Posted on 08/28/2015 1:39:52 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
On August 27, Salon magazine published an interview with the author of a recent study on mass shootings to claim that the drive for “American exceptionalism” creates “a gap” between that which people desire and that which they achieve, thereby resulting in a dissonance that leads to violence.
According to Salon, the author of the study is University of Alabama associate professor Adam Lankford. He suggests that violence–particularly “public mass shootings”–are part of “the dark side of American exceptionalism.” That people who want so much but achieve so little are candidates for violent actions.
He said, “I’ve been looking at the idea that, according to string theory, there’s a social pressure to achieve the American dream, but a lack of means to do so.” He said he is not arguing that poverty causes mass shootings, rather, he is saying the inward drive to be more than you are often creates “a large gap between what people are aspiring to and what they can realistically achieve,” which results in a frustration that gives way to violence in some.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
That has nothing to do with American Exceptionalism, but the Left needs to slander the concept as much as possible.
No, its the intellectual geniuses in universities that demand that we give children trophies for showing up. And telling them how wonderful they are regardless of how much effort they put out.
When these children meet the real world and fall on their face they are angry and hate those who do accomplish things - “because its not fair”.
"We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off"
~Tyler Durden
The author has a point, but he blames it on something entirely unrelated, but something that the Left must destroy.
“African sparrow or European sparrow”. What you posted is the physical string theory. Here is the social string theory.
Anyway, kidding aside, the study author stretched too far to sound ‘knowledgeable and impressive’. Such buzzwords are like a piece of brightly colored string with lots of bling, if you twirl fast enough, people will fall for it.
Especially if you have MD, PhD, and all kinds of titles after your name.
American exceptionalism simply does not mean what 98% of people think it does, left and right, including this writer.
It isn’t people having high expectation of success in life like this bozo claims. It isn’t a national cheer, like some ignorant people use essentially claiming that America is exceptional and answers to some higher calling.
It simply means America developed as an -exception- to the way any other nation developed. It was founded on the individual as the standard of value, and that the government must rule only with the consent of the governed.
I think it's Big Government's push against American Exceptionalism that creates a gap between what people want to achieve and what people can achieve.
String Theory? More like Loose Wire Theory.
Simple: Because all their readers are morons.
bump
,“American exceptionalism”
That means the government is constrained by the rule of law and the people - and the Right to keep and bear arms in the cornerstone of that constraint.
The use of "American exceptionalism" to mean something like "the American Dream" is Langford's and should be deplored. It's sloppy throwing around of vague buzzwords.
Precisely! Mass murders occur in a lot of other countries, but usually with the means available - machetes come to mind and poison gas for the really adept - if these people had access to guns, they would use them as well - mass murders are rare, and that’s why they make the news.
Parents, don’t let anyone (including you) tell your child how absolutely FABULOUS he/she is and how he/she can be ANYTHING he/she wants to be if he/she just sets his/her mind to it. Forget aptitude, ability, strength, perseverance, intelligence, etc etc etc - not everyone is going to be as impressed with your little darling as you are... even when he wants to be gay reporter, or something.
Googling for "social string theory definition" yielded this gem from the introduction to a paper by Robert L. Oprisko , evidently one of the "Social String Theory" heavy hitters:
Theoria and Praxis, Volume 2, issue 2
Strings: A Political Theory of Multi-Dimensional Reality
Abstract
An "unfaithful" interpretation of Michael Weinstein's oeuvre illuminates a complex, interpenetrative system of realities that reflects the lived experience of his vitalist ontology. By connecting Weinstein’s radical separation and agonic contradiction with Karen Barad’s radical entanglement, I show that reality is an ever-changing unique presentation of active relational engagements in perpetual tension. I propose that theoretical physics and socio-politics have a great deal in common: a unified field theory of being rooted in a multi-dimensional presentation of reality.
Intellectuals and Libertarianism: Thomas Sowell and Robert Nisbet
"Social science experts, according to Sowell, are the modern, secular equivalents of a priestly class, but with this difference: Social scientists, riding on the prestige of the physical (or “hard”) sciences, claim to render objective judgments, free from personal bias or values, about what will promote the good of society or, sometimes, humanity as a whole. Intellectuals who associate with governments typically pride themselves on their objectivity, especially when opposing what they characterize as special interest groups. But such intellectuals have merely hidden their personal values under the mantle of science; in truth, they are just another special interest group with a political agenda."
It is all right to have high hopes even if they end in disappointment because one can’t live without hope.
That is what Robert Browning seems to be saying in his poem, Andrea del Sarto, a dramatic monologue where the painter in his old age is speaking to his beautiful, young, faithless wife. He says:
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?
From here: Robert Browning
He’s almost right. Affirmative action creates a large gap between what levels of achievement people believe they are capable of and what they actually possess the raw intelligence and skill set to achieve. The inability to ever attain the success they desire causes them to blame “institutional racism”, resulting in a dissonance that often leads to violence or mental instability. I have seen this first hand several times in the science/engineering world.
Who destroyed “the means to do so”?
Amerika’s fault.
Even more tragic, it is usually the wrong people being shot.
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