always_learning

ragnarhedin, If you remove, “My apologies to Richard Halley, insofar as my reply to him was far too rude.”, from your post is it not apparent that whatever negative event that occurred before is now reconciled? Like Richard said, if an apology was needed he would not have accepted it. Does this have anything to do with who you are talking to? I ask because there are many times when I talk to people who expect an apology for such a silly and clear misunderstanding and it is considered rude if one is not given. You both know that it was a misunderstanding, why should either of you apologize?

I fail to see the purpose of this post. The post hints at this already but does not say it out front, it is not religion that has help men but merely part of its content that has. Note that religion was dreamed up by men, so really anything “good” to come out of religion is the ideas of the men who created it. The post suggests that the “solution” is to pick apart what is good in religion and use it out side of the religion to better ourselves. It over looks is the fact that there was nothing useful about religion that could not have been developed outside of it (anything that is good within religion did not come from it but from the minds of men who happened to blindly follow it). So what this post is really saying is that we have something to learn from an irrational belief system, when in fact we do not. There are better places to go to learn how to better ones life than turning to religion however mildly that turn may be.

That Klein guy sent me another email about TOC updates. He is really starting to piss me off. I think he is purposefully trying to harass me.

y_feldblum, You avoid it (evil) because you hate it. It is perfectly rational to hate something or someone. It is irrational to dwell on what you hate, your definition of hate is incorrect. 1 : to feel extreme enmity toward <hates his country's enemies> 2 : to have a strong aversion to : find very distasteful <hated to have to meet strangers> <hate hypocrisy> intransitive senses : to express or feel extreme enmity or active hostility (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, http://www.m-w.com/)

Charles, You need to give examples here. Good luck finding one because there are non but bring us what you got and we will be glad to show you why they are incorrect.

I ran into this Klein guy today. I am on the “send me updates” list at the Atlas Society Website, yes I knew it was produced by the TOC but the links there are quite valuable so I went there anyway. Along with sending me the requested updates they began to send me TOC updates, when I emailed them asking that they stop sending me these things Klein, the site manager there, told me, right after he said he was sorry that I do not support the TOC and find them to be appalling, that as long as I was on the Atlas Society update list I would continue to receive TOC propaganda. I then emailed him back this morning telling him to remove me from every list they have me on and to never contact me again and that I will not be visiting the Atlas Society in the future. I am telling you all this for two reasons. One, to warn you not to get on the mailing list at the Atlas Society, I would recommend that you do not visit their site at all and two, because it discredits Klein, he felt sorry that I support ARI (i.e. the choices that I have made, (i.e. for who I am)). I would also like to add that while I find some of WGD’s posts to be a little extreme at times, his judging of Klein’s character seams quite correct. Also, after the posts that Klein made I find that knowing he works for Kelly discredits him quite severely, not because it is his job to support Kelly by posting these comments around the internet but because anyone who avidly supports that man has something wrong with them. I think we are all aware of that.

I liked Tom’s post, that’s about where I’m at, but I was thinking of having my head frozen like Ted Williams. That was a joke.

I think Richard’s right. Poetry lies some where between music and literature or more like combination of them, it definitely contains both. Notice that there are many variations on the amount of either music or literature contained in poetry. There are poems that mostly rely on descriptive words with a smaller sense of rhythm and there are poems that follow a rhythm very intensively but use very little description in terms of words, and then every variation in between. They defiantly have to contain both characteristics and the relationship between the two is what makes it or breaks it.

I emailed Diana congratulating her on her leaving the TOC and asked her why she had not become a full supporter of ARI. Her problem lies in the idea that A can be A and B(edit: her error is that A can be not A). She thinks that more can be added to Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism.(Edit: Note, she did not say this, this is merely my interpretation of what she said) I emailed her back telling her that Objectivism is Ayn Rand’s philosophy and only that and that nothing could be added to what Ayn Rand put in her philosophy unless Ayn did it herself, which of course is now impossible. I said that any other theories or ideas that come about, that lie directly in sync with Objectivism would also be just that, ideas that lie in sync with Objectivism and that Objectivist agree with and could never be a part of Objectivism itself. Its amazing how people can study Ayn Rand’s works for many years, in her case 10+, and still think that they can put words in someone else’s mouth. I haven’t receive an email in response to this, but I’ll let you know what happens if a response comes

What if this weren't a hypothetical question?

Now thats funny.

I recommend that everyone check out Rush, they are a wonderful rock group. I believe the lead singer is an Objectivist, not positive. My two favorite Rush songs are 2112 and The Trees, although almost every song since Geddy Lee, the lead singer, is good if not great.

Although I find Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead to be the best two books written by Rand, in that order, I have always loved the story of Anthem. Maybe Rush’s song 2112 has a bit of an influence here but I can always picture Anthem’s story in my head and it constantly helps me to complete the task at hand.

sklein, I find that WGD has put these words in to proper context, and Kelly is the one who is masking them from thier correct perspective. Look at what Kelly says, I mean really stop and look. ” I owe a great deal to my teacher and advisor at Princeton, Richard Rorty”. No mater what contex you put this in he still thinks, and out right says that he owes a great deal to…Rorty. No mater what reason you give after a statement like this you are still abiding by the idea that you had something to learn from someone who is inferior to yourself. The attacks made by WGD may be harsh, but sometimes the truth hurts.

While craftsmanship is something that can be admired it does not posses any artistic value in of itself. It can be admired because it displays that individual’s ability and effort toward the piece, (i.e. it takes effort and thought to create something aesthetic pleasing). This is what you are really admiring, their work ethic and or skill. It does not carry any artistic value because it does not convey a “sense of life” so to speak. Instead it is merely a tool that is used to create the artistic value, or concretization of metaphysical abstractions. Just because it looks nice, doesn’t make it art, and just because its art doesn’t make it good. "Form to the sculptor is all and yet it is nothing. It is nothing without the spirit; with the idea it is everything." -Victor Hugo-

I'd go with Roark because I associate with him a little better. He was more of a practical artists than any other character.

I've seen this before, pretty cool huh?

Just posting to keep that stupid "poohat" name from being on the science main page. He is no longer the last to post in this thread.

Like I said, my enjoyment for the taste of meat is more important than a life of a mindless animal. marym showed you that these animals are not even in any pain, at least not any more than they would in the wild. You asked what was wrong with the thought process given, this shows how part of it was wrong. Facts are helpful in this case. I was under the impression that the reason that point was view as correct was because of the article. I showed you why that article is crap. hmmmm Good, Did marym's factual post have anything to do with that? So, what it comes down to is whether you value the smaller things in your life (the taste and cost of food) more than a cow’s life. What about sport hunting? Is the pleasure of sport hunting of a lesser value to you than a cow? Should we not play baseball because the ball is made of animal skin or stop wearing shoes, I'm sure they can make shoes out of something less efficient than leather. I would never let a cow's (I keep saying cow, any animal will do here) life stand in the way of my enjoyment.

dondigitalia, Why did you like Fight Club? I know it displays mans fight with a split personality, and he wins, but it was just too dark and too anti commercialism for me. I left the movie feeling disgusted.

Matt, Then spend a month of your time if you like on this irrational man, I for one will not tolerate such nonsense. Richard has it right. And where was this reported?

I knew it was like this, but when you see in numbers, ... WOW!

I just like their posters.

Hey Richard, I know this is not directly relevant to this topic but it is in some way. I would request that you, being so heavily involved with music as you are, start a new topic where you, and others, can explain what makes music good. And include tiddlywink music as well. I think this would be a great place to get the aesthetics of music further. Oh, and I'll add that I agree that it sucks. It makes me cringe.

I have run into this site before. I actually posted one of their posters that you can print off in my schools art department. The poster compared “ad busters” to Nazis, (a lot of people in that department support “ad busters” as one can imagine). It was torn down in a day. I got quite a laugh out of it.