Dave B sez:
> > The funny thing is, I don't have a very high opinion of myself. Before I > went back, it was not at all certain that I could even get into a graduate > school and I wasn't at all sure that I could keep up even if they let me in. > Well Dave, I gotta say. That actually does come across. Arrogance is usually borne of insecurity. The truly secure are pretty cool about other's opinions of themselves, good or bad or indifferent. > Yes, I'll admit that I've grown in confidence in the last few years. In > fact, if the aim was to simply to aggrandize myself, I'd brag about my > grades and tell you all the flattering things I've heard from my professors, > as well as the encouraging words from McWatt and Pirsig and from the > occasional piece of fan mail. Fan mail, eh? That is impressive. The dmb fan club. Where do I sign up? > At moments like this, it's mighty tempting to repeat that stuff. ummm... Dave? you just did. In case you didn't know that. And you know what? I've heard it before. More than once. Why? Why do I already have an idea of how smart everybody thinks you are? except for your constant reiteration of your high holy academic professorshipnesses and "good hands" talk? worthy of all genuine genuflection, I'm sure. Real Quality doesn't need to be defended, it stands as it is. > There is a very stark difference between the treatment I get at school and > the treatment I get here (for doing essentially the same thing). How would > you take that if you were in my shoes? Like I take most things, I'd laugh my ass off. > What would you make of that? If the chairman of the philosophy department > says your work is awesome and then some guy on the internet says your work > is awful, who are you gonna believe? Whichever made me happy. (Pragmatism, remember?) I could pay attention to whoever made me feel better about myself, or what fit my emotional needs of the moment. Why not both? Temper each with the other. Why does it have to be either/or? > How wo > uld you explain the stark difference between these two evaluations? Do you > think they're equally valid, equally informed opinions? Do you think they're > both in an equally good position to make such judgements about pragmatism or > its significance? > > Don't we all make pragmatic judgements for ourselves? Does Pragmatism subscribe to the doctrine of appeal to authority? Is that how I know what kind of experience I'm having? Sorry Dave. Does not compute. The whole flippin' world could laud your genius, but I'd want to taste it myself before pronouncing it good. So far it's been pretty bitter and dry. No offense. Just, you know, the pragmatic truth of the matter. John 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/md/archives.html
