Our Ideas and Their Impact on Society

News flash - People have lots of ideas about things. Some of these ideas are better than others. Some of the bad ideas are worse than others. No, not the ideas that get people on television shows like World's Wildest Police Videos or America's Funniest Home Videos. Nor am I talking about the ideas that get mentioned in either "dumb crook" news or the Darwin Awards.

The ideas that I'll be focusing on for the next several months are ideas about relationships, work, politics, and other areas of social life. Instead of trying to categorize and explain in great, abstract, detail I'll just offer you a list of some of the ideas I want to cover.

The American Dream
Business people are dishonest
Business is more efficient than government
Money leads to happiness
Destiny/Fate/things that are "meant to be"
Homosexuality is unnatural
Nationalism
Progress
Economic growth is good
Market forces are natural
Life after death
God cares about people
God has revealed himself/herself/itself to humanity
Science is about the pursuit of truth
God plays favorites
God determines who is rich and who is poor
People succeed through their own efforts
People do what they want to do
_________ is human nature
Humans are somehow above/apart from nature
We live in a dangerous world/society/dangerous times
Competition is a natural part of life
Sexuality is dirty/sinful
Teenagers should only be taught abstinence
Sex education promotes promiscuity
Gender roles
(subjects may be added or deleted as my interests and imagination dictate)

What a list! I better get started. And if you can think of anything of wide interest that I've overlooked please tell me.

You may be wondering what I intend to write about each idea. Well, we've already covered the fact that our ideas come from several sources - our own heads, religion, education, family, peer groups, and the mass media. I'll let that dog sleep. I'll be concentrating on the actual and possible consequences of each idea, with one or two posts devoted to each idea.

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Interested in exploring the subject of ideas in society at greater length? Look for my book, Ideas and Everyday Life, in April of 2006. Get more of my blog posts, with examples that apply to your daily life.