Somehow I seriously doubt the Soviets had a "Doctrine of Complete Disregard for Human Life." Yet, a kid in my Mil Art class can pass it off and no one contested it. I would go as far as to say that the majority probably believed it. It's like what Jason was saying about his military theory class. I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was to the effect of the class couldn't believe how the Soviets could support an ideology so much and how they could believe everything they were told. I agree with Jason's statement, "Congratulations, you're a product of the system."

A person can survive and be successful without looking beyond his own cultural/social situation. I think the really successful people have a level of understanding of cultural situations that allows them to exploit, manipulate, etc. the target culture. From my limited perspective, the people who can analyze outside cultural context, are highly educated, socially aware, and come across as disgruntled.

We say we promote critical thinking. The reality is probably closer to what my teacher said, "thinking outside the box has become such a catch phrase that its no longer thinking outside the box." Question everything, and if you don't feel like you have time to question, learn to question faster. Humans have the ability to create. It goes beyond being able to replicate a wing and make something fly. Humans create structures that do not physically exist so that much of our reality is an illusion. History is subjective, even science has a degree of bias and subjectivity.