Branding a product is about getting you to like it.

When Pepsi went up against the giant soft drink company Coca-Cola, they did something that was pretty new at the time.

In the early 1960s, the advertising company BBDO (Batten, Barton, Durstine, and Osborn) made the "Pepsi Generation" campaign. This well-known campaign was made to draw younger people by making a connection between Pepsi and a young, active, and laid-back way of life. The idea behind the "Pepsi Generation" was to set Pepsi apart from its main rival, Coca-Cola, and make Pepsi the drink of choice for a new group of forward-thinking people. The effort helped Pepsi grow its market share and improve its image as a brand.

Later, Apple would do something similar by relaunching their company with ads that encouraged people to be creative, express themselves, and be themselves. In both cases, they talked about who people were and who they wanted to be, suggesting that using their products would turn you into the person you've always wanted to be.

Brands want you to feel like you belong to them so that you'll be loyal to them and spend your money with them not just today, but hopefully also tomorrow.
Politics for consumers

Politicians also want to know what you think, but mostly because they want your vote and money for their campaigns. In a consumerist society where the only thing that counts is buying things, they've learned from good marketing. This may be why we are living in the age of "identity politics."

Identity politics is a political strategy or point of view in which people or groups form alliances and work for their own goals based on things like race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or social class. Or, to put it more simply, it's about getting you to believe that the political person or group is on your side and that everyone else is wrong. It's controversial because it might make people focus too much on the differences between groups instead of their shared goals and things they have in common. It also breaks up political groups and makes it harder for society as a whole to move forward.
Religion for consumers

It isn't wholly different for religion, unfortunately. In the United States, a religious organization can rake in billions of dollars without paying a penny of taxes.

    You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion.
    L. Ron Hubbard, former science fiction author who started Scientology

In a world where everything is a business, capitalism has taken over religion as well. Even though I'm sure that millions of people who call themselves Christian, Muslim, Jew, pagan, Wiccan, etc. are true believers with good intentions, the truth is that we've made a world where nothing can live without enough money.
If you love your mind, set it free

    If you love something, set it free; if it comes backs it's yours, if it doesn't, it never was.
    – Richard Bach

Part of the founding purpose of this website is to free people's heads. We don't want your mind; we think if you see things as humans were meant to see them, we'll all be on the same side regardless. That side is the side of life, as we know it.

The first and most repeated exhortation on this site is "know thyself."

This site's viewpoint is one of old wisdom combined with an unwavering embrace of science and technology. We believe that, in this age of fast technological growth, the knowledge of the ancients can help us navigate a world in which science fiction is becoming reality on a daily basis.

I've spent my entire life studying computing technology and ancient wisdom. I certainly do not have all of the answers. What I can tell you is how you can better prepare yourself to assist me – to assist humanity – in finding the answers.

I don't want to control your thoughts, and I certainly don't want mindless followers. I want to share what I've learnt with others so that we may all work together to preserve the world.

Over the years, I've been privileged to have friends with whom I could have frank and honest discussions about sensitive topics even when we disagreed. Topics such as religion and politics are often seen as off-limits among friends, but good friends should certainly be able to have truthful conversations.

In America, we're very outcome-oriented; the things we do should have defined goals, we should be achieving those goals, and – unfortunately – we often feel a little guilty when our activities don't have a tangible result.

Perhaps we think that the desired outcome of our sincere conversations about our beliefs should be vindication for our own opinions or even the conversion of another to our point of view. It has arisen in my mind of late, however, the thought that this is wholly incorrect.

It is widely accepted that many European settlers came to America for religious freedom. Some mistake this to mean we're a Christian nation, but our constitution explicitly defines that we're a nation where there never was – and should never be – a national religion. Instead, our founding fathers, realizing that we'll always have different opinions, decided that we'd make a country where that was not only acceptable but protected by law. These laws protect us all; they protect Protestant Christians from being forced into Catholicism, allow Muslims and Buddhists and Jews to live side-by-side, and even protect smaller groups such as modern pagans.

In this context, it has come to me that the real value of honest discussion of sensitive topics such as political opinions or religious beliefs is in their ability to enable us to live side by side in peace. It's easy to be swept up by the media which creates problems that don't really exist and subsequently become stirred up over enemies that you've never actually seen; they do this because it's profitable for them and for no other reason. Chances are, you know people who hold differing political and religious beliefs, and in many cases, they are your friends, your coworkers; you may know the names of their children, have visited their houses, and would never imagine wishing harm upon them. This is the reality of positive human relations, and this is the ideal of America.

The true value in the honest discourse regarding these "sensitive" topics between our friends and neighbors is that it allows us to realize that they're much like us; they chose to accept certain values because it is where life led them, and they're neither stupid nor evil because of it. They're just human and they're doing their best to understand the lives that have been laid before them.

As Americans – and humans – it is important that we realize that sometimes there are real enemies who might desire to harm us or those we love… but most people are just people, trying to live a good and decent life to the best of their understanding.

I believe it is time that we stop avoiding conversations about our differences and take the time to hear why your friend, your relation, or your coworker thinks or believes a certain way. Only then can we stop buying into the insanity that leads so many to believe that those not like them are the enemy at the gate.