Everything there is to understand.

( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Wed 26 May 2010, 23:31, archived)

Everything except what makes people buy goods
and how to get them to buy goods from you for a profit? Yes?
( in vino veritas, Wed 26 May 2010, 23:33, archived)

Well now you have got me there,
understanding how to coerce and manipulate people doesn't seem all that positive. Well maybe understanding it is one thing, and actually doing it entirely another. I mean we understand how people freeze do death because of experiments in Nazi Germany, and that turned out to be very useful information.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Wed 26 May 2010, 23:43, archived)

Are you comparing an NVQ in business studies
to the human experimentation carried out by the Nazis?
( in vino veritas, Wed 26 May 2010, 23:52, archived)

Yes.

( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Wed 26 May 2010, 23:54, archived)

hahahaha
clicking dis
( wotofco pissing in your swimming pool, Thu 27 May 2010, 0:02, archived)

Another way to look at it would be that she's comparing De Beers sponsoring civil war in Africa
with the Lifeboats saving hypothermic victims of near-drownings.

I don't think that extrapolating absurd juxtapositions invalidates the argument of itself.
( MooCow_Byter, Thu 27 May 2010, 0:12, archived)

I don't think this is a bad aim,
despite being what I'd consider a pretty abstract concept. But it seems a little vague and (by definition) unachievable a goal for a workable society. Maybe a set of more concrete ideas for people to strive for would be helpful. Although most people try to increase their personal understanding of the Universe almost automatically to some extent, it's difficult to relate to as something that we can meaningfully aim for.
( MooCow_Byter, Wed 26 May 2010, 23:38, archived)