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claire

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  1. Like
    claire got a reaction from secondhander in Knowing What NOT to Do In Romance   
    You mean, someone who rubs your neck and is polite enough to consider your preference?  Nah.
  2. Like
    claire got a reaction from JASKN in Knowing What NOT to Do In Romance   
    You mean, someone who rubs your neck and is polite enough to consider your preference?  Nah.
  3. Like
    claire got a reaction from Nicky in sociopaths/pathological liars   
    It sound like most people (Hairnet?) here want surety - much like James Taggard and a few others.  It's not going to happen.  People may be unsure of how they feel, or they may change their minds.  Anything can happen.  The better you get to know someone, the more sure you can be that he/she is telling the truth.  But that requires communication and an established relationship.  "Auditing" someone may work for Scientologists, but then they're a creepy bunch.
  4. Like
    claire got a reaction from secondhander in Mastering the Romance Genre   
    Secondhander, from a woman's point of view, this guy wouldn't get through any smart woman's front door.  He's living in his own little fantasy world where he's a leading man.  Let's not disillusion him.
  5. Like
    claire got a reaction from Grames in Having a tough time   
    You mistreated her. She left you for another man. Now you resent that there was another man in her life. Sorry, no sympathy here. Grow up, man up and start treating women better in the future.
  6. Downvote
    claire got a reaction from CapitalistSwine in Having a tough time   
    You mistreated her. She left you for another man. Now you resent that there was another man in her life. Sorry, no sympathy here. Grow up, man up and start treating women better in the future.
  7. Like
    claire got a reaction from Grames in Asking advice -- the virtue of Independence   
    Not to belabor the point, but aren't you suspending your judgment by asking this questin here? Sorry - couldn't resist. Seriously though, are you suggesting it is wrong to ask questions of other people (whether in devil's advocate form or otherwise)? Are you expected to know everything? Do you have all the answers? If not, then you need to ask. From my point of view, that includes asking questions of everyone, not just Objectivist. I mean, if you have a question on playing golf, would you rather ask a mediocre Objectivist golfer or a crazy championship golfer?

    Anyway, ask away.
  8. Downvote
    claire got a reaction from ttime in Asking advice -- the virtue of Independence   
    Not to belabor the point, but aren't you suspending your judgment by asking this questin here? Sorry - couldn't resist. Seriously though, are you suggesting it is wrong to ask questions of other people (whether in devil's advocate form or otherwise)? Are you expected to know everything? Do you have all the answers? If not, then you need to ask. From my point of view, that includes asking questions of everyone, not just Objectivist. I mean, if you have a question on playing golf, would you rather ask a mediocre Objectivist golfer or a crazy championship golfer?

    Anyway, ask away.
  9. Like
    claire got a reaction from Ryan1985 in Rand's views on murderer William Hickman   
    "So Rand thinks that most people have worse sins than cutting up a little girl? How horrifying that she views society to be so loathsome."

    I, too, find it extremely troublesome. Plenty of people seem to want to make excuses (her young age, her Nietsche phase, taken out of context, etc.), but that doesn't cover the belief that the average person is WORSE than a butchering killer. It's especially weird since she left Russia because everything in Russia was bad and America was the wonderful country of bright freedom. So she gets here, and now AMERICANS are totally despicable. As for her admiration that Hickman was unrepentent, the same can certainly be said for most of the prison population today.

    I don't see how one can escape that this view of mankind if horrifying. And sad.
  10. Downvote
    claire got a reaction from SapereAude in Rand's views on murderer William Hickman   
    "So Rand thinks that most people have worse sins than cutting up a little girl? How horrifying that she views society to be so loathsome."

    I, too, find it extremely troublesome. Plenty of people seem to want to make excuses (her young age, her Nietsche phase, taken out of context, etc.), but that doesn't cover the belief that the average person is WORSE than a butchering killer. It's especially weird since she left Russia because everything in Russia was bad and America was the wonderful country of bright freedom. So she gets here, and now AMERICANS are totally despicable. As for her admiration that Hickman was unrepentent, the same can certainly be said for most of the prison population today.

    I don't see how one can escape that this view of mankind if horrifying. And sad.
  11. Downvote
    claire got a reaction from Jake_Ellison in Rand's views on murderer William Hickman   
    "So Rand thinks that most people have worse sins than cutting up a little girl? How horrifying that she views society to be so loathsome."

    I, too, find it extremely troublesome. Plenty of people seem to want to make excuses (her young age, her Nietsche phase, taken out of context, etc.), but that doesn't cover the belief that the average person is WORSE than a butchering killer. It's especially weird since she left Russia because everything in Russia was bad and America was the wonderful country of bright freedom. So she gets here, and now AMERICANS are totally despicable. As for her admiration that Hickman was unrepentent, the same can certainly be said for most of the prison population today.

    I don't see how one can escape that this view of mankind if horrifying. And sad.
  12. Like
    claire got a reaction from 0096 2251 2110 8105 in Specific word to replace one common definition of 'selfish'   
    I'm looking at this somewhat differently. I think Rand made a mistake in taking words and tweaking their commonly-used definition.

    The MErriam-Webster definition of selfish is:
    1: concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself : seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others
    2: arising from concern with one's own welfare or advantage in disregard of others <a selfish act>

    While Rand spoke out for self-interest, she did not indicate that one must have no regard for others.

    So, when someone hogs all the shrimp at a party and is called selfish, that's perfectly correct. That person has no consideration and is rude. There's no need to find another word. The dictionary already has a perfectly good one.

    Rand did the same with sacrifice: Here are definitions I found:


    a. The act of offering something to a deity in propitiation or homage, especially the ritual slaughter of an animal or a person.
    b. A victim offered in this way.
    2.
    a. Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim.
    b. Something so forfeited.

    All definitions I found include the offering to deity. Several (as above) give the definition of forfeiting something to get a GREATER value.

    These definitions are not about giving up that which is precious for something less precious (although this is included in some minor definitions).

    As far as I can see, playing with common definitions has led to totally needless discussions, arguments and word-salad. (Just take a look at any objectivist forum) By changing the common usage of words and substituting her own, Rand only made things more confusing.

    I recall several years ago, on some objectivist forum, a young man was describing an argument he had in a bar with some stranger (already plenty of red flags there!). Seems the bar-mate was a tad liberal. As the "liberal" started to leave, the young objectivist poster, according to his own words, yelled after him: "You're an altruist!" Talk about confusing those present. The objectivist was using (without even defining, in this instance) a word commonly used as a positive and slinging it as an insult.

    Anyway, I consider playing these word games a mistake which invariably leads to misunderstanding. Just take a look at some of the posts here. So many deal with definitions instead of getting to an actual idea. If you can't even agree on what a word means, there's a problem. And tweaking definitions and using them in a way the rest of the population doesn't doesn't facilitate understanding. Only arguments.
  13. Like
    claire got a reaction from bluecherry in I'm seeing a girl who has a boyfriend...   
    Ben, it seems you've only known the girl for two weeks (in my opinion, not enough time for her to be staying over, but that neither here nor there.). Two weeks is a very short period to time. If there's someone else in the picture, of course she's going to be conflicted in her feelings. You two can hardly know each other at this point, and maybe that's what you should be concentrating on. Give her some space, share a meal, go to a movie, yada yada yada. Get to know each other, for pete's sake. And did you expect her to come without a past. There's an old boyfriend in her life whom she still has regards for. What's so weird about that? God may have made the world in seven days, but as far as I know, he still doesn't have a girlfriend, so creating a relationship just takes a bit more time.
  14. Downvote
    claire got a reaction from Ben Archer in I'm seeing a girl who has a boyfriend...   
    Ben, it seems you've only known the girl for two weeks (in my opinion, not enough time for her to be staying over, but that neither here nor there.). Two weeks is a very short period to time. If there's someone else in the picture, of course she's going to be conflicted in her feelings. You two can hardly know each other at this point, and maybe that's what you should be concentrating on. Give her some space, share a meal, go to a movie, yada yada yada. Get to know each other, for pete's sake. And did you expect her to come without a past. There's an old boyfriend in her life whom she still has regards for. What's so weird about that? God may have made the world in seven days, but as far as I know, he still doesn't have a girlfriend, so creating a relationship just takes a bit more time.
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