I've been holding my tongue a bit lately (really), but now might be a good time to share my opinion that many of the kinds of questions we see on the FRIAM list result from lazy mental processes. E.g., it's too hard to figure an answer out for one's self, but it's quite easy to ask the list a (pick your topic) question under the guise of posing deep, philosophical/thoughtful questions.
I'm not naming names, but I do want to reiterate something Pirsig observed in this vein: *So it is with John. I could preach the practical value and worth of motorcycle maintenance till I'm hoarse and it would make not a dent in him. After two sentences on the subject his eyes go completely glassy and he changes the conversation or just looks away. He doesn't want to hear about it.* * * * Sylvia is completely with him on this one. In fact she is even more emphatic. "It's just a whole other thing," she says, when in a thoughtful mood. "Like garbage," she says, when not. They want not to understand it. Not to hear about it. And the more I try to fathom what makes me enjoy mechanical work and them hate it so, the more elusive it becomes. The ultimate cause of this originally minor difference of opinion appears to run way, way deep.* * * * Inability on their part is ruled out immediately. They are both plenty bright enough. Either one of them could learn to tune a motorcycle in an hour and a half if they put their minds and energy to it, and the saving in money and worry and delay would repay them over and over again for their effort. And they know that. Or maybe they don't. I don't know. I never confront them with the question. It's better to just get along.* Obviously, I'm less concerned with the "just getting along" part than Pirsig is. --Doug On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 4:22 PM, Robert Holmes <[email protected]>wrote: > This response is either very very clever or very very lazy > > -- R > > > On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 2:54 PM, Nicholas Thompson < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> But Doug: I don't want MY answer; I want YOUR answer. >> >> Nick >> >> Nicholas S. Thompson >> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology, >> Clark University ([email protected]) >> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/<http://home.earthlink.net/%7Enickthompson/naturaldesigns/> >> >> >> >> > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
