Needless Divisions

Steve Jobs was an incredible individual. One of the things I appreciate most about the guy was when he said that Apple was the marriage of left brain and right brain sensibilities. He brought art and craft to an industry dominated by nerds. The result of that marriage has brought us the elegant products Apple makes today. The rest of the nerds are content to copy Apple because they have no taste of their own.

What Jobs put his finger on was a needless division between left brain and right brain types. Art and math don't have to be opposed. They can be complementary and united. They can work together to make awesome things. Yet, there is that needless division between the artists and the engineers. You have to wonder what Leonardo da Vinci would have made of all this.

I think many of the divisions we have are artificial and stupid. This comes to me often as a libertarian as I find myself in alliance with or opposition to conservatives and progressives on a whole host of issues. The funny thing is when some shitheaded leftard tries to equate me with Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly. Because I'm not a socialist, I must automatically be some Fox News fasctard. Conversely, fasctards equate me with leftards because I think bombing Iran is dumb. I'm at the point where I think people do whatever they are told because they wear a label as opposed to having actual thought and consideration of the issues. The fact is that many Republicans are probably not homophobes, but they can't say this out loud because it would result in expulsion from the group.

I have learned not to think in these categories or groups. It blows my mind how people automatically go to the polar extreme on an issue as they oppose the other side that occupies the other polar extreme. A great example would be vegan people and Paleo people. I'm in the middle preferring lean meats and whole grains. I am a semi-vegetarian which has resulted in me losing weight, feeling great, and not being deprived of entire food groups. At this point, I think those sides are not in touch with reality anymore but have taken to extremes as they make their case.

I can go down a laundry list of groupthink to show these needless divisions in action. They make no sense. So, why do they happen? I think it goes back to high school as kids sort themselves into different groups. The math nerds separate from the goths. The bookworms separate from the jocks. Then, these groups live up or down to the expectations of them.

For me, there are two things that keep me from these needless divisions. The first is my belief in individualism. The second is my appreciation for the Renaissance Ideal. I think it makes sense to be both a good poet and an engineer. The result of this is that I end up making friends across group lines. I feed myself on a variety of ideas. I have no problem having the R&B station next to the country station on my radio. And I don't think there is really anything I can't do given time and motivation.

If you can move beyond needless divisions, you can do some beautiful things. This is what Steve Jobs did at Apple. He was not content to leave computers to a bunch of soulless nerds like Bill Gates. He did awesome things because he wasn't hindered by a needless division. I think the future belongs to people like Jobs that move beyond these artificial boundaries and dividing lines. These divisions are needless, and they hold us back. Fuck those divisions.

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