On Dec 26, 2007 8:45 AM, Adam Churvis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > He cannot answer, lest his secret identity become known, thus > > putting his family in danger. > > It's one thing to publicly state your real and legal name when you state a > position and engage in an argument; it's another thing altogether to hide > behind anonymity while blustering about and making ridiculous claims and > purporting to be virtuous.
I love mystery. It's fun to wonder (but not so much worry) about stuff. I take it like that saying "if it rings true, so be it" -- the status of the messenger shouldn't effect the message itself... well, it would be nice if it didn't. More logical, if you ask me, but we're not pure logic type beings. Who are you, "Gruss Gott?" Stand up and be counted. "Who is John Galt?" LOL. I love that book, really. Quite nice. > > Saying it's some sorta hard, or solid thing (like the Bible kind of > > Law) seems kinda funny. It all seems very fluid to me, but then > > again, I think that definitions of words are fluid. > > Fluid? In what way do you mean? If you think that definitions of words > are > in themselves fluid, then how do you form a common reference among people? The same way we always have-- I point at something, and when you point at the same thing, viola, communication! Well, if it's intentional. Random pointing makes it hard to determine... */me glances at his cute baby* > I would suggest that unless and until you clearly define words, anything > built from them will itself be unclear. I agree that agreement is probably the basis of communication, since, that's what it's all about "are we "talking" about the same thing?", but words themselves are made up. Yes, made up! And they flow and change with time and use. One of my favorite books is ... lets see... The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of The Oxford English Dictionary, by Simon Winchester. Excellent! Sorta the eye-opener for words that the book *Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid* by Douglas R. Hofstadter was for me about math (math is made up too!). Then there's good old Chomsky... yeah, he's got some interesting stuff about words, and communication, and whatnot. So, essentially, Yes! "anything built from them will itself be unclear." -- it's the nature of the beast. If words worked different, there would be no argumentation about quite a lot of stuff, and the world would be much less fun. Self-organization is just a riot, and quite powerful. Don't even ask me about order and chaos! :-) The French, if I recall, have a committee that determines what words are "French", unlike our, um, w00t, for instance. (French is still alive too, much as some would like to get that "final" answer, or whatever). Yes, Gödel had some powerful ideas. Apply to way more than "just math", heh. Like "e" (the mathematical constant). Fun stuff! But yeah, Law (and arguing Law) seems to have quite a bit to do with interpretation, and thus, it's a fucking crap-shoot. Just look at history for the proof. This ain't as crazy as it sounds. We deal with it every day, in our own lives. Depends on what your definition of is is (Really, really check out that dictionary book, it was quite excellent!). Show me a word that's definable without a definition, and I'll show you an machine that powers itself, for Eternity (however long /that/ is!). :-) Course, we do love to pretend that things "are" or whatever. That the tree that falls in the forest makes a sound, even if nothing exists to "hear" it. Guess that belief kinda makes it so we can have societies and whatnot. Maybe. At least is provides some ground for the Credit Card companies to ply their wares. So sure, it's important to agree on stuff, but getting there isn't some clear cut path of logic. "Put tab A into slot B via valve C". ... Um... Man, I'm nuttier than Sam! Hope I got what I was intending across-- that yea, words are fluid, and yeah, Law is fluid, and yeah, people are fluid. "Obviously" :-) Man, I'm grinning ear to ear. -- "Quick- Act Normal!" "Think solid!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:249081 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
