I'm thinking "voila" is a pretty common expression in english, unlike, say, ceteris paribus.

Yes, I agree, But you used to be much less tolerant. As people get older, they start to bend their principles. Happens in politics, happens in writing and speaking.

Well, I just turned 21...

The brain keeps softening. By the time you are 23 you may join Reconstructo in his admiration of Hegel and butterfly chasing.

You make the prospect of aging sound so depressing, ken.

Oh, it is. As the actress, Betty Davis said, "Getting old is not for sissies".

I suppose this is why we give people presents at their birthdays. To make them forgot the sorrow it is getting older.

Actually, it is because the donors of the presents are so relieved that they are not so old as the receivers.

Difficult to support, as young kids receive the most presents. How does your theory work out with wedding presents?

Difficult to support, as young kids receive the most presents. How does your theory work out with wedding presents?

Hi guys,

Have we stopped discussing fatalism here then?
Anybody viewing will think so.

Thank you gentlemen, be well.

Mark...

Hi guys,

Have we stopped discussing fatalism here then?
Anybody viewing will think so.

Thank you gentlemen, be well.

Mark...

(You do hop around so that it is hard to keep up with you).

Hi Ken,
I hop around? - You stray a little too.
But I do enjoy our encounters.

I was hoping to see a little more on fatalism, that's all. It seems to me that it doesn't matter one way or the other, as to whether fate is avoidable or not. I don't believe it is, but can never grant this belief any surety. I'm not even sure that anything can be known for sure.

I had a car crash 2 days ago, and it was truly unavoidable - I could have done a million things differently, and it may never have occured, but, I didn't, and it did.

This is the foundation of my belief:
[CENTER]Either, we are planned to be random
Or randomly planned?[/CENTER]

Where do each of you stand on this?

If this thread has truly fizzled out, I'll dissappointingly unsubscribe.
Thank you guys, and wander well.

Mark...

Hi Ken,
I hop around? - You stray a little too.
But I do enjoy our encounters.

I was hoping to see a little more on fatalism, that's all. It seems to me that it doesn't matter one way or the other, as to whether fate is avoidable or not. I don't believe it is, but can never grant this belief any surety. I'm not even sure that anything can be known for sure.

I had a car crash 2 days ago, and it was truly unavoidable - I could have done a million things differently, and it may never have occured, but, I didn't, and it did.

This is the foundation of my belief:
[CENTER]Either, we are planned to be random
Or randomly planned?[/CENTER]

Where do each of you stand on this?

If this thread has truly fizzled out, I'll dissappointingly unsubscribe.
Thank you guys, and wander well.

Mark...

How could what is fated be avoidable? It would be a contradiction in terms, since X is fated entails X must happen. And what has whether anything is known for sure have to do with it? Better stick to literature.

I'm not even sure that anything can be known for sure.

which just illustrate how confused he really is. And it makes me wonder how to approach this matter, since his mindset, I think, prevents him from differentiating the true from the false. In fact, I don't even know if he thinks things can be true or false.

Things are not true or false. Propositions are true or false. Though I think you know this, I don't think Mark Noble does.

In fact, I don't even know if he thinks things can be true or false.

Or cares? ................