Two things.
I cant stand Oprah - She has said and done things for which I have the very least respect. In an interview with Barbara Walters, she stated when discussing the suit against her filed by the State of Texas.
"Up until then (my trial) I knew that all defendents in crimes are guilty"
It actually took her having to be a defendent for her to grasp the basic concept in American law of "innocent until proven guilty".
Then a few months ago - she dedicated an entire episode to the promotion of her movie. Now, to me there should have been a disclaimer before, during or after that this episode was an advertisement, not a talk show. This show was indistinguishable from one of those late nite psychic advertisements.
Basically, I think she's a slimy, elitist megacommercialporkywhore - I dont like her.
For Richard though - I feel entirely different. This was an excellent
opportunity to spread memes that Richard likes. It was a chance to make money,
spread ideas,
possibly even fix preconceptions about the nature of thought. Most of us will
never have an audience like he had, or that kind of outlet for our ideas.
I didnt see the show, but I was very happy for Richard, his book sales, and
our Church. Good work Richard.
Bill Roh
Reed Konsler wrote:
> kjs:
> >Seriously though, it's funny that Oprah Winfrey of all people would
> >concern herself with tackling something as evasive to her as
> >'consciousness' or awareness. I doubt I'm the only person who thinks that
> >the audience and home-viewers failed to grasp their new E-Z Intro to
> >Consciousness. In a world of make-believe to begin with, this ain't that
> >simple.
>
> That could be why Oprah is rich and famous, and why she asks
> Richard to be on her show...she respects her audience, and
> Richard does, too. I think people can feel that, even on TV.
>
> As a hypothesis, I suspect that while you hold the elitist perspective
> that you do, you aren't going to be very effective in influencing
> most people.
>
> Now, you can go ahead and say "I don't care". Richard would say
> you are holding the value of some meme like <Truth> above the
> value of communicating and having a chance to help make the
> world a better place for everyone.
>
> You have the freedom to make that choice, but I'd consider the
> consequences pretty carefully.
>
> >My observation is that Philosophy has always been two old
> >guys trying to disprove each other anyway. ;-)
>
> So, not only is philosophy beyond most people...it's also worthless
> to those people who can understand it? Why do you even bother?
>
> Don't wimp out with that sarcastic wink. What do you really think?
>
> Reed
>
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> Reed Konsler konsler@ascat.harvard.edu
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