"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so" - Shakespeare

[moimeme]

It is funny how many people continually want to create dichotomies out of the world.

 

Agree completely. It's as if we are actually all binary at base so we need to reduce everything to is/is not!

[cindy0039]

Originally posted by moimeme

It is funny how many people continually want to create dichotomies out of the world.

 

Agree completely. It's as if we are actually all binary at base so we need to reduce everything to is/is not!

 

Not me. I happen to like gray.

[moimeme]

i'm sorry if my efforts nauseated you

 

(sigh)

 

If I'd meant your efforts, I'd have said that. That you did a lit analysis reminded me that I dislike lit analysis in general, no matter who does it or why.

 

work hard to be respectful to your interests in different pathologies. your disrespect for literary critique surprises me

 

Not sure why. You should hear me on international affairs theory - and it's one of my degrees. I have delved into the topics, understood the arguments as presented, and decided that the evidence presented in support of the arguments is not sound. It's fine that people have endeavoured to make their cases and support them and I respect the effort however that doesn't oblige me to accept or like the results. If I find that most of the conclusions seem to be ill-conceived or contrived, I don't have any interest in continuing to pursue that line of endeavour.

 

I don't much like things which seem to be contrived; they annoy me. Great sections of arts analysis seem contrived to me and therefore I don't much like them. Doesn't mean there might not be some genuine gold somewhere in it all, but there isn't treasure or reward enough for me there for me to bother trying to excavate through the rest to find it.

[moimeme]

Not me. I happen to like gray

 

Me, too. Always thought it was very nice around the temples, myself

[jenny]

giggles, not a big deal. it's an argument i hear from my students every single year; and it's the same one i've often heard applied to various chemical disorders from my friends in psych. i don't mind discipline bickering, i was just surprised you indulged in it. i am less willing to dismiss an entire body of classical knowledge as carelessly.

[moimeme]

Yes, dear Ah, Jenny, Jenny. You know me better. Try as you might, you know I won't bite

[Ryan]

Absolutely agree.

 

Morality is a purely human construct. Assignment of a normative value to a descriptive situation necessarily requires a mental interpretation. In the absence of that, everything that is simply is.

[jenny]

Originally posted by moimeme

Yes, dear Ah, Jenny, Jenny. You know me better. Try as you might, you know I won't bite

 

giggles! o! sweet babies! i didn't mean it that way. i was pointing out an error in your thinking - a hasty generalization coupled with prejudicial language - as you would for me! this is not personal, logic never is! the boy asked for shakespeare; iamnotnothing and cindy gave him fast, thorough, and legitimate scholarly shakespeare. i tagged along. if it *is* for an assignment, contemporary self-help philosophy without context would most likely get him a low grade and a snotty comment about history and the actual words in the play.

 

i defend my discipline, of course. protecting books and the homage paid to them through analysis is my job. that is my bias. my school was quite good - my first training is in philosophy; or rather, illogical bull$hit detection. i, of course, heard some crap in my discipline, as any discerning listener would, but also some keen creative insights into the human condition that did not require gobs of pills to feel or understand. i get hamlet, and those like him, in a way that i will never get zingy.

 

you have your issues, i have mine. if i made generalized non sequitor comments about insert disorder, like all diagnoses seems contrived by amateurs without official qualifications, you would question me, as well you should.

 

cheers, sweety, it's an interesting discussion. no hard feelings on this end; just as with the judging morality discussion. it's cool to know people's blind spots - i have a very hard time seeing beyond logic and personal responsibility, for example; all that emerson, thoreau, and kipling, has rendered me blind to how internal chemicals create so many victims.

 

xox j

[moimeme]

He was looking into a new sig

[jenny]

lol! he was also asking a philosophical question. i do believe that thorough scholars seek context for quotations as a matter of course. it's interesting to speculate how the quotation applies to our current context, sort of, provided one has contextualized the sentiment intially and then shown adequate basis and methodology for comparison. this is weird - you must have followed these steps in grad school?

[Curt]

To me, it is all merely discussion on the process of metacognition at its finest.

 

It's rather like an animal trying to figure out and defend it's actions and habits in the context and presence of other animals' constructs of morality/ethics.

 

We all exist within the framework of our collective humanity, and need some basis on which to "hang our hats." It is wonderful to pick apart the inherent good or bad-ness of a particular act (or indeed, the lack of either). However kids, if we then say, until we actually "thought" it either good or bad, it didn't really have those qualities... at base level...

 

I'm sorry...even animals in the wild have some constructs of "norms" or "standard/appropriate" behaviors.

 

He who goes outside the "social" boundary gets eaten, or at least chewed on fairly badly.

 

 

Curt

[moimeme]

 

I really enjoy analysis at the meta level

[zman]

Originally posted by jenny

is this for a homework assignment?

 

I am just now understanding what you meant by asking this question.

 

No, it's not for a homework assignment. I'm 36 years old and have already completed high school, undergrad, and grad school.

 

I have had this signature for just about the entire duration of my postings on this site, but recently thought more about it due to postings in other threads. I decided to see how many people agreed with it and how many didn't.

 

Only because of Jenny's suggestion did I begin to wonder about the origins of the quote again. I had wondered a long time ago when I first heard it, and tried to do some research to find out, but found it difficult since I had no idea what play or work it was from. Of course the internet makes things much easier these days.

[moimeme]

No, it's not for a homework assignment

 

Figured as much! Else you'd likely have said so.

 

And, Jenny, I said I wasn't going to bite.

[jenny]

meta-discussion is absolutely perfect to honour the feeling of the text! you've lost me with the biting metaphor, toi, but as long as the historical research has been done and understood, it's all good; the knowledge is the thing.

[just another monkey]

all that matters is which illusion you choose to embrace!

 

one can tempt fate a little too much, as it does hold a little grudge now and again (karma) but in the end fate is what we make!

 

so choose wisely and yuo will get what you truley want.

 

question: who ever really knows what he or she wants?

[tinkers]

Agree or Disagree?

 

I agree whole heartedly with this quote. When you think about it, this quote couldnt be more true. Think about Hitler even. He thought that he was doing good when he killed all of the people. Im not saying that i agree with him but it just makes you think. What if he was doing it because of wars. If everyone believed in the same God, The number of wars would go down considerably. Agian im not saying i agree with hitler but ya know.

Just wanted to give you something to think about.

[JackBoone]

Even a terrorist or criminal can make his deeds "good" in his own thoughts. Everything you feel is good or bad is either tought to you or is a feeling. What if this feeling and these lessons were different?

 

Personally I attach no value to morals or whatsoever. Try to do this for a day or two, and you will find yourself strangely similar to what you have always hated most. EVERYTHING mankind does ANYWHERE happens for a reason, and only a very small part of that is against reason.

 

"It's all in the head" - Gorillaz