my
    head, kept me safe from real truth, oh, so many years.

    Funny how the more you learn, the more you realize how little you
    know. If you're paying attention, it's not long before you become
    aware of this never ending cycle -- the more you learn, the more in
    touch you become with the depth of your ignorance regardless of the
    subject matter. Like someone paradoxically said recently when it
    comes to our on-going education: the longer you're on the road of
    life, the further away the horizon appears.

    Anyway, Dilbert made me think that if people choose to have a closed
    mind they may as well be ignorant because the net effect is the same.
    It's like stagnant backwater -- nothing new comes in, and what is there
    is never refreshed or replenished. It's like walking around with a trash
    barrel on your head. True, there's a certain safeness to having a closed
    mind, to being like I was and having all the answers. It's a little
    disconcerting to have to say, "I don't know" all the time. It's so cooler
    to have a ready answer to every conceivable question.

    Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not touting true ignorance, a total
    absence of good sense and common reasoning skills, but rather a
    mind-set that leads too many to the point that they refuse to even
    consider new ideas and points of view, going into attack mode when
    those are offered. Many here on this BB impress me, giving clear
    evidence that they have used their time away from the org. wisely. Yet
    even years of study can leave one devoid of common sense. Or
    fairness. Or non-judgmentalism. It's possible to learn too much.

    Fortunately, we were born with the solution to too much learnin' --
    two ears and only one mouth. Before putting the latter in gear, use the
    former to full effect. Listen, think, pause, reflect, reflect some more,
    and remember. Remember that no matter what the subject or how long
    you've studied it, you'll never know everything. It's a universal truth,
    often forgotten but worth remembering.

    It was comforting to have every question answered, back in those
    halcyon days when we lived in that far-away 'spiritual paradise' of the
    Judge, Nathan, and Freddie's making. But, we had to grow up and put
    away childish things and face the harsh realities of the real world, a
    place where there are seldom ready answers, painlessly arrived at.
    Real life is hardly ever like that, and this message board definitely
    AIN'T like that.

    All we got here is the freedom to express ideas, some of them true.

    Maybe.

    peace
    todd, trying very hard to keep the barrel off his head
    __________________________________________________
    "I was going to buy a copy of "The Power of Positive Thinking,"
    and then I thought: What the hell good would that do?"
    ______________-- Ronnie Shakes

  • think41self
    think41self

    Nice post Teejay,

    I love Dilbert!

    Thanks for likening our JW experience to walking around with trash cans on our head! We thought we were safe and protected, and like you said, had all the answers. When in reality, we just had blinders on and our minds closed.

    Give me freedom of thought any day!
    Think41self

  • Kristen
    Kristen

    Todd,
    I enjoyed absorbing your post and think you articulated that so well. I missed that particular strip, but know that Dilbert is so funny sometimes. I worked for huge corporation for many years and found Dilbert's humor so, so true. An evil catbert the HR director, what a hoot.

    Thanks for sharing your insights,
    Kristen

  • Mr Magoo
  • hippikon
    hippikon

    I liked this one too

    "But it does move"
    Galileo

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit