I came across the phrase “ideological burden” when I read “Uncle Petros and Goldbach’s conjecture” about a man who help’s his uncle try to solve a complicated math problem known as Goldbach’s conjecture.There was a part that described how the man’s uncle left Nazi Germany (something to the effect of either because he would’nt like to have or have his work subjected to what he called) an “ideological burden” (by which I think Nazi ideology is meant).That scenerio reminds me of how I’ve heard that when the Soviet Union was still around certain scientific and mathematical breakthroughs did’nt spread easily because they apparently conflicted with Soviet ideology.I know of two one scientific and the other mathematical but I cant “put a name on them right now”.That phrase has really caught my attention ever since and I guess that,that example is a context where something is an "ideological burden.'m also curious as to what people think about the phrase “ideological burden”.The way I interpret it,it means to always do things out of an ideoloigcal basis.For instance I guess that politicians can say that certain people have religion as an “ideological burden” and that’s why they cant agree with politicians on the decsion and/or make a choice and I guess that religiously observant people can kind of say vice-versa in that,that politician only arrives at that conclusion because of an “ideological burden” like advocating leftism.However I’ve got a feeling that it can mean more then that.Any replies on this?.Thank you very much for your time.
The human brain is a kind of computer, vastly different structurally from your PC or a Cray, but with this in common: Brains and computers run programs.
There are big programs in your computer, and little programs. When running, they control the computer entirely.
An example of a big program is your PC’s version of Windoze, or, if you are more technologically adept, Linux. Such programs are called the “OS,” meaning, Operating System. The OS is the computer’s equivalent of a human’s religious belief system, in that each determines which other programs are allowed to run. If you try to install a program written to run under Linux, Windoze won’t allow it. And, vice versa.
Similarly, a devout Catholic’s brain will not permit the entry of other religions, or atheism, or ideas like mine, into it. The OS is what intellectuals call the “ideological burden,” because they need arcane terminology to garner credibility. Unfortunately they have misnamed it, as is the way with pinheaded intellectuals, because they do not understand it. The OS is necessary. Neither your computer nor your mind will function well without one.
The first computer that I personally got to work with had no OS. Upon firing it up in the morning, it did nothing until I keyed in a program requiring 204 precise switch settings. You would not want to do that on your PC or Mac. Nor would you want to wake up each morning waiting for someone else to key in or verbalize your marching orders for the day.
Every program in your brain is an “ideological burden,” There are small burdens, such as, Chrysler makes the best cars, labor unions are good for America, Budweiser is great beer, and the Dallas Cowboys are “America’s Team.” But they matter little whether wrong or right. You can buy a Chrysler, support big labor, drive to Dallas and drink insipid beer while watching a Cowboys game. The economy rolls along and thanks you. Or, you can buy a Honda made by non-union workers and drive it to Green Bay to watch the Packers play, and meet friends for a wine and bratwurst tailgate party. The economy rolls along and thanks you.
Your brain is full of little programs which guide your life. Some were planted by others, some are there by your choice. Commercials are always trying to install their own programs in your brain. When your brain, and therefore you, are entirely controlled by these programs, they define you, and
you become the intellectual burden. For example, President B.O. is a man run entirely by his brain’s programs, and now by his political overseers. Whatever mind he came into life with has been shoved off into a tiny corner of his brain by the “ideological burdens” which he allowed to take charge.
I happen to believe that fundamental programs, such as religious beliefs, are far more important than the little programs because they control a wider range of human activities. Chrysler owners generally do not blow up their neighbors’ Fords and Buicks, or their neighbors, simply because those neighbors chose to run a different program. Nonetheless, since all fundamental programs currently installed in human brains (from Hinduism through atheism) are equally absurd, while they are important in the moment, they make no difference in the larger scheme of things. Balance comes with difficulty and time. For now, violent Jihadists are promoting their favored I.B. (Ideological Burden) over a contrary I.B. which turns the other cheek. In the background, the heavy-duty OS programmers, Allah and God, have placed their bets, while long-dead philosophers admitted to the gaming space have placed side bets on
none-of-the-above— atheism.
