"People search for the meaning of life, but this is the easy question: we are born into a world that presents us with many millenia of collected knowledge and information, and all our predecessors ask of us is that we not waste our brief life ignoring the past only to rediscover or reinvent its lessons badly. "
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imstellar28 Member Profile  Bio: Member Since: 2007-04-02 Last Power Points used: never • Available: now Max Power Points: 1 • Get More Power Points Now Comments |
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In reply to this comment by imstellar28:
There are quite a few digressions in this thread, but I don't think anyone has actually addressed the content of the video. The speaker is saying that groups are merely abstractions; that you shouldn't forsake the trees for the forest.
We all want to live in a happy, peaceful society - collectivist or individualist. I don't think theres any denying that. What the speaker is trying to illustrate with his tree/forest metaphor is that the soul of these two ideologies is actually quite different - despite the fact they share the same goals.
Expanding on the tree/forest metaphor, one might define a "good" forest as one with a lot of healthy, thriving trees. If, in walking through a forest, you came across an area where the soil was nutritionally deficient and the growth of all the trees in the area stunted, you might view this forest as somehow imperfect. To correct this flaw, you could cut down the largest tree you can find, grind it up into fertilizer, and spread it around on the soil to help the stunted trees thrive.
What actually happens though, when you cut down a tree to grow a forest, as it were, is you lose sight of whats actually important. Yes, by some definition you are fulfilling "the greatest good for the greatest number" but if you have to lose your soul to achieve some measure of "good", what have you really accomplished? You thought you were saving the forest, but the forest doesn't exist. The forest is only how your mind perceives a group of trees; what existed was a group of trees sharing the same habitat. All you did was kill one tree, and use it to fertilize another.
So my question has to be: What glory is there in forging a perfect society, if it has no soul?
I read something about IQs that I hadn't really thought of before. If you look at a distribution of IQs:
http://i45.tinypic.com/dyumad.gif
You see that:
68 out of 100 people have an IQ between 85 and 115
2 out of 100 people have an IQ above 130
2 out of 100 people have an IQ below 70
And if you note what an IQ score represents:
70- Mentally Disabled
80 Borderline
90 Low Average
100 Average
110 High Average
120 Gifted
130+ Genius / Very Superior
You find that the average person, at an IQ of around 100, has something in common with roughly 68-95% of their peers. Someone in this group can, at least on some level, identify with the vast majority of people around them. To them, the world is more or less homogeneous, consisting for the most part, of people just like themselves. From their perspective, it is only a few people that stick out: the mentally disabled and the geniuses. People you hear about but rarely meet.
However, if you look at the distribution of IQs you find that the difference between average and mentally disabled is only about 25 points - 75 to 100. Incidentally, the difference between average and genius, or very superior, is also 25 points - 100 to 125.
Thus, the life of someone with an IQ of 130 or greater is much different. They can only identify, at least on some level, with less than 2-14% of their peers. To them, the world is also homogeneous, but they are the ones on the outside looking in. An individual with an IQ greater than 130 perceives life very much like an average person would if they were in a room with 100 people, and almost all of them...85%...were either borderline or mentally disabled.
is this correct?
130+ is genius?
well would ya look at that...hmmmm..interesting.
If, on the other hand, you DO have some kind of negative connotation associated with the word then I don't know why you're even arguing with me.
So fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck you.
In reply to this comment by imstellar28:
^You really think I'm unaware of the various usages of the word "gravity"?
A word is a symbol. The emotions, situations, and actions they express may have a serious or critical nature, but the words themselves are passive devices.
"Fuck" is not inherently serious or critical in nature. If the word Fuck evokes a feeling of "gravity" to you, it is because you have past experiences with that word that have created a connotation of gravity.
We all have different life experiences; to pretend that the connotations you have with words are universal...is well...egocentric
I'm not sure why everyone else on that post hates tipping waitresses so much.
In reply to this comment by imstellar28:
My first job was as a bus boy/dishwasher, and the waitresses I worked with made $2.13 an hour - three dollars less than minimum wage at the time. Waitresses don't just keep their tips...they have to "tip out" other people like the bus boy, etc. So as a bus boy, sometimes I would bring home $50 a night in tips from what the waitresses would give me - outside of my regular wages which were above minimum wage.
To this day, as a rule I tip 25-30% on all bills, usually with a minimum of 20%. If the person gives really lousy service - aka - charges me for extra bread etc. I subtract that out of the tip sometimes; otherwise I always tip at least 20% even if they are mediocre. For really good service (especially on low-priced bills) sometimes I'll tip upwards of 50%.
Worst tip I ever gave was -$1.00 yes I actually subtracted money from the bill and signed it on a credit card. The restaurant had a deal "$5 pitchers for domestic drafts" and I had ordered Yuengling...ended up being charged like $9.50 a pitcher when there was a sign at the very bar "Yuengling...America's oldest brewery"
It should be noted that a lot of times people penalize the waitress for problems with the cook. If the food is bad, or wrong, or late - that could be the cook's fault; many times it has nothing to do with the waitress. And if its busy, and/or the restaurant is under-staffed, how is that her fault and why should she be penalized? If it takes one hour to get your food, eat somewhere else don't be a dick to the waitress.
^Mandtis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringworld
I make it a point to avoid fiction but the plot sounds pretty interesting...I wish they would have made it a movie or tv series... but I guess I'll have to read it.
the video game series, Halo, is loosely based on this novel and the campaign plot is quite compelling and rich
I love that stuff. What do you think?
It's lasted me so far, and done its job in things. I'm not getting anything out of supporting Health Care Reform in USA. Thanks to Mass Health in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I already get the best health care. I would fairly wager, its better in content and amount then alot of other plans in other states. But experience and observation has taught me, that no one should be without health care coverage. Be they healthy or not. Young or not. Poor or not. Best way to deal with cancer, is to spot it early. Best way to fight alot of the diseases that ravage humanity (like AIDS, or H1N1), is to spot it early and eliminate it. Best way to deal with Depression, is to have more therapists who are trained to diagnosis it quickly, and work on someone to heal a deadly wound.
You want to play little games with other people's health?
But you are wrong to think that the Queen is the most powerful piece...the King is, for even though he can move but a space at a time, he has convinced every other member of the board to risk their lives in the service of his ends.
No, the King is not the most powerful. He's the most integrated component of the whole. Since, to win, a King must have one other peice. If both sides have just a King, its a forever stalemate. And obviously, you've never played Nightmare Chess from Wizards of the Coast.
So I guess I'll ask you again; how confident are you that you aren't playing the role of the pawn, spending, wasting, and even risking your life trying to obtain some carrot danging in front of your face...be it women, knowledge, wealth, fame, power - all for the service of some king, who has his own agenda; one who equates the value of your life with that of an ordinary chess piece?
As I stated before, I'm not a pawn. To be a pawn, one must have something to gain. I myself have nothing to gain, nor lose, regardless of how health care reform turns out in the USA. Count me a liberal. But I do get concern with the health of my country men (and women). Their finanical well-being is key to solving this ressession that the USA is in. But if health care contuines on its current track, the amount Americans pay for health care will be about double what they do now. They cant afford it now. What planet do conservatives/republicans live on, that makes them think, Americans will afford it anymore in five years?
Mr. Obama, is not a King, nor a dictator. He's been holding himself responsible for his actions and words. Something the previous president could not accomplish. Might be one of the reasons, republicans arent in the White House.
Now, what if that chess peice you were talking about, held within it, a micro-chip containing the Cure to Cancer. How valuable would that be? How quickly do you think I would become a multi-TRILLIONAIRE?
In reply to this comment by Nithern
How confident are you that you aren't a pawn, about to be sacrificed as part of a game you didn't even realize you were playing?
Even pawns have the ability to become Rooks, Knights, Bishops, and (the most powerful peice in the game) the Queen. If I have to serve as a pawn for now, then that's how the game is played. Anyone that's played me in chess knows, I'm deadly with pawns.
In reply to this comment by imstellar28:
gracias, so you feeling any less fatigued lately?
In reply to this comment by rottenseed:
*promote