Re: virus: levels only two

Tim Rhodes (proftim@speakeasy.org)
Mon, 12 Apr 1999 12:48:40 -0700

KMO wrote:

>By phrasing the question in such a way as to paint my efforts here as a
>compensatory effort for some insecurity or phobia, you're hoping to achieve
>what?

Bring into question the utility of the idea at hand. I don't find it useful, you seem to. I was trying to bring out an answer other than, "because its true" and an emotional, rather than intellectual, tact seemed appropriate.

I could have put it a different way, but it would have required a different me on a different day with a different disposition. I'm not always fun to be around.

>Intellectual honesty and list courtesy, it
>seems to me, would direct each of us to respond to the arguments presented
>rather than belittle them with innuendo and allusion to unspecified
>psychological dis-ease on the part of the presenter.

Button pushing is button pushing, and I won't deny that I engage in it. I'll take responsibility for the button pushed, but not for all the wheels or levers you yourself set in motion as a response. Fair?

>As I understand Jim's claim, he's asserting that the mental state
>of an adult who has come to recognize the value of not letting any
>particular belief system interfere with their quality of life is no
different
>from the mental state of a seven year old who has yet to fully settle
>into her L2 BS. That seems unlikely to me. When following a spiral
>path, we will sight familiar landmarks, but that doesn't mean we aren't
>in new territory.

Best bad analogy I can think of (after discarding a couple of worse ones) is this: A mountain hike up a steep ravine, with lots of elevation gain and a slippery washed out trail that's seen better days. Do it as a day hike, carrying nothing more than the contents of your pockets and it might be easy and fun. But do the same hike with a 80 lbs pack on your back and its a whole different world. One takes more training and skill than the other, but the trail itself hasn't changed a bit.

>It seems that adults have a very different notion of time, and people
>who serve the proximal master of the next urgent task think differently
>than people who have a purpose or the phaith that lets them operate
>according to a more long-range vision.

A friend of mine once packed-in a cast iron skillet on a seven mile mountain hike. He could be heard chanting, "Those Swedish waffles are going to taste soooo good tomorrow morning," through most of the difficult parts of the hike.

-Prof. Tim,
who enjoys waffles, but not nearly enough to add 15 lbs to his pack.