Rand on symbolism

[caroljane]

Carol:

Yes, quite distracted by a woman, football and politics. However, as I typed in "breech" today, a little voice in the back of my mind said, "That does not look quite right."

Unclearly, I thought I was going to completely agree with you on my improper use of "criteria" which was unexcusable. Well, not so much as I thought:

cri·te·ri·on

noun \krī-ˈtir-ē-ən also krə-\

plural -ria also cri·te·ri·ons

Definition of CRITERION

1: a standard on which a judgment or decision may be based

2: a characterizing mark or trait

See criterion defined for English-language learners »

See criterion defined for kids »

Usage Discussion of CRITERION

The plural criteria has been used as a singular for over half a century <let me now return to the third criteria — R. M. Nixon> <that really is the criteria — Bert Lance>. Many of our examples, like the two foregoing, are taken from speech. But singular criteria is not uncommon in edited prose, and its use both in speech and writing seems to be increasing. Only time will tell whether it will reach the unquestioned acceptability of agenda.

Examples of CRITERION

1. What were the criteria used to choose the winner?
   
2. <one criterion for grading these essays will be their conformity to the rules of traditional grammar>
   
3. There is really only one criterion for a grab bag of culinary facts and anecdotes like this: It has to make you look up occasionally and remark, “Hey! I never knew that.” —Laura Shapiro, New York Times Book Review, 25 Dec. 1994
   
4. [+]more
   

Origin of CRITERION

Greek kritērion, from krinein to judge, decide — more at certain

First Known Use: 1622

As to the fair for fare error, I am often guilty of that since I "here" the word in my ear and sometimes do not "sea" the word on the computer as "eye" scan the page.

But thank you for making me aware.

Adam

lol.

Just keeping you on yer toes with yer britches hitched up.

I'm not surprised that Nixon and Bert Lance did not know any Latin, or that criteria will become the new agenda, likely datum will also wend its lonely way across the River Styx. But not on my watch!!

Carol

Killjoy Pedantress

[Selene]

Tebow has convinced me that there is a God, after all. That's the only way I can explain the fact that he is 6-1 since being named the starter. I just wish I could figure out why He is a Bronco's fan.

OK...I am convinced. There is a God and I cannot figure out why he is a Denver Bronco fan.

Must be because they are closer to the damn Angels in the clouds with that Mile High Stadium Schtick!

But now we need God to move his ass down to Dallas and make my Giants win...

Adam

Go Big Blue!

[Dennis Hardin]

Tebow has convinced me that there is a God, after all. That's the only way I can explain the fact that he is 6-1 since being named the starter. I just wish I could figure out why He is a Bronco's fan.

OK...I am convinced. There is a God and I cannot figure out why he is a Denver Bronco fan.

Must be because they are closer to the damn Angels in the clouds with that Mile High Stadium Schtick!

But now we need God to move his ass down to Dallas and make my Giants win...

Adam

Go Big Blue!

Adam,

Your prayers were answered. But I don't think God has cared much for Dallas since they fired Tom Landry.

[Brant Gaede]

Tebow has convinced me that there is a God, after all. That's the only way I can explain the fact that he is 6-1 since being named the starter. I just wish I could figure out why He is a Bronco's fan.

OK...I am convinced. There is a God and I cannot figure out why he is a Denver Bronco fan.

Must be because they are closer to the damn Angels in the clouds with that Mile High Stadium Schtick!

But now we need God to move his ass down to Dallas and make my Giants win...

Adam

Go Big Blue!

Adam,

Your prayers were answered. But I don't think God has cared much for Dallas since they fired Tom Landry.

Well, hire him back!

--Brant

[Brant Gaede]

I wonder what she meant by "and it is not true". Hawthorne's characters can't be seen as symbolic? It's been a long time since I read "the Scarlet Letter". Did Rand read it?

More likely that this definition can be understood.

Not sure why she should be so grumpy here. It's not a definition, but I don't see how the students usage of the word symbolism is particularly ambiguous or flawed either.

Somebody got an idea why she snapped?

All I know is it was my 20th birthday and I was a student at Arizona State College, now Northern Arizona University, in Flagstaff and the Beetles were BIG! Maybe that pissed her off.

--Brant

the coincidence is eerie

[Brant Gaede]

If you like professional football, please seek professional help.

--Brant

knows it all--really!

I have been to therapist after therapist, and it didn't help. We spent all of our sessions debating who would make the play-offs.

Therapists shouldn't go to therapists; it smacks of self delusion.

--Brant

do it to yourself--that's what mirrors are for

[Dennis Hardin]

Therapists shouldn't go to therapists; it smacks of self delusion.

--Brant

do it to yourself--that's what mirrors are for

You have it backwards, Brant. Therapy requires an objective perspective. A therapist who acts as his own therapist (exclusively) has a self-deceived fool for a client.

For the same reason, I tend not to trust mirrors. They can tell me if I need a haircut or a shave, but too often they also tell me I should have been a movie star. We don’t know how others see us. Even asking others may not help because people often sense what you want them to say. We can, however. test the self-image we have inside our minds in various ways. For example, I might ask a Halle Berry look-alike on a date to see if she agrees that I’m the spitting image of Cary Grant.

Works every time.

[Jonathan]

...We can, however. test the self-image we have inside our minds in various ways. For example, I might ask a Halle Berry look-alike on a date to see if she agrees that I’m the spitting image of Cary Grant.

I don't think it would be unreasonable for anyone to think that you looked like an image of Cary Grant spitting.

[Selene]

Damn Jonathan that was nicely done!

[anthony]

Haha! very good, very quick, J.

[Brant Gaede]

Speaking seriously, if your therapist isn't working for you ask for a referral to another. The sex of the therapist can be important too. There are too many human variables.

You can do some self therapy, especially with some significant other, if the focus is on existential problems. Too many people don't know how to talk to each other about important things. Too many people don't understand how to handle anger or other "bad" emotions. Actual solo therapy may be workable using Nathaniel Branden's sentence completion technique delineated by him in several books. This is unlikely to work for really serious problems which get obscured with layers of human-living complexity. A good therapist will use various techniques and approaches much better than you can. Above all a good therapist doesn't tell you what is wrong with you qua diagnosis. Even a correct diagnosis by the therapist is usually worthless except to the therapist. The heart of psychotherapy is the use of an altered state of consciousness and the client ends up telling the therapist what is what and why is why about the client. Life coaching is where the back and forth is generally conversation and is somewhat what Dear Abbey does, not a therapist doing therapy. (I have no opinion about physical field therapy which I cannot grok.)

--Brant

not speaking as an expert

[Roger Bissell]

I wonder what she meant by "and it is not true". Hawthorne's characters can't be seen as symbolic? It's been a long time since I read "the Scarlet Letter". Did Rand read it?

More likely that this definition can be understood.

Not sure why she should be so grumpy here. It's not a definition, but I don't see how the students usage of the word symbolism is particularly ambiguous or flawed either.

Somebody got an idea why she snapped?

All I know is it was my 20th birthday and I was a student at Arizona State College, now Northern Arizona University, in Flagstaff and the Beetles were BIG! Maybe that pissed her off.

--Brant

the coincidence is eerie

Brant, I've been to Flagstaff numerous times, and beetles are about the same size there as anywhere else in this great country. What I'm wondering is: are they indigenous to the U.S., or did they come over with the colonists from Great Britain? :-)

REB

[Roger Bissell]

Speaking seriously, if your therapist isn't working for you ask for a referral to another. The sex of the therapist can be important too. There are too many human variables.

You can do some self therapy, especially with some significant other, if the focus is on existential problems. Too many people don't know how to talk to each other about important things. Too many people don't understand how to handle anger or other "bad" emotions. Actual solo therapy may be workable using Nathaniel Branden's sentence completion technique delineated by him in several books. This is unlikely to work for really serious problems which get obscured with layers of human-living complexity. A good therapist will use various techniques and approaches much better than you can. Above all a good therapist doesn't tell you what is wrong with you qua diagnosis. Even a correct diagnosis by the therapist is usually worthless except to the therapist. The heart of psychotherapy is the use of an altered state of consciousness and the client ends up telling the therapist what is what and why is why about the client. Life coaching is where the back and forth is generally conversation and is somewhat what Dear Abbey does, not a therapist doing therapy. (I have no opinion about physical field therapy which I cannot grok.)

--Brant

not speaking as an expert

After a tragic farming accident, my dad had to have physical field therapy for several months, before he could resume driving a tractor. During that time, he actually had to turn the farm work over to me, which was the chief reason he and Mom urged me to go into music. :-)

REB

[Dennis Hardin]

...We can, however. test the self-image we have inside our minds in various ways. For example, I might ask a Halle Berry look-alike on a date to see if she agrees that I’m the spitting image of Cary Grant.

I don't think it would be unreasonable for anyone to think that you looked like an image of Cary Grant spitting.

Omigod! You're right. The resemblance is uncanny.

[Xray]

Let's face it, this was a school project, wasn't it? So a 16 year old was asked to spam writers - or something to that end.

But isn't this a great idea by a teacher: inspiring students to get in touch with real writers?

So what the student was seeking was to comply with the irrational demands of public schooling.

While it may be tempting to make black-and-white generalizations, this is mostly too simple.

It all depends on the teachers. I have attended both private and public schools and can't say that the public school teaching lagged in any way behind. Some teachers I had in public school were actually excellent and quite inspiring.

[caroljane]

Let's face it, this was a school project, wasn't it? So a 16 year old was asked to spam writers - or something to that end.

But isn't this a great idea by a teacher: inspiring students to get in touch with real writers?

So what the student was seeking was to comply with the irrational demands of public schooling.

While it may be tempting to make black-and-white generalizations, this is mostly too simple.

It all depends on the teachers. I have attended both private and public schools and can't say that the public school teaching lagged in any way behind. Some teachers I had in public school were actually excellent and quite inspiring.

I never attended private school but I think the situation here is the same, my impression is that in public schools the parents and community have much, much more input and control. With the private schools, money talks and the richest contributors too often dictate the culture and even curriculum - and the teachers are hampered at every turn from doing their jobs by "special-interest" considerations.

I'd be interested in Phil's observations here since his career was in private school teaching.

[john42t]

So what the student was seeking was to comply with the irrational demands of public schooling.

While it may be tempting to make black-and-white generalizations, this is mostly too simple.

It all depends on the teachers. I have attended both private and public schools and can't say that the public school teaching lagged in any way behind. Some teachers I had in public school were actually excellent and quite inspiring.

I don't mean public schools as opposed to private schools. I mean "the kind of schooling the public is fond of". As opposed to apprenticeships, for example, a kind of education that works really well (here in Germany anyway) but no one ever talks about.

But then apprenticeships are voluntary, and people really don't like that.

[caroljane]

So what the student was seeking was to comply with the irrational demands of public schooling.

While it may be tempting to make black-and-white generalizations, this is mostly too simple.

It all depends on the teachers. I have attended both private and public schools and can't say that the public school teaching lagged in any way behind. Some teachers I had in public school were actually excellent and quite inspiring.

I don't mean public schools as opposed to private schools. I mean "the kind of schooling the public is fond of". As opposed to apprenticeships, for example, a kind of education that works really well (here in Germany anyway) but no one ever talks about.

But then apprenticeships are voluntary, and people really don't like that.

John, you are 100% right about apprenticeships. It is disgraceful that this sensible, traditional way of learning a trade has been allowed to lapse.

I feel strongly about this because my husband was a skilled tradesmen who served an apprenticeship (at Rolls-Royce Aero, in Glasgow) as well as attending technical college. He was in my view and that of his peers a master millwright, one of the best in Toronto.

My younger son is also a tradesman working for the public transit system, which reimburse employees for earning trades certificates.

My elder son chose the risky trade of radio broadcasting. No safety net there. But he has certainly served the apprenticeship and has kept his job or two whole years.

My trade is teaching, as you know. I served a two-year "apprenticeship" as a supply teacher, with adventures and discoveries you would hardly believe.

[Dglgmut]

After this I was not surprised at all by Rand's reply to the student.

[BaalChatzaf]

After this I was not surprised at all by Rand's reply to the student.

According to Rand, Milton Friedman was a "red".

The worst you could say about Friedman was that he was a pragmatist, but a market oriented pragmatist.

There is an old Russian saying: The Best is the enemy of the good enough. Rand was in favor of the Best. Friedman favored the good enough.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Peter]

Do not cherish your opinion over my feelings. There's a vanity to candor that isn't really worth it. - Richard Greenberg

I don’t think Ayn would have appreciated my thought of the day. Come to think of it, it is something a spouse would say to a husband, but is not proper for others.

Ba'al Chatzaf wrote:

There is an old Russian saying: The Best is the enemy of the good enough. Rand was in favor of the Best. Friedman favored the good enough.

end quote

At least Ayn was chipper. I don’t remember Milton badly.

Peter

[Brant Gaede]

reprise