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@Cynique now there's is a thought. Maybe we came here fleeing a dying planet... the planet of... dare I say it... Wakanda!

Interesting @zaji I find magnets much more fascinating. You see sound I can understand intuitively. Sound travels over a media. So no sound it space, but it travels faster in water. In the cheap seat in the stadium you can observe a ball being hit before you hear it. All of this makes sense to me indeed I could reason this out on my own. But magnets never made sense until it was explained to me how they worked. Indeed electromagnetic force is far stronger than gravity and propagates infinitely. This is not something I could have intuited. @Cynique, maybe given how evil some people are.

HEY, to hell with everyone else, sister @Cynique just me a years dose of honorific. I'll not let it go to my head!

I see things a bit differently @zaji in the case of describing the elephant each person was accurately describing what they felt. They were all correct. The problem comes when any of them use their limited experience in an attempt to describe the entire elephant. Many of us do this without even realizing it. We do not realize we are blind to a larger whole. This is called ignorance. The worst of us are indeed closed to additional information we are arrogant in our ignorance. In terms of airplanes. Airplanes do not "defy" gravity. The take advantage of another scientific principal to overcome gravity. Indeed a complete understanding of gravity and how it works is necessary in order for one to understand flight. This similar to what you wrote, but the distinction I'm trying to make is that gravity is not "wrong," but a better understanding of the whole environment allows us to apparently defy it. Opinions and preferences are subjective, so we can all have different opinions and be completely right as far as the individual concerned. Facts are not subject to individual whims or preferences.

This is such a meaty topic. It is hard to properly address all the issues being raised. Look for Black people with college degrees, these degrees mean a lot means a lot less than they used to and have always meant less than they do for white people. I have typically been more educated than most of the people I've worked with (I have an MBA and a MS in engineering). I once had a white manager tell me during our first meeting that he did not care how many degrees I had -- this coming from a white guy who had less education and I'd guess who was less intelligent as well. But he was senior to me in his role and made a lot more money. He also had a direct say on the size of my bonus. When the bonus pool was being divided up who do you think got the largest shared me or his boys? This was at Goldman Sachs. This type of thing was one of the reasons I left. After a certain point, I determined I would rather struggle on my own than be owned by folks who really don't see me or respect me. But that is me and I know most people are not like me in this way. At a Goldman it is also not just enough to have a degree it also matters where the degree is from. Because of this Black people are are a significantly disadvantage because we are historically excluded from the Ivies. Again, not because of ability but because of legacy, racist admission policies, etc. Of course there are other places to work, but the firms where you earn the highest wages operate the same way. Now this also excludes other whites based upon class, which have led some whites who believe "affirmative action" has given unqualified Blacks positions that they rightly deserve. The value of an education is not a simple question. People always say. "Troy I'm sure your engineering degrees helped you create AALBC.com," No they did not. The skills I use today were not invented when I got my degrees. I learned everything I know to run this site on my own. Well surely, they say, that my MBA helps me run my business. Again, the answer is "no." An MBA is best suited to teaching one how to work for a large corporation. Sure the same ability that allowed be to earn my degrees is the same one that allowed me to create AALBC.com. But that ability is not at all unique and definitely not sufficient to run AALBC.com. @Kalexander2's point "Black are taught to never challenge authority" resonated because this was he way I was raised. I always referred to people who were older to me. In my first job I found it difficult to refer to the older white guys by the first names. My white peers did not have this problem and they also challenged the older guys ideas more freely.

I maintain that the REAL value of the movie is that it gives Black youth an image or a template of what a well managed high tech Black society COULD look like.....which will inspire them. Also..... Although the movie was fiction, there were a lot of facts and ancient African concepts in it that were being RE-introduced to Black America such as: -Respect for elders and veneration of ancestors. -The concept of female warriors -The belief and access to other realms where the ancestors dwell -Black women wearing their hair NATURALLY....which is a big plus Something I haven't heard anyone talk about in the media is the fact that we have a virtually all Black movie and NOT ONCE was the "n" word used....lol. This movie has done far more good than harm in my opinion.

i still think it shows more imagination and creativity to use a symbolic avatar. I think it's presumptuous to use the picture of someone else to represent one's own self. I, myself, use a screen name and my own picture and, as i've said, i have nothing to hide. I stand by everything i say, including how i really don't like this country.

Well anybody who earns a college degree is not to be dismissed. Those who college isn't for, wouldn't have the academic smarts to last 4 years in college and graduate. No denying a college degree looks good on a resume, and when a job promotion is between a person who has a degree, and one who doesn't, the candidate with a degree has a leg up. i can't imagine anyone wasting time going to college for 4 years if they felt better suited to be a plumber or a hairdresser or the owner of a rib joint. i've always regretted not finishing college, and the 2 years i spent going to one where i received the equivalency of an associate degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences, taught me about subjects which served me well through out my life. Education is never wasted.

We (me and the other White racist trolls) have come to the conclusion that some of you are confusing SCIENCE with KNOWLEDGE. Science CONTAINS knowledge, but the two are NOT the same. (kind of like the different Pioneers who make up the composite....lol) When you reference different facts and discoveries from ancient African cultures like Kemet and Nubia or talk about what the ancient Native Americans knew, you're not talking about science. You're talking about their knowledge, which may have been based in whatever concept their particular culture used to arrive at those beliefs. SCIENCE is a uniquely Western concept. It's more than just collecting information; there are rules and methods to actual "science". And it is indeed a religion because it is dogmatic and fairly strict in it's application.

Certain things blow my mind. "Light is stronger than gravity. "

LOL. Don't get me started. I've considered the idea that maybe we are not from here. Maybe we did a bad thing on our planet and this planet is our prison. We were put here for bad behavior, punishment. Or more specifically, we were born here after our ancestors did a bad thing on our home planet.

When you get into things like levitating, you are entering the realm of the occult, and what some would call black magic. Some would also exercise caution when investigating this because you may be summoning forces from the dark side. This is all included in what is known as the "old wisdom". Maybe the reason some of what mankind once knew, was better to forget. Who knows......

@Troy I was probably all of 12 years old when I played with magnets to levitate metal objects. I had such a blast doing it. Very basic, elementary. For me, the use of sound to levitate objects is far more fascinating. The reason is, a magnet can be touched. But I cannot touch and lift sound with my hands, hence why i'm interested in sound levitating things. I read a while back that the ancients may have used sound to build monuments, including, possibly, the pyramids.

People who say that aliens came to Earth to help build the pyramids are racists. People who will say anything to diminish the accomplishments of Black people. OK I dont completely believe that but you know what I mean. I will say that all I know about the Pyramids tells me they we have indeed forgotten something over the millennia. What was lost, forgotten, and often destroyed goes beyond just the construction of the pyramids. What we've forgotten is our understanding of nature and how we relate to it. We've forgotten how to relate to each other and our place place in the universe. It feels like we are reinventing the wheel even when it comes to spirituality. Today we can only hope to discover a fraction of what we knew thousands of years ago. SO we are susceptible to believe anything that comes along. In much the same way some in he Black community have latched on to the world of Wakanda as a source of pride...

Net-net we all agree people are better off with a college degree than without one in the current economy. However having one is no guarantee of success and not having one is no guarantee of failure. All the rest is a function of luck, preparation, connections, genetics, the economy, what you've studied, where you lives, etc, etc. Too many variables to come out with a perfect formula to predict an outcome with a high level of certainty. Again the degree maximizes your potential. No I would not have gotten the job at Goldman without the degree, but I also did not come in through the normal recruiting channels. Del I forgot all about Drexel. Were you there when they imploded?

OK @zaji we are in complete agreement and thanks for not picking about my use of the word "defy" for you understood what I was trying to communicate. As far as levitation magnets can be used to do this as well. @Delano I assume you meant some form of levitation using the mind right? If so, yes there would need to be a few new laws to support that, but I doubt any of the laws are in jeopardy as no one one has demonstrated the ability to levitate themselves.

Aerodynamics defy gravity.

Pioneer calling Kalexander crazy is like the pot calling the kettle black. Just because he's not a troll doesn't mean he's not an egomaniac. He's so hard up for compliments he makes them up about himself. I am starting to like Kalexander because he's good-natured and thick-skinned.

It all feels subjective to me. Some go to college and go on to be wealthy because of it. Others go to college, Ivy League even, and can't find a job to save their life (I indirectly know a few who are in this position). Some have zero higher education and even dropped out of high school and are multi-millionaires now, others dropped out of high school and either can't find a job or live on minimum wage. It really seems to depend on the person and the situation. I hear stories on both sides of the education fence and it varies wildly. Education has helped some, it hasn't helped others. For some it hasn't helped, they have nothing. For others it hasn't helped, they are rich and brilliant beyond anything we could imagine. We each get what we get, or don't get what we don't get based on our life experiences and drive. Nothing seems hard and fast when it comes to individual experiences with education.

It could be. In this modern time, I would define it as science. But what if it is something more, something we have lost? What if we've gone backwards and what we now see as science is child's play? The tinkering of childish minds desiring to know the world, but have destroyed the knowledge of those who truly knew the world? What if the method by which the pyramids were built was so beyond anything we could imagine, that we can't even consider it? What if?

-Respect for elders and veneration of ancestors. LIke when KIllmonger murdered the character played by Forest Whitaker?-The concept of female warriors Without looking name 3 "African" cultures that used female warriors-The belief and access to other realms where the ancestors dwell Man name one culture on earth that odes not have some variation of this concept-Black women wearing their hair NATURALLY....which is a big plus What?! nobody had a "natural" hair style in this film. Substituting a straight blond wig for a another wig one is not "natural." I don't think anyone is arguing that this movie has done "harm." My position is that the amount of good most are arguing that is has, or will do, for Black people is grossly exaggerated.

@Pioneer1 (anyone) do you think the construction of the Pyramids is an example of science applied?

@Delano, damn brother, that took some guts to disavow other members vindication of academic exposure. And I thank you for such honesty; which goes to my point (subject to your honesty) that Black folk with limited academic exposure does, not only, have the ability to absorb advanced information but can go beyond with just empirical exposure to life in America. Hence, even I had to accept the other member's assertions because of already informed commentary. Just think, @Delano, how dangerous you’d be with a BA, or MA strapped to your side, the sort of reckoning that makes America quiver at the knees without someone convincing you that really can’t do it?

There is an ongoing education program going on America, for quite some time now; it’s called “The Hidden Curriculum,” Hidden curriculum refers to the unwritten, unofficial, and often unintended lessons, values, and perspectives that students learn in school. While the “formal” curriculum consists of the courses, lessons, and learning activities students participate in, as well as the knowledge and skills educators intended. Now, because the curriculum is unofficial there are no set standards, and States are free to implement the whatever exercise’s they want, with varied outcomes (and without Government interference, regulations), or ‘unintended lessons and values.’ This information is worth checking out for yourselves It’s worth reading some of the sick philosophies, ideas, and rationale educators use to justify the program, including Betsy DeVos and other’s assertions that Black children are naturally inferior to other groups and lack the ability, motivation, and discipline to learn. That secondary, advanced education is a waste of time for them. Among the varies lessons in the hidden curriculum, Black are taught to never challenge authority, sit-up straight in the classroom, etc. While their White counterparts are to always question authority and to relax in class conducing to learning. The minority groups make better laborers, unskilled workers while the other make better managers and leaders. What I’m hearing in this discussion might even be construed as new rationale adding to reasons for the hidden curriculum. However, everyone has a right to her/his opinion, and often than not, it's useless to point-out flaws in human convictions and beliefs. One part of me believes all humans are doomed with no hope, another part, however, have certainly limited faith that humankind does have the ability to change beyond the ordinary. But probably never will.

What jobs will remain after technology is steadily making various jobs obsolete.

@Cynique, take you pick, sister you want to kick me with your heels, or my boot? @Troy, I was unaware such information existed, Mr. Graves, I’m sure to have learned to live with skepticism when interacting with people unaware of his identity. I am always skeptical of secrets and hidden things for the simple reason an unsatisfied curiosity. Not a troll, not a mole known as Earl Graves founder of Black Enterprise Magazine who advocates education as a waste of time because some people don't have the ability to learn.

@Troy, I agree we should disagree. Sister @Cynique is thinking with an open mind to infer we should at least always try, trying is never a waste of time even if it yields nothing in the end. As a Viet Nam Era Veteran, I can attest to the fact that a great many of brother and sisters attended colleges and universities to only get the educational benefits, we call it pimping the program. That even though many remain addicted to drugs, alcohol, PTSD, etc. they were able to stand on their own two feet; some while knee deep in debt. It is almost ludicrous to speak self-independence without and believe advanced education is a waste of time. Just imagine how many of our Black brothers and sisters already really believe that. Any effort that may alleviate another generation of fools is not a waste of time!

Well, having the courage of one's own convictions is a choice. What one believes and gravitates toward defines one as an individual, as opposed to a vacillating, ambiguous fence sitter. My response to a person, really depends on how they present their opinion. I am challenged by arrogant pontificators. I am charmed by people who suggest their opinions to me, rather than impose them upon me.

I think Pioneer is right in the sense that a college education is a waste of time for some people, especially if we looked at there personalities, talents and goals. For many college is just a rip off (but that is another conversation. But ability is rarely the reason for someone not to go to college, that is were we diverge on opinions.

If @Pioneer1 was a troll he would be the most ineffective or slowest one in existence. Pioneer is not a troll. I'm been running discussion forums for 20 years now and I don't begrudge anyone for wanting to maintain their anonymity. In fact the guy who spent a decade running our book club went by the name of Thumper and he did not want to reveal his real identity. In fact for years, lurkers would come to me, in the real world, and ask if I was Thumper -- many just automatically assumed this was true. After a while Thumper gained some notoriety and maintaining his anonymity became really hard. To this day his real name does not appear on this site. The same was true for the author known as Zane (who has posted here in the past). Zane ran her own forum dealing with sex and she maintained her anonymity for a long time she even had books published before people know who she was. The woman you runs the most popular Black forum that I know of uses Condi Rice as her avatar, thought she revealed her identity to me when I inquired whether her site was Black owned. Thought she could have made up an identity... That said, I give a lot more credit to people who stand behind what they say with a true identity. Look I know anyone can take some I might have written here out of context and make me look crazy. I know I can't run for public office of work for many companies based upon some of the stuff I've written here -- even if said in jest or to play devils advocate. So if you job is in jeopardy by all means use an avatar. There are many good reason to hide one's identity on the web. BTW @Kalexander2, Pioneers avatar is Earl Graves founder of Black Enterprise Magazine: https://aalbc.com/top_black_websites/#Black+Enterprise

I for one am very impressed with you profound analysis sister @Zaji. Indeed, we are all subject to the same U.S. State power machine. I wish someone would wake White folks up to that fact so they realize they are the true targets. Black folk has never been that important or powerful to target for anything except a consumerist base. But be careful sister. Are you sure you’re ready to handle the answer about to come to you. WE’RE ALL SCREWED and there is no solution in the end!! The tunnel we’re all going through opens up to a bigger tunnel. Trying to turn back to the light is a mirage. EVERYTHING WILL NOT BE ALRIGHT like our mothers told us. This is a reason I choose to be a 'crisis theorist' instead of a funtionlist because the negative far outweigh the position. Forget the "don't nobody bring me no bad news" proposition of wizard of oz's wicked witch of the north. The good news will prove to be really bad news.