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musenji

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  1. Like
    musenji got a reaction from Dante in "Atlas Shrugged: Part 2" release date set for October 12, will   
    ..Breaking bad? How about the number one movie on the imdb? (And my personal favorite)


  2. Like
    musenji got a reaction from ttime in Stupid mind games people play and why   
    Most guys who "don't know what they're doing" will err in the opposite direction, outlined by aequalsa in his last post. Telling a woman you value her, and even telling her why, before mutual value has been established through actions and conversation that doesn't consist of compliments (or "meta" comments of any kind), is the fastest way to make her disinterested as far as romance goes.

    One idea is that people are aware of the human capacity to "romanticize" things, and people. A guy who overtly compliments a woman on her virtues, is statistically less likely to be a man of value who values her. He is MORE likely to be a man who is somewhat needy or desperate, and clings to the first woman he finds who displays value. Therefore he takes all her positive qualities and ignores the bad ones--or doesn't give himself time to discover them. Women know this, so when a guy starts complimenting them, they figure it's just another desperate lonely guy who "doesn't have a clue".

    Let alone the fact that there are guys who think that complimenting a woman is a valid tactic for getting her to like them more. It's not expressly thought in these guys' minds, but this is in lieu of demonstrating virtue or value on his part. It's basically like saying "I have nothing to offer you, except the fact that I like you." Even an Objectivist woman would reject a man in this situation.

    Of course perhaps he does have something to offer her, but usually it comes along with a kind of lonely neediness. So women are very quick to dismiss complimenters. Women of value (particularly good-looking ones) get thousands of compliments, so another point is this: complimenting a woman does nothing to set you apart from all the other guys complimenting her, even if you ARE a person of value...she'll think you're not.

    [edit] I just read the article. I do think that power games of the specific kind that she mentioned in the last paragraph are pretty sick. But on the other hand, it is true what she said:

    "Gentlemen, if you put it out there too fast, too soon, and too uncomplicatedly we will basically figure you for a good-for-nothing loser, with obsessive stalker tendencies and nothing else going on in your life. And will dump you quicker than you can say used tampon."

    This is pretty unfortunate, but it is certainly what I've experienced.
  3. Like
    musenji got a reaction from softwareNerd in Stupid mind games people play and why   
    Most guys who "don't know what they're doing" will err in the opposite direction, outlined by aequalsa in his last post. Telling a woman you value her, and even telling her why, before mutual value has been established through actions and conversation that doesn't consist of compliments (or "meta" comments of any kind), is the fastest way to make her disinterested as far as romance goes.

    One idea is that people are aware of the human capacity to "romanticize" things, and people. A guy who overtly compliments a woman on her virtues, is statistically less likely to be a man of value who values her. He is MORE likely to be a man who is somewhat needy or desperate, and clings to the first woman he finds who displays value. Therefore he takes all her positive qualities and ignores the bad ones--or doesn't give himself time to discover them. Women know this, so when a guy starts complimenting them, they figure it's just another desperate lonely guy who "doesn't have a clue".

    Let alone the fact that there are guys who think that complimenting a woman is a valid tactic for getting her to like them more. It's not expressly thought in these guys' minds, but this is in lieu of demonstrating virtue or value on his part. It's basically like saying "I have nothing to offer you, except the fact that I like you." Even an Objectivist woman would reject a man in this situation.

    Of course perhaps he does have something to offer her, but usually it comes along with a kind of lonely neediness. So women are very quick to dismiss complimenters. Women of value (particularly good-looking ones) get thousands of compliments, so another point is this: complimenting a woman does nothing to set you apart from all the other guys complimenting her, even if you ARE a person of value...she'll think you're not.

    [edit] I just read the article. I do think that power games of the specific kind that she mentioned in the last paragraph are pretty sick. But on the other hand, it is true what she said:

    "Gentlemen, if you put it out there too fast, too soon, and too uncomplicatedly we will basically figure you for a good-for-nothing loser, with obsessive stalker tendencies and nothing else going on in your life. And will dump you quicker than you can say used tampon."

    This is pretty unfortunate, but it is certainly what I've experienced.
  4. Like
    musenji got a reaction from softwareNerd in Classical guitar music   
    So, I am an amateur classical guitarist. I've been studying the instrument for some time. I have made some tabs and arrangements, mostly of video game music. (Don't sniff just yet!)

    About a month ago, I made an arrangement that I have been absolutely ecstatic about, because I didn't know it could be done on guitar. Now I've practiced it, and made a video:



    Hope you enjoy it! If I do anything else that I'd like to present, I'll post it here, too. And feel free to check out the rest of my channel if you like.
  5. Like
    musenji got a reaction from ttime in Classical guitar music   
    So, I am an amateur classical guitarist. I've been studying the instrument for some time. I have made some tabs and arrangements, mostly of video game music. (Don't sniff just yet!)

    About a month ago, I made an arrangement that I have been absolutely ecstatic about, because I didn't know it could be done on guitar. Now I've practiced it, and made a video:



    Hope you enjoy it! If I do anything else that I'd like to present, I'll post it here, too. And feel free to check out the rest of my channel if you like.
  6. Like
    musenji reacted to Dante in 12 Yr Old Genius Sets Out to Disprove Big Bang?   
    These complex physical theories do not often wear their contradictions on their faces. The application of the fundamental axioms to any particular proposition is often a complicated task, and I do not believe it is possible to simply write off these entire branches of inquiry without a thorough understanding of the theories being criticized. There have been some truly weird experimental results in the field of physics, and it is not an easy task to provide a theory that explains them. Checking whether or not a particular theory is concordant with the axioms requires an in-depth understanding of that theory; proclaiming entire families of physical theories philosophically corrupt cannot be done lightly.
  7. Like
    musenji reacted to FeatherFall in Wisconsin Union Protests   
    They actually need a 3/5 quorum, which means they need 20 senators. 19 Republicans, one with a donkey on his lapel, will not suffice.

    A common theme of the union-side is that Gov. Walker is abandoning democracy. Of course I don't need to explain why democracy is bad on this forum, but I still think there is some irony here that shows how confused the term, "democracy," is today. Reducing the power of the teacher's unions is exactly what many of us in Wisconsin elected the Republicans to do. We voted, the unions lost. Sounds democratic to me.
  8. Like
    musenji reacted to softwareNerd in Ayn Rand's stigma   
    Here's an idea, next time say.. "I think it was Gandhi who said..." and have some fun with the reaction.
  9. Like
    musenji got a reaction from softwareNerd in Taking Rand's fictional characters too literally   
    ***Mod Note: Split from this thread.***

    Sapere, I agree that is an important distinction to make.

    Academia:

    One huge point is that she never submitted her works for peer review. That other Objectivists have since, doesn't change the fact that she didn't.

    Another point is that Objectivism is defined in the "proper" circles as HER philosophy and hers alone, where other philosophies are considered to have many contributors/proponents.

    Many people who come to call themselves Objectivists read the novels first, and quite often agree through emotional identification or catharsis rather than logical, reasoned judgment of the philosophical material. No other philosopher as far as I know uses fiction to delineate "official" philosophy. However, I do remember Plato's Allegory of the Cave. ...I suppose some do use stories, then.

    Mainstream society:

    Her writing is very polemic and easily comes off as harsh. Most people are turned off by "harsh", especially if they feel they're being targeted. This has a doubly negative effect, as word of mouth matters. People tell their friends how bad it is, their friends read just enough to pick up on the polemic writing, and denounce it based on the rest of what they've heard. Rand is an extremely mischaracterized writer, probably because people who don't like her after 2 or 3 chapters feel so turned off that they don't want to read any more.

    Those who have just read her writing and agree with it tend to also come off as unnecessarily "harsh". This, I think, is partially due to mimicking of character traits without understanding the values or alternate situations. Thus the "I AM HOWARD ROARK" syndrome you talked about.

    Rand does focus the light on morality in an age when people "just want to have fun". It is genuinely harder to live a life with focused values.

    ******
    A few anecdotes about "I am Howard Roark" syndrome...
    ******

    When "I was Howard Roark" (senior year of highschool), I refused to eat some food a friend's mom offered to me unless she let me pay her.

    One time someone said, in regard to a comment of mine, "Hey, give him a break." I said, "I don't give breaks."

    I dropped out of a musical duet show I loved, and on which I'd been working on very hard with my friend, because there was a religious reference in one of the songs he'd written. We were only a couple weeks from the concert--I said something about not owing him my life.

    I apparently called one of my friends a vampire. I don't remember the incident, but I certainly don't doubt it.

    In college, I spurned most people because I went to a religious college. I basically became anti-social, constantly suspecting people of being "evil" and trying to subvert me. Whether I was "sanctioning their immorality" was of paramount importance in my mind.

    I know a girl who, having read The Fountainhead while in Europe, came back and told her boyfriend, "I didn't miss you, and I don't think you should've missed me either."
  10. Like
    musenji got a reaction from ttime in Taking Rand's fictional characters too literally   
    ***Mod Note: Split from this thread.***

    Sapere, I agree that is an important distinction to make.

    Academia:

    One huge point is that she never submitted her works for peer review. That other Objectivists have since, doesn't change the fact that she didn't.

    Another point is that Objectivism is defined in the "proper" circles as HER philosophy and hers alone, where other philosophies are considered to have many contributors/proponents.

    Many people who come to call themselves Objectivists read the novels first, and quite often agree through emotional identification or catharsis rather than logical, reasoned judgment of the philosophical material. No other philosopher as far as I know uses fiction to delineate "official" philosophy. However, I do remember Plato's Allegory of the Cave. ...I suppose some do use stories, then.

    Mainstream society:

    Her writing is very polemic and easily comes off as harsh. Most people are turned off by "harsh", especially if they feel they're being targeted. This has a doubly negative effect, as word of mouth matters. People tell their friends how bad it is, their friends read just enough to pick up on the polemic writing, and denounce it based on the rest of what they've heard. Rand is an extremely mischaracterized writer, probably because people who don't like her after 2 or 3 chapters feel so turned off that they don't want to read any more.

    Those who have just read her writing and agree with it tend to also come off as unnecessarily "harsh". This, I think, is partially due to mimicking of character traits without understanding the values or alternate situations. Thus the "I AM HOWARD ROARK" syndrome you talked about.

    Rand does focus the light on morality in an age when people "just want to have fun". It is genuinely harder to live a life with focused values.

    ******
    A few anecdotes about "I am Howard Roark" syndrome...
    ******

    When "I was Howard Roark" (senior year of highschool), I refused to eat some food a friend's mom offered to me unless she let me pay her.

    One time someone said, in regard to a comment of mine, "Hey, give him a break." I said, "I don't give breaks."

    I dropped out of a musical duet show I loved, and on which I'd been working on very hard with my friend, because there was a religious reference in one of the songs he'd written. We were only a couple weeks from the concert--I said something about not owing him my life.

    I apparently called one of my friends a vampire. I don't remember the incident, but I certainly don't doubt it.

    In college, I spurned most people because I went to a religious college. I basically became anti-social, constantly suspecting people of being "evil" and trying to subvert me. Whether I was "sanctioning their immorality" was of paramount importance in my mind.

    I know a girl who, having read The Fountainhead while in Europe, came back and told her boyfriend, "I didn't miss you, and I don't think you should've missed me either."
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