That sentence has been bugging me for ages since it essentially reeks of hipocrisy - in my eyes, at least. You can respect the person you're disagreeing with, but you can't respect an opinion you disagree with. Essentially, it's against human nature as such, from my point of view. You can acknowledge it, you can accept that the other person is perfectly entitled to an opinion of his own rather than accepting yours or you can argue til both of you turn blue to change nothing, but respect as such is an earned value generated through positive experiences - or experience. You can't respect a momentary opionion that comes up through a conversation. So today, I opened a dictionary and what do I find? Definition for the word "Respect" that suddently explains the whole thing with it. I'm overjoyed.
1: a relation or reference to a particular thing or situation: respect to an earlier plan
2: an act of giving particular attention: consideration
3a:high or special regard: esteem; b: the quality or state of being esteemed c: plural expressions of respect or deference:
Respect has several meanings - and when you say, "I disagree with you, but I consider your opionion", it suddenly makes a lot more sense than saying "I disagree with you, but hold your opinion in esteem regardless". Because this is what we do. When we disagree, we regardlessly (hopefully) think on the opposing opinion's factors - sometimes ending up having it in esteem indeed - but often, merely considering it as a valid option alternative to our own. Which, in a way, I suppose, is respecting the conversation counterpart - but not respecting the opinion in the 3a, b or c fashion.
Yay, semantics.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Quoting people I don't know
"A cultured person cannot be tolerant, as tolerance is a means of destroying culture through making it equal with lack of it."
That's an interesting quote. It refers to modern concept of tolerance - the sort where everyone's opinion is equal and equally valuable. I really wonder who it belongs to originally - so if any of you know the source, I'd like to know it. This might be paraphrased, since I translated it from a Russian version.
It sounds rather blunt and, well, intolerant, the quote, rather elitist as well - and excusing elitist behaviour as well, wouldn't be surprised if it was used in propaganda of certain movements... But if one takes a look at it properly, it's quite true - not just with culture, though, though it may depend on what one defines as culture. In general, though, is it not our tolerance that permits existance of all things distasteful merely because speaking out against it is essentially no longer permitted by our own establishment? Do we not destroy ourselves from within by permitting - and approving - of processes best halted, of people best stopped and of opinions best buried deep beneath the sands of time rather than pretend a forced smile and look the other way?
And why, then, do we do so? Is it because of politeness? But politeness isn't enforced - it's presumed, and the means of achieving politeness are quite codified, but they are simply rules we want to observe in order not to upset others around us - or achieve results desireable to us through observing societal norms and manipulating them to our will. So no, it's not politeness.
It's fear. Fear to be cast aside for breaking the behavioural norms, fear of retribution, fear of one day having someone we didn't please of throwing a rock at us. In some less fortunate countries, fear of being prosecuted by law. How screwed up is our society, then, if we have to be tolerant and polite out of fear rather than by choice?
That is not to say I approve of the quote exactly. People should be tolerant, but only according to their own will - and there are things that cannot be tolerated regardlessly. Just that people have to use their head, as time-consuming as it might sound.
Oh, and to those that equalise intolerance with violent intolerance - wrong. A person that can't tolerate a fact acts to correct it, yes - but not violently. Martin Luther King could not tolerate the way that a great deal of people in the US were treated - but did he go shooting whites for it? Nope. Did he punch them? No! What did he do? He came up with civil disobedience. When film industry started coming up with things like pornography and films of extreme violence, did their makers get burnt at the stake? No. People came up with age categories for films. These are examples of intolerance that did something good for society - intolerance of an aspect of surroundings - in fact, intolerance is one of the motivating forces behind progress.
Then there's a more regular display of intolerance - me, for example, I have an intense hatred of people chewing noisily (call it childhood trauma if you will, I really can't stand it) - and if I'm eating with someone I know well enough to comment, I will. If I am on the bus next to someone chewing like that, I'll make my music deafeningly loud or change seats - because I can't stand it, and being polite in this case would cause me near-physical discomfort. However, in some rare situations, I regardlessly permit people to eat that way without making any remarks or trying to drown it out - but I do it by my own choice rather than fear of rejection. And I won't tolerate a whole lot of other things as well, but it hardly means I'll go and beat someone up over it, or end their existance to stop troubling me. That is not just intolerance. That is intense stupidity.
That's an interesting quote. It refers to modern concept of tolerance - the sort where everyone's opinion is equal and equally valuable. I really wonder who it belongs to originally - so if any of you know the source, I'd like to know it. This might be paraphrased, since I translated it from a Russian version.
It sounds rather blunt and, well, intolerant, the quote, rather elitist as well - and excusing elitist behaviour as well, wouldn't be surprised if it was used in propaganda of certain movements... But if one takes a look at it properly, it's quite true - not just with culture, though, though it may depend on what one defines as culture. In general, though, is it not our tolerance that permits existance of all things distasteful merely because speaking out against it is essentially no longer permitted by our own establishment? Do we not destroy ourselves from within by permitting - and approving - of processes best halted, of people best stopped and of opinions best buried deep beneath the sands of time rather than pretend a forced smile and look the other way?
And why, then, do we do so? Is it because of politeness? But politeness isn't enforced - it's presumed, and the means of achieving politeness are quite codified, but they are simply rules we want to observe in order not to upset others around us - or achieve results desireable to us through observing societal norms and manipulating them to our will. So no, it's not politeness.
It's fear. Fear to be cast aside for breaking the behavioural norms, fear of retribution, fear of one day having someone we didn't please of throwing a rock at us. In some less fortunate countries, fear of being prosecuted by law. How screwed up is our society, then, if we have to be tolerant and polite out of fear rather than by choice?
That is not to say I approve of the quote exactly. People should be tolerant, but only according to their own will - and there are things that cannot be tolerated regardlessly. Just that people have to use their head, as time-consuming as it might sound.
Oh, and to those that equalise intolerance with violent intolerance - wrong. A person that can't tolerate a fact acts to correct it, yes - but not violently. Martin Luther King could not tolerate the way that a great deal of people in the US were treated - but did he go shooting whites for it? Nope. Did he punch them? No! What did he do? He came up with civil disobedience. When film industry started coming up with things like pornography and films of extreme violence, did their makers get burnt at the stake? No. People came up with age categories for films. These are examples of intolerance that did something good for society - intolerance of an aspect of surroundings - in fact, intolerance is one of the motivating forces behind progress.
Then there's a more regular display of intolerance - me, for example, I have an intense hatred of people chewing noisily (call it childhood trauma if you will, I really can't stand it) - and if I'm eating with someone I know well enough to comment, I will. If I am on the bus next to someone chewing like that, I'll make my music deafeningly loud or change seats - because I can't stand it, and being polite in this case would cause me near-physical discomfort. However, in some rare situations, I regardlessly permit people to eat that way without making any remarks or trying to drown it out - but I do it by my own choice rather than fear of rejection. And I won't tolerate a whole lot of other things as well, but it hardly means I'll go and beat someone up over it, or end their existance to stop troubling me. That is not just intolerance. That is intense stupidity.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Tidbits
Well, I've been re-reading a collection of French sci-fi the last few days, and I must say I'm bloody impressed with the novel and the short stories. Those guys really knew how to write good science fiction. No focus on laser pew-pews, rather, good, philosophical sort of writings in a fictional framework. Highly focused on human nature and its destructive features. Though I must say it took a few years to see the book in full colours rather than just the obvious things you manage picking up when you're younger. Whee! Maturity! *does the leprechaun dance*
Found a lot of MythBusters episodes (from the Discovery channel) on YouTube, great stuff there - but to top the greatness of that show, I also stumbled across an interesting debate in the video's comments section - a great literacy debate!
Also found a great episode about the "bull in a china shop" saying. Damn, I want to work in a group like that!
And of course, I couldn't leave out this little gem:
Found a lot of MythBusters episodes (from the Discovery channel) on YouTube, great stuff there - but to top the greatness of that show, I also stumbled across an interesting debate in the video's comments section - a great literacy debate!
Also found a great episode about the "bull in a china shop" saying. Damn, I want to work in a group like that!
And of course, I couldn't leave out this little gem:
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Mankind loses more points.
I spent a bit of the afternoon browsing the intrawebs today, catching up on some less frequented forums and such (well, being both bored and lazy, basically) and what do I stumble upon? No other thing but a newspost that qualifies as a severe kick to the various sensitive spots of the collective hive of minds called "mankind". Seriously, when I read things like that, I wish I would differentiate from the lot of them by more than just the token genetic variation and mental conditioning.
Alright, really, now. We have one doped-up moron doing that stuff and filming himself on a telephone - or having a friend do that. I won't talk of my opinion on the cretin, that's pretty self-explanatory, I should hope, but... What about the people that witnessed all this? Why has nobody stopped the idiot? It's not like he just spat and ran off. Who are all these people and do I even want to share the same air with them? I feel doubtful. Open their eyes? How? They don't want to see, hear or even smell the truth anymore, not most of mankind anyway. Just hide in your little holes with all the little comfy stuff ya got and be happy none of it concerns you. Oh yeah. Risk your neck for a dying woman while a freak does what he does? Who's stupid enough for that?
Oh, and some guys at the forum went blaming "godless people" about this. Beg pardon, but in the Soviet Union, this sort of thing would be unthinkable. Roots to this are quite elsewhere.
And while at that... Another thing, came to my attention thanks to Mach. Street school kid violence.
Wasn't really going to bring that up, since it was something I grew up with. You either fight, or you run, or you're dropped and kicked - normal rules of living in Turkmenistan. But... We actually had people with cojones that came and broke this up. Adults, of course. But still. And here? Who stops them? Nobody, that's who. Political correctness and fear for our own hides. Disgusting. And where are those kids' parents? Have they ever heard that kids need to be brought up rather than showered with presents and let do anything they like as an instant substitute for parental attention, love and other things that were once considered, erm, important?
Source.Man urinates on dying woman, declaring it 'YouTube material'
From the "Annals of Modern Depravity" comes this sordid story:
Shouting, "This is YouTube material!" a 27-year-old British man urinated on a dying woman who had collapsed on the street, the BBC and local Hartepool Mail and Northern Echo tell us. He also doused her with a bucket of water and covered her with shaving cream.
The woman, 50-year-old Christine Lakinski, died at the scene of pancreatic failure.
In a sad sign of the times, it was all recorded on a mobile phone.
In court, Anthony Anderson said he had smoked a joint and been drinking with two friends when they spotted Lakinski. He faces jail after pleading guilty to "outraging public decency." Sentencing is set for Oct. 22.
"We will await the outcome and just hope he gets what he deserves," Lakinski's brother said after today's court hearing.
Alright, really, now. We have one doped-up moron doing that stuff and filming himself on a telephone - or having a friend do that. I won't talk of my opinion on the cretin, that's pretty self-explanatory, I should hope, but... What about the people that witnessed all this? Why has nobody stopped the idiot? It's not like he just spat and ran off. Who are all these people and do I even want to share the same air with them? I feel doubtful. Open their eyes? How? They don't want to see, hear or even smell the truth anymore, not most of mankind anyway. Just hide in your little holes with all the little comfy stuff ya got and be happy none of it concerns you. Oh yeah. Risk your neck for a dying woman while a freak does what he does? Who's stupid enough for that?
Oh, and some guys at the forum went blaming "godless people" about this. Beg pardon, but in the Soviet Union, this sort of thing would be unthinkable. Roots to this are quite elsewhere.
And while at that... Another thing, came to my attention thanks to Mach. Street school kid violence.
Wasn't really going to bring that up, since it was something I grew up with. You either fight, or you run, or you're dropped and kicked - normal rules of living in Turkmenistan. But... We actually had people with cojones that came and broke this up. Adults, of course. But still. And here? Who stops them? Nobody, that's who. Political correctness and fear for our own hides. Disgusting. And where are those kids' parents? Have they ever heard that kids need to be brought up rather than showered with presents and let do anything they like as an instant substitute for parental attention, love and other things that were once considered, erm, important?
Factory Stories, interlude.
It wasn't really in his plans, getting stuck at a factory like this. Coming here day after day, week after week, weeks slowly piling up into months and years. Once, he wanted to be something different. Someone that could change the world - influence it for the better, or at least leave a mark in the passing. To have a fancy job with a fancy car and take half a year's worth of vacations in a warmer hemisphere. But then, a friend told him that there was a place with decent pay that could employ without looking for fifty years of prior experience, and he fell to the trap. And damn, the trap was good.
There was no need to worry, no need to think too hard, the people around were nice and the pay was decent. He was safe there. Secure. There was no need to take any risks for years. Even his friendships were all safe. Nobody to know him too well, nobody to get too close, just casual acquaintances to chat with over a mug of beer on the day off. Good guys, too, of course. All was fine. But lately, he began feeling that something was amiss.
He wasn't sure what it was, or where. It could've been that the factory had turned to some sort of a lunatic asylum, with people talking about seeing squirrels, fighting over women and trying to kill themselves in the restroom over something or another. It could be that. Or it could've been something else - his dreams of glorious life ahead of him pulling him again, telling to stop with the nonsense and make a leap. And see where it all goes from there.
He sighed and lifted his head, casting a tired glance around him. The conveyor belt stretched from right to left, carrying all manner of electronic things he never cared to learn the names of. Dozens of blank concentrated faces surrounding the conveyor, putting the devices together and sending them onwards. He chuckled to himself. Working here for so long and never learning any names. Temporary thing. Damn.
He glanced over his shoulder, looking for the clock on the wall. Almost the end of the shift. He stretched out lazily, relaxing in his chair and shrugging to the questioning gaze of the neighbour lady, whatever her name was. Odd. He had good memory once.
Maybe it was time to go? To leave the factory behind? To try out everything else that the world had to offer, even though he could well fail - there was always this place to come back to in such a case... Yeah, why not? He got up and headed to the foreman's office - or rather, cubicle, looking around himself as if seeing an old, cozy home for the last time. Well, in a way, it was his cozy home. The grayness. The bright lights. The humming, the whirring and the clanking. The dry air with a faint smell of metal and plastic. The faint voices of the workers, occasional shrieks and laughter - usually from those temporary kids - and the work that never got too boring.
"I won't be coming tomorrow", he said to the foreman casually. The man nodded, turning his head away from a screen. "Taking an extra off?"
The man hesitated before responding to his superior, his eyes wandering the ceiling. "No. I'm quitting tomorrow. Sudden decision, but the contract allowed those. Sorry, boss"
The foreman nodded again. "Remember to return all the tools and keys to me before you leave today, then"
The man nodded and walked out of the room. It was done. He grinned. No big words of farewell, no claims of being missed. And he actually hesitated with this decision.
There was no need to worry, no need to think too hard, the people around were nice and the pay was decent. He was safe there. Secure. There was no need to take any risks for years. Even his friendships were all safe. Nobody to know him too well, nobody to get too close, just casual acquaintances to chat with over a mug of beer on the day off. Good guys, too, of course. All was fine. But lately, he began feeling that something was amiss.
He wasn't sure what it was, or where. It could've been that the factory had turned to some sort of a lunatic asylum, with people talking about seeing squirrels, fighting over women and trying to kill themselves in the restroom over something or another. It could be that. Or it could've been something else - his dreams of glorious life ahead of him pulling him again, telling to stop with the nonsense and make a leap. And see where it all goes from there.
He sighed and lifted his head, casting a tired glance around him. The conveyor belt stretched from right to left, carrying all manner of electronic things he never cared to learn the names of. Dozens of blank concentrated faces surrounding the conveyor, putting the devices together and sending them onwards. He chuckled to himself. Working here for so long and never learning any names. Temporary thing. Damn.
He glanced over his shoulder, looking for the clock on the wall. Almost the end of the shift. He stretched out lazily, relaxing in his chair and shrugging to the questioning gaze of the neighbour lady, whatever her name was. Odd. He had good memory once.
Maybe it was time to go? To leave the factory behind? To try out everything else that the world had to offer, even though he could well fail - there was always this place to come back to in such a case... Yeah, why not? He got up and headed to the foreman's office - or rather, cubicle, looking around himself as if seeing an old, cozy home for the last time. Well, in a way, it was his cozy home. The grayness. The bright lights. The humming, the whirring and the clanking. The dry air with a faint smell of metal and plastic. The faint voices of the workers, occasional shrieks and laughter - usually from those temporary kids - and the work that never got too boring.
"I won't be coming tomorrow", he said to the foreman casually. The man nodded, turning his head away from a screen. "Taking an extra off?"
The man hesitated before responding to his superior, his eyes wandering the ceiling. "No. I'm quitting tomorrow. Sudden decision, but the contract allowed those. Sorry, boss"
The foreman nodded again. "Remember to return all the tools and keys to me before you leave today, then"
The man nodded and walked out of the room. It was done. He grinned. No big words of farewell, no claims of being missed. And he actually hesitated with this decision.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Repost
To all those that missed the "I called her Death" story which I posted at quarter to midnight on September 30th, here's the repost of the link to it - THE NEW STORY THAT ANG ACTUALLY THINKS WAS MADE PROPER.
After a four-year break...
Angie begins writing poetry again. And this time it even rhymes. Mostly.
The rainy skies are torn apart
By glowing shards of dawn
The shades of night with frown depart
Across the sleepy town.
A weeping morning of the fall
By early rays is met
Its tears dry to raven's call,
A scene for day is set
The breaths of hundreds call
The wind, awakening from their dreams
And morning sun extends its beams
'Cross autumn's yellow hall
The rainy skies are torn apart
By glowing shards of dawn
The shades of night with frown depart
Across the sleepy town.
A weeping morning of the fall
By early rays is met
Its tears dry to raven's call,
A scene for day is set
The breaths of hundreds call
The wind, awakening from their dreams
And morning sun extends its beams
'Cross autumn's yellow hall
Valueable thoughts
With the East's Blues still winning the parliamentary elections at the moment, it's time to turn our noble gazes to some of the more interesting names in Ukraine's political parties.
The BYT - Bloc of Yulia Timoshenko, of course, is an awesome name, not a cult of personality thing at all.
But that's nothing at all compared to the president's coalition. Not only is it stupid in original form - Our Ukraine - People's Self Defence (Seriously, self defence? Against horrible prices on just about anything? Unstable economy? Really, who makes those names up?), it has an addition to it in brackets that steals the crown in the "Stupid name" competition - (NUNS) How cool is this?
Paraphrasing the name of the president's bloc - "Ukrainian NUNS with guns"
*claps*
The BYT - Bloc of Yulia Timoshenko, of course, is an awesome name, not a cult of personality thing at all.
But that's nothing at all compared to the president's coalition. Not only is it stupid in original form - Our Ukraine - People's Self Defence (Seriously, self defence? Against horrible prices on just about anything? Unstable economy? Really, who makes those names up?), it has an addition to it in brackets that steals the crown in the "Stupid name" competition - (NUNS) How cool is this?
Paraphrasing the name of the president's bloc - "Ukrainian NUNS with guns"
*claps*
News from Afghanistan
This year seems to be great for harvesting in those war-torn barren lands! 800 tons of heroin!
Congratulations to all current and future drug addicts.
Congratulations to all current and future drug addicts.
Monday, October 1, 2007
"We don't need no education"
...At least of the sort I saw yesterday. While being on an intercity bus, I had a neighbour, a girl from high school or something of the sort. She was reading a book. A schoolbook. Looked like some sort of religion thing really, put into "objective" terms.
I was taking a peek into the thing, being curious and all - it's interesting to see what the growing generation will be having in their heads. And my, my, my... My curiosity was rewarded.
Morality is an innate and inherent feature of human nature.
I was slightly shocked by this revelation. I mean, yeah, morality is part of human nature. My ass. it has actually been proven that it isn't - morality is an aspect of human social behaviour, and if the human isn't subjected to the society and societal norms until a critical age (7, if I recall correctly), he or she is irreversably lost to the society - and the morality will not develop according to the regular moral code, rather on simple animal instincts of fear, lust, anger and so on. Feral children are a clear illustration of the point.
However, if feral children aren't sufficient, there's another side to the matter - the different perception of morality within different cultures. In some cultures, a certain item is absolutely a taboo, while in another, it's fine and allowed on a daily, if not permanent basis. For instance, certain pagan religions imply animal or human ritual sacrifice. To their moral code, it is an alright thing to do, and the only thing that might make someone against it is fear for their own life - which is an instinct rather than a morally guided decision. Christianity, on the other hand, abhors human sacrifice. Now, we either dehumanize the pagans or the Christians or accept the fact that morality is not a universal concept.
With that said, it should be quite clear that it's not something you are born with, either.
Anyone with a different opinion?
I was taking a peek into the thing, being curious and all - it's interesting to see what the growing generation will be having in their heads. And my, my, my... My curiosity was rewarded.
Morality is an innate and inherent feature of human nature.
I was slightly shocked by this revelation. I mean, yeah, morality is part of human nature. My ass. it has actually been proven that it isn't - morality is an aspect of human social behaviour, and if the human isn't subjected to the society and societal norms until a critical age (7, if I recall correctly), he or she is irreversably lost to the society - and the morality will not develop according to the regular moral code, rather on simple animal instincts of fear, lust, anger and so on. Feral children are a clear illustration of the point.
However, if feral children aren't sufficient, there's another side to the matter - the different perception of morality within different cultures. In some cultures, a certain item is absolutely a taboo, while in another, it's fine and allowed on a daily, if not permanent basis. For instance, certain pagan religions imply animal or human ritual sacrifice. To their moral code, it is an alright thing to do, and the only thing that might make someone against it is fear for their own life - which is an instinct rather than a morally guided decision. Christianity, on the other hand, abhors human sacrifice. Now, we either dehumanize the pagans or the Christians or accept the fact that morality is not a universal concept.
With that said, it should be quite clear that it's not something you are born with, either.
Anyone with a different opinion?
Stuff and things
Well, hmm. Looks like I was majorly unproductive with my writings during the last month, and it's about time to start fixing that. So... First of all, this month, the world will gaze upon more Factory Stories (cue applause) - hopefully more in the shape of my last story's description level than not.
Second, I've decided to, eh, spice up the blog with more articles disclosing my potentially uninteresting but equally potentially offensive opinions! That is, I'm planning to display my cynical observations more often.
And third, I was, hm, persuaded by some people *grumbles* to join FaceBook and MySpace. I still have no idea what I'm supposed to do with all that except put up pretty pictures of myself, but I guess I'll find out soon enough. Profile on my Face is hanging around here, MySpace thing is here. Amusingly enough, the profiles have been up for 24 hours and there's random strangers adding me to their friends already. I'm NOT YOUR FRIEND DAMN IT! *cough*
On yet other news - I have three relatively fresh articles on Pixel - the two on the top actually being decent.
So, welcome to October, everyone.
Second, I've decided to, eh, spice up the blog with more articles disclosing my potentially uninteresting but equally potentially offensive opinions! That is, I'm planning to display my cynical observations more often.
And third, I was, hm, persuaded by some people *grumbles* to join FaceBook and MySpace. I still have no idea what I'm supposed to do with all that except put up pretty pictures of myself, but I guess I'll find out soon enough. Profile on my Face is hanging around here, MySpace thing is here. Amusingly enough, the profiles have been up for 24 hours and there's random strangers adding me to their friends already. I'm NOT YOUR FRIEND DAMN IT! *cough*
On yet other news - I have three relatively fresh articles on Pixel - the two on the top actually being decent.
So, welcome to October, everyone.
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