>Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 18:36:44 -0700
>From: "David McFadzean" <morpheus@lucifer.com>
>Subject: Re: virus: showers
>
>>The sad truth is, for the vast majority, they are hypocrites.
>>They claim to be rational but are not, not completely.
>
>Nice rant. (no sarcasm) Do you care that it is predicated on a
>false assertion? (again, no sarcasm) Sometimes I wonder if you
>have really lost your way, buying into the belief that truth
>doesn't matter, at least not when it is inconvenient. Does
>truth get in the way of your purpose?
Not at all. My purpose wasn't description (such a silly purpose, don't you think?) but catharsis. I haven't lost my way, I've seen the multitude of paths. David, I walk a pretty narrow line. I don't drink much or do anything illegal or immoral. In fact, most of my friends find me a touch boring to be around.
This is becuase I have complete freedom. I don't need to violate a law to feel powerful. I don't obey laws. I make decisions based on consequensces. I push people. I speak in disconcerting ways. I don't need to go see some statue of Buddha (though I certianly have enjoyed the trips I've taken) becuase it's all here in my head.
Hubristic? No. Let's say I go on a trip or do an experiement. Since I have no expectations I can't be surprised. I don't try to justify anything. I'm amused always, by everything. Life is fun becuase there are so many layers to it...far more than three. The mind is more than a device which impels your body from food source to source of sexual gratification. Life is more than optimization, efficiency, and logic.
Don't be afraid. There aren't any lines...but that just means you can color whatever you like. Take this big green brush, or a tool of your choosing, and paint a bold stroke across reality. Take a chance! Have a little faith!
>No rational person claims to be completely rational. Rational
>people claim to aspire to rationality. That doesn't make them
>hypocrites.
It does if one attacks other people for being irrational. Who is to say how much or how little reason a single statement holds? What are the premises, how was it intended? A Zen koan might be the most rational statement you've ever heard...becuase it is self-aware of it's own inconsistency. It aspires, like each of us, to consistency and yet it isn't. It struggles and it wriggles like a child until, hopefully, it finds itself at peace...the peace of self-acceptance.
>Given the fact that real people do not implement
>mathematical theorem provers in their head, I'd be willing to
>bet everyone on this list holds inconsistent world views. What
>do you call that again...?
reality
Reed
Reed Konsler konsler@ascat.harvard.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------