Re: virus: Faith and Reason

David McFadzean (david@lucifer.com)
Wed, 10 Mar 1999 11:37:41 -0700

At 12:47 PM 3/10/99 -0500, Reed Konsler wrote:

>>I don't know what you mean by "fundamental".
>
>The same thing a rational person means when they say
>"premise". In the beginning it was dark and God said
>"let there be light". This is the first fundamental. Now,
>I'll caveat the Dickens out of this by saying that
>anthromophization is just a metaphor, and one has to
>interpret it selectively. Then I'll flip back and say that
>there isn't anything "more real" than the metaphors we
>live by. Then I'll flip back again...

You are claiming that you can check fundamentals for consistency even when you may not have a consistent interpretation of those same fundamentals?

>I'll tumble through the air like a coin. But, astoundingly,
>I'll always land "heads up". That's teleology, or narrative,
>or delusion. I don't care what you call it becuase I'm
>interested in happiness, satisfaction, freedom, rapport,
>progress...
>
>Do you still want to play?

I'll play, but I reserve the right to mimic your idiosyncratic behavior to make a point :-)

>>>Who is "we"? You and I, this group, all humanity, the multiverse?
>>>My answer depends on that. It matters that "we" understand "us",
>>>to be sure.
>>
>>The participants in this conversation.
>
>You didn't really answer my question, did you?

I thought I did. Maybe I didn't understand your question.

>No, I'm declaring that we each have the freedom to affirm the
>rules in our own way. We express our common vision though
>different forms, and yet we have faith that it is a common vision.

You have faith, I have a reasonable assumption :-)

>Emerson's Rule (proposed):
> If you don't speak out, you are not a participant.

Agreed.

>>If you want, we could rule out fallacies as invalid moves if and
>>when they come up. I just wanted to let you know in advance that
>>I'm unlikely to accept any of the standard logical fallacies.
>
>That sounds reasonable as long as you remember that logic is a
>tool to facilitate communication and not a weapon to silence
>people who irritate your sensibilities. I'll agree to try to be
>as clear as possible if you agree to try and understand me.

Deal.

--
David McFadzean                 david@lucifer.com
Memetic Engineer                http://www.lucifer.com/~david/
Church of Virus                 http://www.lucifer.com/virus/