Quoting ian glendinning <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > Spot on Arlo. > > Platt, the point you keep "ignoring" is that your ignorance is often > the actual subject of correspondence, and therefore NOT an ad hominem > attack on your doubtful arguments, but valid assertions about you. The > fact that you keep ignoring this point is consistent with your > ignorance, as I have also remarked.
Yes, I know. It's been obvious for many moons that if I disagree with you or Arlo, it's proof (valid) that I am ignorant. The astonishing arrogance of such thinking is, of course, blindly ignored in your own ignorance. :-) > And on your point - obviously words mean things, they have > significance, but not since Wittgenstein has anyone (even anyone in > the west, except you) thought that the relationships between the words > and meanings were a matter of logic. They are largely matters of > culture, as Arlo elaborates. So what culture do you inhabit? An illogical one? > Here's a thought. If an "individual" is a convenient fiction, does > that make Platt and "inconvenient fiction" ? The better question, since you are fictional, is "Does Ian exist? Platt > > Ian > > On 8/30/07, Arlo Bensinger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > [Platt] > > I wonder what the word for "individual" is in Chinese. > > > > [Arlo] > > This "useful convention" (the "self") is a stable part (and result) > > of collective activity. But for an interesting aside, consider this > > from a Cornell study on self-concept, "Contrast of U.S./Chinese > > memories shows impact of culture on 'self-concept'". > > > > "Americans often report lengthy, specific, emotionally elaborate > > memories that focus on the self as a central character," said Qi > > Wang, an assistant professor of human development at Cornell. > > "Chinese tend to give brief accounts of general routine events that > > center on collective activities and are often emotionally neutral. > > These individual-focused vs. group-oriented styles characterize the > > mainstream values in American and Chinese cultures, respectively." > > > > http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/01/6.28.01/memory-culture.html > > > > The short reporting of this study concludes as such. ""These findings > > indicate that cultural differences in autobiographical memory are > > apparently set by early preschool years and persist into adulthood. > > They are formed both in the larger cultural context that defines the > > meaning of the self and in the immediate family environment," Wang > > concludes. "The self and autobiographical memory are intertwined not > > only within an individual but also in the overarching cultural system."" > > > > -------------------------- > > > > "This fictitious "man" has many synonyms: "mankind," "people," "the > > public," and even such pronouns as "I," "he," and "they." Our > > language is so organized around them and they are so convenient to > > use it is impossible to get rid of them. There is really no need to. > > Like "substance" they can be used as long as it is remembered that > > they're terms for collections of patterns and not some independent > > primary reality of their own." (Pirsig, LILA) > > ------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
