Re: virus: Is there room for mysticism?

Andy Cheyne Service-LL (acheyne@madge.com)
Thu, 4 Jan 96 18:00:09 -0500


>>I guess it's the "rationality only" mindset; while I think a lot of
>>nasty things happen because people don't think rationally, I think life

>>would be a lot less fun if nobody indulged in mystical/superstitious
>>thoughts and actions now and then.

There's a lot of ground between rationality and superstition. For
example, I attach a great deal of imporance to aestheic taste and
judgement - not something that yields very readily to objectivity - but I
don't think that this is in conflict with Virus at all. In fact, I think
Virus, based on logic as it is, is better placed to accord such things as
aesthetics and atavistics something approaching their proper value and
place in the general scheme of things, in contrast to other religious
systems which often tend either to inflate the importance of the unknown
or the not-understood, or deny them completely.

Anyway, is there anyone on this list who doesn't do things "for the hell
(sic) of it"? After all, "mystical/superstitious thoughts and actions"
are just a matter of attaching spiritual significance to irrational
feelings and actions - I plead guilty to having and following "gut
feelings", and I don't think I am denying myself any fun by not attaching
any undue mystical importance to them.

Andy Cheyne
acheyne@madge.com