Can anyone suggest a word meaning "domain of ideas" in the sense of "The future security of the world lies in ideas not in weaponry"? Success in outsmarting the enemy will come from studying his behavior
and analyzing what he's likely to do, and staying one jump ahead of him in "the domain of ideas". Thinking, not shooting.
All ideas, however off-the-wall, are welcome.
Karen:
Welcome to the madhouse. The first word that came to my mind was ideology. Though the word can have some negative undertones, I mean it in the context found in Encarta:
system of social beliefs: a closely organized system of beliefs, values, and ideas forming the basis of a social, economic, or political philosophy or program, rejecting if you will the times when it (ideology) is prefaced by words like Communist or right-wing, which usages are attempts to impart at the least disapprobation and to suggest that ideologies are not good things.
I also wonder if you might not consider as worthy the word civilization, the process of civilizing rather than the more common meaning: a society that has a high level of culture and social organization.
On another forum which I frequent, a very bright lady said, "The opposite of war is not peace but civili(z)ation." I and others found a high level of profundity there.
If for you, the domain of ideas has to serve Success in outsmarting the enemy , then the word you are looking for is intelligence. It is not sure, however, that the enemy will reply "in kind" rather than with bullets. Another meaning for the domain of ideas would be reconciliation.
"The domain of ideas" seems, quite obviously, to be that realm where thoughts, ideas, constructive invention are supreme. As opposed to the realm of physical combat and destruction.
karen: You might try OneLook's reverse dictionary
Although you'll probably get more responses than you want
Quote:
"The domain of ideas" seems, quite obviously, to be that realm where thoughts, ideas, constructive invention are supreme. As opposed to the realm of physical combat and destruction.
I believe she's looking for a synonym...
Perhaps "strategizing," "out-maneuvering" or "out-thinking."
Maybe "being better at innovating" or "being better at adapting."
BTW, there's an article you may find interesting:
http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/061218fa_fact2And an interesting blurb:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.11/streetcred.html
The New Yorker piece (make that "tome"!) is exactly what I was looking for! A million thanks!
Karencom
Yes, you have the idea. Civilization, as you define it, is the ultimate. Will need lots of steps between here and there. Quote from the erudite lady is excellent, and on the track I am pursuing. Thank you so much for your input, Ted. You have given me much food for thought.
Karen
Yesss! I had been thinking "Behavior Analysis", but I like yours better. It will inevitably be broader than this, but this is a good first step. Many thanks, Jackie.
Karen
Good point! Bullets thrown at ideas would be unwelcome but quite likely!! Reminds me a little of something said by Lord Louis Mountbatten: "If the 3rd World War is fought with nuclear weapons, the 4th will be fought with bows and arrows".
Karen
That might be more than I can handle!! If I get braver, I may give it a look. Thanks.
Karen
Hi Karencon. Welcome to the board.
There are two different ways of looking at threads on this board, flat mode and threaded mode. In flat mode the posts are all visible at once strung out vertically on the page in chronological order. Many of the of the people on this board choose to view the posts in flat mode for a variety of good reasons that we need not go into at this time, but one of the consequences of viewing in this mode is that it is not always immediately obvious what someone is responding to. There are several methods of addressing this issue; one of the more popular is to quote a piece of the post to which one is responding. This is particularly important if the post one is responding to is not immediately above the responding post. This can be a little hard to tell if one is in threaded mode so it is probably best to quote. Just saying, e.g., "I agree completely" doesn't work.
True, Faldage; but apparently Karen (welcome aBoard, by the way--sorry to be late with that) hit the Reply button on each post, instead of going to the reply box at the bottom of the screen: each of her subject titles is in response to a different person's post.
Thanks for your comment, Jackie. You may have realized also that this was my very first time in any forum, so I was blundering along, feeling my way. Thanks to everyone's contributions. How do I now indicate that I have sufficient material and would like to close this forum??
Karen
You just did. But that doesn't mean a thing hereabouts. This forum might take off on some flight of fancy and be around for days, discussing something that had nothing, or at least very little, to do with your original question.
this was my very first time in any forum Mine too! And this is still the only place I post on the wide-open internet. Ted was right--you don't need to close it. People will either continue responding (on-topic or not), or else just drift away.
I think I'll post this again, for the benefit of new members, since more than has wondered where the cues for smileys, colors, etc. are. If you click on the Reply button in a post, you'll see them. But if you just go to the Quick Reply box at the bottom of the page, you won't...unless you Preview your post; then they appear.