Just stop the useless complaining.
POSTED BY: LostInTheVerse
UPDATED: Thursday, November 25, 2004 04:27
VIEWED: 24069
PAGE 6 of 17
Quote:
Originally posted by CapnRahn:
TheGreyJedi: BTW - Yer a nearsighted, smeg swilling, yak piss drinkin'. rabid fornicator of household appliances, scabby bald Lemur.I wave my privates at yer aunties!
apologies to - the nearsighted, swillers of smeg, yak brew imbibers, Menage'a'appliance enthusiasts, Lemurs with excessive skin conditions and Aunts who have been traumatized by flashers. OH yes, and to Monty Python - for lifting a line!from that 'special hell'
"Remember, there is only ONE absolute - There ARE NO absolutes!!!"
*Bops Capnrahn on head with stiff cardboard tube out of sense of principle, but respects comical and original over-the-top surreal delivery. Bad lad! Stop!*
This is an example of...
*Sigh*
*Retreats to watch exciting fight because he can't be bothered. And he's wondering why he cares so much about people debating on the net. And he realises that it's because he's tired and he hasn't let go yet. And he believes that there's still hope out there. And now he's realising that he's probably wrong, and that people will always be arrogant and arsey, and that arrogance is ignorance grown up, and that he can no longer tell between playful jape and dangerous trivialisation in posts, and he wonders if it's because something is wrong with him, or he's just tired, and that maybe he's a fool for believing in stating his principles when a foreign land dismisses him, and then he knows that he feels beaten and that he still wants to stand up - and now he feels that he has to go and read some Calvin & Hobbes and forget.
*Sigh*
"If you can keep your head whilst others... eurgh! Ack! I've spilt my ink! Ugh! Ink on my trousers! Agh! Ink on my shirt! My only hope! The window! Aieeeeee!" (Falls to death)
- Jonathan Nash
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I didn't go through this whole thread, but to answer the original missive: NO
I might suggest that you follow your own advice however, because whining about my complaints is really quite useless. Unless you're trying to egg me on that is.
SergeantX
"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock
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Won't go and read all the posts, but I have one thing to say.
If you're not happy with the way our government is run. Tough. The people have spoken. Bush won. Whoop. Do you know who really has the power? Congress. So write to your representitives and let them know your concerns about laws and what bills could benifit the american people. They rely on us to help them. Its their job to represent us.
So take an active role, instead of moving to Canada. They are listening.
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That's a good point Gwen, but those representatives are only interested in issues that will cater to the majority. As you've pointed out, the people have spoken. Which brings me to the core of my 'useless compaining'. The current worship of the concept of democracy needs to be re-examined. The genius of the United States Constitution wasn't that it institutionalized democracy, but that it chose democracy as an expedient toward a higher goal, namely individual liberty.
The important parts of our constitution aren't the ones that promote democracy, but the ones that limit it. The founders chose democracy because it countered the tyrannical abuse of power common in monarchies. It is also very pragmatic, in general, to follow the will of the majority. The majority is usually going to have it's way regardless - no point in fighting up stream.
But... the founders sought to allow the majority to enact their will in such a way that the rights and freedom of the minority were still respected. That's the whole reason for tightly limiting government power with a constitution in the first place.
Lately it seems that national mantra, both in our domestic and foreign policies, is the droning praise of democracy as the highest ideal. I couldn't disagree more. Sane public recognition of personal freedom is a far greater cause and has a lot more to do with what I love about the US than democracy.
SergeantX
"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock
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Quote:
Originally posted by CapnRahn:
TheGreyJedi: BTW - Yer a nearsighted, smeg swilling, yak piss drinkin'. rabid fornicator of household appliances, scabby bald Lemur.
apologies to - the nearsighted, swillers of smeg, yak brew imbibers, Menage'a'appliance enthusiasts, Lemurs with excessive skin conditions and Aunts who have been traumatized by flashers. OH yes, and to Monty Python - for lifting a line!
Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elllllllderberrries!
I doff my hat to you, cap'n.
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http://tomeofgrey.blogspot.com
http://www.jed-soft.com Gamer Rigs, Budget Prices
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SergeantX: Thank you for your clear and concise answer. As it is your right to complain without any action to back it up, it is my right to ineffectually tell you to shut up about it.
Piratejenny: A few thoughts to chew on about my joining up... You don't know anything about my age, physique, dismemberments, or general health and I prefer to keep it that way. For reference, I'm as pacifistic a person as you can find anywhere. I'm against all war, but recognize that it is sometimes necessary. To quote Thomas Jefferson :
Quote:
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
NervousPete: Thank you for jumping to my defense. Always nice to have a friend overseas.
~ Lost In The 'Verse
"About a year before we met, I spent 6 months on a moon where the primary form of recreation was juggling geese. My hand to god. Baby geese. Goslings. They were juggled!"
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Pete,
I love the way you think. Thanks for keeping the focus on the important stuff. I feel the need to comment on one thing you said:
"And yes, I think the US is mired in one of its darkest days..."
i know many think this is "one of the darkest times" or "the darkest time" or "the dawn of a fascist state." These comments are cropping up all over the place. They seem like hyperbole to me. One could argue that this is or isn't a "bad" time. But darkest?
In the 1860's, this nation turned on itself like a savage dog and tried to tear itself apart. Them's DARKEST days. And before anyone says that's what's happening now, park the hyperbole and remember: we've yet to see thousands of citizens (often family members on both sides) firing guns at each other and leaving bodies in the field for weeks on end.
Then for nearly a generation after that war was "Reconstruction" (which was far from what it claimed to be) and the aftermath. Very bitter time indeed.
Then, closer to now, shortly after Pearl Harbor, my mother watched all four of her brothers go off to fight a war for the survival of our nation... a war that we were LOSING at the time. Neighbors were getting their family members back home in bags and boxes. When she talks of that time, she still chokes up... and she's one of the strongest woman I've ever known.
So... scary? Dark? Maybe. Darkest? I disagree. I believe we need more perpective than that.
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Which draws an interesting parallel to Firefly, the whole Darkest Days, Civil War thing.
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Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
You're talking to someone who is a scientist and has a smattering of philosophy. If we were to discuss this at length, we would eventually get to our "a priori" assumptions. My a priori assumptions are:
There is a real world.
We are connected to it through our senses.
What are yours?
As for science: Science is not a collection of "facts", it is a process of asking questions and testing the answers. Religion, however, does not put it's answers to the test. Science has allowed us to design an electric light switch that works most of the time. I can't say the same thing about religion.
For the record, you are talking to someone trained as an anthropologist & in religious studies. NOT A RELIGIOUS PERSON (aka nut IMHO).
My point is that society as a whole takes science on faith. 90% of the world knows the earth is round, water is made of H2O, and that there are 8 other planets. However I would wager that 99% of them could not prove it to me on the spot nor tell me how it can be proved. They take it on faith.
Your argument that it can be "proven to them" by being tested is erronious because if the person doesn't believe it in the first place, proof will never be enough.
Furthermore, there are quite a few gaps in sience such as why Newton's laws don't work on the sub-atmoic level, which are glossed over with "science hasn't discovered it yet." Which sounds rather similar to "God hasn't revealed it yet."
To roughly qualify as a religion you must:
1. Give an explanation to the world around.
2. Explain "crisis" events.
3. Have a seperate class/caste (in your case scientists)who interprets the above things.
Yes, its a very rough description, but hopefully you will begin to see how science to masses can be qualified as a religion.
As for your a priori argument, I would counter with Decarte, maybe bring up the analogy of the cave which leads us to psycology which is a "science" in which people put huge amounts of faith (and money) which can easily be argued is an acceptable replacement for religious absolvsion.
Finally, I will end with religion does not make light bulbs that mostly work, they make societies which mostly work. To quote from Peter Berger (again) Religion is the "Sacred Canopy" (though safety net is more accurate if less fanciful) that keeps human societies intact. (If you stick this sentence right after my signiture you will have condenced his argument into a nutshell.
*Intresting sidenote on Berger, he argues that religion is man-made and part of the societal construct and he is a Lutheran Minister.
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"Societies are supported by human activity, therefore they are constantly threatened by the human facts of self-intrest and stupidity." --Peter Berger
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Interesting discussion. However, being slightly deaf, and often missing the ONE critical spoken word that would bring undertanding, I thought it was interesting to stumble into the same experience here.
absolvsion? I just can't get that word. Please repeat? Thanks.
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