Or a cut throat...

Posting is writing with other humans in mind. It's good practice. Am I discovering how idiosyncratic my views are? Yes. But that hasn't stopped me before. I've been writing for 15 years now. This forum is the experiment, not the writing.

This might not be the most compatible crowd for me. No one mentions Rorty.

Not at all. It seems to be fashionable nowadays to think that the world is well lost. Especially on the Continent. But also on this forum.

Kenny,

There are many people (out there/our audience as you put it) who believe that we should walk in lock step, and even go on to say that our thinking, and our writing should follow suit, out of some need for uniformity.

Very often these same persons are either so dull, that reading them is like “watching grass grow,” or so very militant in their own personal truth that, they allow for no exceptions. These militants believe that anyone who differs from them are either stupid and can automatically be discounted, or are deviant and dangerous.

Can you spell arrogant (or is it afraid)?

Personally, I am glad that there are people like Reconstructo out there, both thinking and writing. It is just nice to know that I am not alone.

People with good minds get hungry for such nourishment. Or do you really believe that everything should dumb down to its lowest common denominator, people too, and thereby put the rest of us to sleep?

S9

If it is lost I am going down with the ship, and going down fighting for it...

Reconstructo,

You are right in this. Absolutely everything can be turned on its head, or seen from an opposite (even multiple) viewpoint. That is the wonderful thing about a flexible mind. It allows for more breadth and depth, not to mention growth.

I do not believe that criticism (in itself) is unproductive at all. Sorry, if I gave that impression. What I meant to say is that criticism with not further thought, or unaccompanied by some previous thought of what might be a more correct alternative is a dead thing.

I have a humorous friend who likes to say, “Sometimes your mind can be so open… that everything falls out.” Smile!

I think what he meant was, that everyone grabs a premise on which to build any case. Yet, at the same time we must remember that originally grabbing that premise was only a practical concession, and not fall under the spell of our own propaganda, (thereby creating a truth writing on stone.) Stones don’t stay flexible, or frequently grow.

I don’t think we have to worry about our minds being closed without our help. They seem to do that naturally through habit. I think that front line of our battle with our mind, lies in keeping it open.

Oscar Wilde was a great mind. Can’t do better than him as a mentor. He danced through the life of the mind, light as a feather. Humor was his wings.

S9

The problem with a flexible mind is that it can give a whole new demension to onanism...It is better to to have a structured mind, not to know what to think about, but knowing how to think; what is the process and product of thought... Drawing conclusions is easy...Anyone can do it...The difficult part is accumulating knowledge, just in the way of facts put into some natural order, which is thought of a sort...That is the raw material...As far as keeping an open mind; thought is a process in which the quality of information should be controlled, and of a high quality... Certain facts make for a certain conclusion..Opinions lead to confusion and follow from it.. I don't really accept all of formal philosophy, but people ought to have to pass a test...If this were possible, the young would never be philosophers...The young Philosopher thinks out of his hoplessness, but most of that is ignorance, and the old act out of their hope, and out of a certain knowledge...First tell me what you know, and then show me you know what you know; and then we can talk about what we think...

There is some truth to the admonition that if you keep an open mind some one will fill it with garbage...To get knowledge is to replace garbage with gold...

I created a character named Onanismo once, who is both the parody and embrace of narcissism. Always there are those who invite you to die for some Cause. Always there is a request for one's money, blood, or time. Many dress as sheep but all are wolves. Some are friendlier wolves, because they are well-fed and in the mood for entertainment.

Truth is a white lie because truth is a tooth we use to chew experience. Our truths about our selves are some of the most important and least true truths. All the world's a stage, and that includes all the world's mirrors.

Truth is a white whale.

Truth is trope. Trope is smoke.

Truth is a cannibal's coffin.

Truth is a candy cigarette. Truth is angel's panties.

My mother is a fish.

Truth is a cannibal's empty coffin.
Truth is all that is left when the ship goes down.

An empty cannibal is a hungry cannibal.

And the second cannibal said: I'm having a ball...

And the first cannibal said: Slow down; you're eating too fast...

Fido,

Having a flexible mind doesn’t mean that your mind is blowing in the wind.

Because we are both capable and sophisticated animals, we can hold two ideas (even more) in our minds at one time, and even combine these multiple ideas in order to reach a new Gestalt. This type of growth would not simply be black or white, but rather a spiral reaching higher and higher over time.

I sometimes wonder if traditionalism doesn’t border on tribalism, in a backward way. (Isn’t name calling fun?)

I am sure we all know how to think, even if we do not always agree.

The products of our thoughts could be very many things, starting with our survival needs all the way up to our highest Spiritual wisdom.

No one is arguing against accumulating knowledge. Some of us just hope not to get trapped in habitual thinking, and trapped to the point of no longer entertaining possible growing. We have to be careful that when we put our thoughts in order, that, we are not actually encircling ourselves with a high wall that we cannot possibly climb out of, as this is the definition of a prison.

When you say that, “Opinions lead to confusion and follow from it.” Is that your opinion? ; ^ )

Whenever people start talking about making a test to restrict certain other people, I always want to know which Fascist or Autocrat is going to be in charge of creating that (wonderful?) test. But, that’s just me. That's the kind of guy I am.

What if we had a (wonderful?) test to bar traditionalist from ruining flexibility. Is that an equally good idea? : ^ (


You say: There is some truth to the admonition that if you keep an open mind some one will fill it with garbage...

I say: If you keep old ideas too long (like dead fish) they begin to rot and smell bad. ; ^ )

S9

Rorty convinced me that we humans can always re-describe anything to make it seem better or worse. We're quite inventive as soon as we are motivated.

Disagreement inspires us to constantly sophisticate our positions. I believe that the sophists practiced arguing both sides. If it were allowed, I would create an Anti-reconstructo to argue against Reconstructo on every point. I want to be on both sides and neither.

Truth is a tool for apes. Some truth-tools are used to build houses. Others are used to please wives. Still others are used for self-esteem.

Check this out: Objectivity, relativism, and truth - Google Books

So what? Even if that is true, what has that to do with truth?

We can re-describe "truth" just as we can redescribe anything else. We can use words to shift the meaning of words. We persuade by means of re-description. Copernicus re-described the solar system. Obama re-described the USA. I'm redescribing redescription.