Stand by what we know to be true
From Wiki
"Stand by what we know to be true" is one of the proposed stated values of our PogoTribe. Please use this wiki page to flesh out what exactly this means to us. The end goal is to have a 2-3 paragraph summary of each of our stated values.
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What Is Knowledge and What Does It Mean For Us?
We as a tribe must recognise that knowledge is power, which should be respected and used with care. Not only that, but it should also be sought after, as once we have obtained enough power, we can do great things as a tribe. "The famous phrase 'scientia potentia est' is a Latin maxim "For also knowledge itself is power" stated originally by Francis Bacon in Meditationes Sacrae (1597), which in modern times is often paraphrased as "knowledge is power." [1]. The phrase implies that with knowledge or education one's potential or abilities in life will certainly increase. Having and sharing knowledge is widely recognized as the basis for improving one's reputation and influence, thus power." (Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientia_potentia_est .)It is the potential derived from knowledge that is so vital. Without potential, a community can not grow, accomplish, and improve. This would lead to stagnation and eventually collapse. This principle can be applied to our tribe as a whole. Through sharing the knowledge we have and striving to increase it we can improve our reputation, influence, and resources in order to accomplish greater things. Knowledge we have can also be used to develop our tribe fully (see Social Evolutionism).
How Much Knowledge Does the PogoTribe Have?
What we, as a group of a hundred thousand people, can know is a staggering prospect. Not only are we numerous, but we are also spaced out over countless different locations and cultures, each with their own varying perspective, knowledge, and experiential history to draw upon. This is why it is essential that, to fully develop and stabilize as a community, this widely accumulated knowledge must be documented and shared with future generations. Open access to a variety of worldviews and knowledge expands the scope of our tribe's vision and removes the limits to our potential. Maybe we could use the moon for this knowledge storing?
How Can We Gain Knowledge?
It is abundantly easy to increase your knowledge. The fact is, humans increase what they know every day. We learn just by being alive and using our senses to tell us things about the world around us. However, for the pogotribe this just will not do. We are not just a group of mundane people seeking the norm. We seek to use our awesome to bring out the awesome in others. Therefore everyone should strive every day to voluntarily and purposefully increase what we know. Several ways exist to accomplish this goal. All of the following can teach you something new. They each increase your knowledge even if in only small ways.
- Read a book
- Listen to music
- Watch a movie
- Go to school
- Write about something
- Hold a conversation with someone (Don't be afraid to talk to strangers.)
- Go somewhere new
- Eat something new
- Cook
- Take a walk while looking, listening, and interacting with the world around you.
- Be present in life
As a member of the pogotribe, knowledge is one of our most important tools. Short-term goals to increase knowledge are listed above, but how about some BIG knowledge-seeking goals? For instance...
- The 50-book challenge - to read 50 books in a year. <-- oh i love reading i would totaly do that
- Read a series of non-fiction books about a subject that interests you and make notes.
- Learn a language - we are such a large tribe that we could even have language chatrooms??, where people can offer their services as native speakers, and we can practice what we know and be corrected. This is a wonderful idea. As a pogotribe member one must be able to converse with each parts that will equal the whole. If the hand cannot speak to the brain, how will that hand be useful and safe from danger?
- Spend a couple of weeks starting out from a simple recipe for a meal you love, and tweaking it experimentally, writing down what you do, until you find a real taste explosion.
- Travel to a different country and immerse yourself in its culture
These things have real, almost touchable outcomes, even if they are just lists, and I find that these larger knowledge-seeking goals give more focus to the smaller ones.
How Can We Share Knowledge?
Human kind is at a point where its development spawns from innovation. We take pride in our quest to increase our knowledge in order to spark innovation and thus help humanity in moving a step forward toward a brighter future. We seek to expand our minds as a way to broaden our understanding of the universe. We accomplish this by learning from our tribal brothers and sisters, but more importantly we learn from outside sources, introspection (By means of Philosophy) and other means in order to share this newfound knowledge with our fellow tribe members. We can use tools such as Youtube, this Wiki and the South Pole of the Moon forum as means of communication to share our knowledge with the rest of the tribe, and the world.
How Can We Spread Our Knowledge Outside the Tribe?
Our knowledge can enable us to do great things both for ourselves, and for others. Yet sometimes the greatest thing you can do for others is to simply share that knowledge itself. It is through knowledge and understanding that discrimination is overcome. Knowledge helps communities become aware of impending disasters, and possibly prevent or mitigate them. Knowledge allows communities to better provide food, water and shelter for themselves. Of course, many of these things also require material assistance, but the knowledge is no less important for that. We must always consider how best we can share the knowledge we have acquired not only amongst ourselves, but also with the world as a whole, giving as much as we take, focusing especially upon getting information and knowledge to those who most need it. We cannot hoard our knowledge: When a group conceals knowledge it is incorporating competition for that human capital. We should share openly what we know in a free and organized forum with multiple boards, each with specific topics, trends, concepts, ideas, and (as always) awesome. In this forum we could post advertisements and send all that money through a charity. In this way we accomplish two goals of eliminating "world suck" and increasing our marginal knowledge.
Respect the Unknown
Misunderstanding often breeds mistrust, and we as a tribe must recognize this. In order to better uphold our values, especially that of seeking to know more, we must never allow ourselves or any other member of the tribe to disrespect or attack a concept or belief held by other people. It is unfair to feel contempt for such things that are not personally understood. Without striving to know more, we as a tribe limit ourselves to bouts of prejudice and perhaps hatred. We can dislike or disagree with such concepts and beliefs when we learn more about them and have reasonable facts to support a position for or against; however, before that knowledge is gained we must admit that any ill-tempered feelings are from a lack of understanding, of which we wish to improve upon.
"To respect" does not mean "to agree with," and we cannot continue in believing we are bettering ourselves and the world when we do not show respect to others within and without our tribe.
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Use our awesomeness for good • Embrace our "inner weird" • Have fun • Think impossibly big • Grow out • Grow strong • Stand by what we know to be true • Accept that we don't know everything • Welcome ALL who stand by these values |
