Origins of Technology
work work work
I'm not writing this piece for fun. Not at all. in fact, it's brutally difficult and I'll tell
you why. The purpose is to help me and others clarify something that has had me
very hard down for quite a while and very difficult to explain. I can recall working for
the Church of Scientology in the UK. We were at the American University, not the
large American University in London, but a smaller one and closer to East
Grinstead where our organization was based. We were trying to recruit students
and sell books by L. Ron Hubbard to the students there. If students from the
American University had come to St. Hill - the place where scientology was
located - in order to sell books - any books at all - or recruit students for their
courses - they would not have been allowed on the grounds.
The L. Ron Hubbard policy toward standard education was
that it was not only worthless, but down right close to evil. Anything not written by
L. Ron Hubbard was largely and usually worthless and down right close to evil.
This attitude would make many people defensive and probably somewhat
annoyed or offended since they'd spent much time in schools where they'd
learned to read and write and add numbers and learn about many important
subjects.
Hubbard attended George Washington University for two years, had poor
grades and dropped out. He majored in Civil Engineering and told Look magazine
"He never took his degree".
For the record, engineering school is hard work, very hard work. Landing a man
on the Moon is no little thing, and neither is building a bridge.
What got to me at that school was that after having adopted Hubbard's attitude
about the worthlessness of higher education, and despite my own real experience
in excellent schools, I found myself in their gym shooting baskets and had very
mixed emotions that day about the experience. Something was wrong. Something
was gnawing at me. Sure, people should not be judged totally by their grades in
public school or any school for that matter. There are many other important things
in life. Additionally, many students who haven't the resources, can't afford school or
are pressed into working early instead for economic reasons. Still, most schools
usually do an excellent job of helping students live better, more useful lives no
matter their circumstances and, in fact, are there first to help any student have a
complete and practical education. To say less and to ignore the good schools do is
far from what you what expect from the "humanitarian" that Hubbard continually
claimed he was. He's gone now. May he rest in peace. My purpose here is not to
find things that are wrong about others in my estimation, but to point out the best I
can the true and most important contributors to today's current and most
successful technologies, whatever area of life they might be concerned with.
I felt bad at that gym because I had stopped supporting standard education and
instead was supporting those who considered it a waste of time at best. And, here
it had done so much good for myself and my friends.
Look, it is probably true that Hitler's camps for Germany's youth had many fond
moments for the young boys and girls that attended. That's not the point at all. The
point is that there is practically no hard sell to public school or most private
universities either, yet the human and social value is extremely high. The same
thing can be said about good family. The parents do everything they can to help
their children. In the same way, schools are among the finest things a community
has to help its children. Technologies are developed to help people, to make their
lives easier, their work more efficient. The best, the true sources that help man, do
not make fun of other people. They point out the good and they point out the
failures in a way that is simply to prevent others making the same mistakes. This is
a characteristic of a good technology, whether it is in medicine, study itself, or
basketball. It has this about it. It is humble and wishes only to serve and help man,
not in the spirit of sacrifice, but in the spirit of having fun, enjoying life. Like most
people really are when they are being themselves..,.