Diana Mertz Hsieh Meets The Wall of Hypocrisy

[caroljane]

There is a great novel based on the Donner Party, Norah Lofts, "The Road to Revelation."

[caroljane]

There is a great novel based on the Donner Party, Norah Lofts, "The Road to Revelation."

I just Wikied Lofts to check the title. I see that she is compared to Hardy and Faulkner. I think she is better than both.

[9thdoctor]

There is a great novel based on the Donner Party, Norah Lofts, "The Road to Revelation."

Why read when you can watch it on the television?

[caroljane]

WSS-

Badlands indeed ! Doomed to the Knowledge, let's split up now in the thickets of Inevitable Research and hope that one will survive in body if not in spirit!

[Selene]

haggis balls

haggis balls

http://youtu.be/1wx6642k81c

[caroljane]

I am not a fan of the Ourbucks either, wait time is too long for overpriced mediocre product. But it opens real early and is useful in emergencies.

Do you ever find yourself wanting to deliver a knife-hand shuto to the adam's apple of any of the self-important pseudo-hippies who frequent such establishments?**

**Rhetorical question--I know you are not that type. The karate type, that is. I see you as more of the Krav Maga type.

I am not a fan of the Ourbucks either, wait time is too long for overpriced mediocre product. But it opens real early and is useful in emergencies.

Do you ever find yourself wanting to deliver a knife-hand shuto to the adam's apple of any of the self-important pseudo-hippies who frequent such establishments?**

**Rhetorical question--I know you are not that type. The karate type, that is. I see you as more of the Krav Maga type.

Looks like our local self importants are too hip for Starbucks, as I have not noticed the type much, lastime it was mostly guys in orange vests and a local busker, sobering up. However today, returning from lunch at the H&S (Haggis Balls and Smoked Haddock Chowder) I dropped into the Starbucks to stock up on serviettes and sugar, and there were two laptoppers at the window counter who might fit the bill. They typed in abstract concentration as they faced the street so that passersby could get a good look so that they could, of course, be oblivious of the passersby. One of them was a really beautiful young girl.

I had to look up Krav Maga, as I am not as fitness conscious as I should be . My idea of a good workout is returning all my books to the library at the same time. My exercise plan is, I don't possess a car. If anybody attacked me my only hope would be to start talking and bore them into immobility.

The Krav Maga looks interesting though. All of these courses are taught by Israeli army vets and they show pictures of them on club websites. The free lesson might be interesting.

Actually all the martial arts in all the fitness places seem to be taught by Israeli army vets. There sure are a lot of them around. I know Israel has continuous conscription so there are a lot of vets out there, but do they all come here to become personal trainers or gym gods?

It's like the saints' relics in medieval churches. I mean, I know they were saints and all, but how many thigh bones can one man have?

Ive heard Yaron Brook was in the Israeli army, is that true? Just think, he could have had a great career if the ARI had not got their hooks into him.

[caroljane]

er, yes.

To cleanse the palate I will conclude blurbing my local in case anybody is ever in the area. The beer is not great as they are a "whisky pub" and do tastings and stuff, I dont drink it but here is some of the menu for those who do

The Balvenie 12 yr, the McAllan 18yrHart Bros 12 yr,Isle of Jura21 yr,DunBeaghan Rosebank 25 yr,Bruichladdach 12 yr aerobeyg 10yr,laphroaig10yr, Dalwhinnie 15 yr, Glenmorangie and so on.

That is at random,every four items. I left out the blendeds, Irish, bourbons tennessees and canadians, which I was very surpised to know that there is such a thing as Canadian whisky.

Any connoisseurs of the aqua vitae out there, love the nomenclature.

[Jonathan]

The lure of the Paleolithic Diet craze is fairly obvious -- first, if one accepts the heuristic that Cavemen-Diet-Is-Adapted-Diet, then the lure is essentially Romantic; there was a Garden of Perfection and all we need to do is eat like they did.

I think that Magic Perfect Pretend Diet fads are often pretend attempts to cure ailments which are symptoms or manifestations of psychological issues which are due to a comfortable fantasy meeting a distressing reality. In Objectivists' cases, I think it generally involves one's not living up to even a fraction of one's expected Objecti-potential, and psychologically manufacturing (including subconsciously) denials or excuses for not having turned out to be a real-life John Galt.

J

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Leonid has apparently gone down the "open Objectivist discourse" disposal system...

William,

Leonid is always welcome on OL. He has a very good mind.

We had a flare-up, but I believe the hard feelings came more from a difficulty in communication than actual ideas. English is not his native tongue and we were dealing with a sensitive issue where bigotry was polluting the discussion. Not bigotry from him, as I since learned, although I think I said some harsh things at the time. (If I did call Leonid a bigot, my apologies to him. In fact, I am very happy to be wrong. I saw him arguing often for reason on SLOP against a me-too scapegoating lynch mob mentality.)

I discovered, to my surprise (and I was not pleased with myself) that I had placed Leonid under moderation here on OL. I discovered this because he posted recently. I immediately removed the restriction.

I do hope he and I can patch things up.

If not, I wish him well.

Michael

[anthony]

William,

Leonid is always welcome on OL. He has a very good mind.

We had a flare-up, but I believe the hard feelings came more from a difficulty in communication than actual ideas. English is not his native tongue and we were dealing with a sensitive issue where bigotry was polluting the discussion.

Michael

That's a good (and gracious) take on Leon I believe, Michael, considering your fall-out back then. He was educated in Russia and Israel, which makes English his third language. He does come over as formal, and a little stilted in writing on philosophy, which could be misinterpreted at first. A very good guy with high integrity I'm glad to call my friend.

[Selene]

Agreed.

Leonid is certainly welcome to disagree with me anytime.

A,...

[Peter]

Jonathan wrote:

I think that Magic Perfect Pretend Diet fads are often pretend attempts to cure ailments which are symptoms or manifestations of psychological issues which are due to a comfortable fantasy meeting a distressing reality. In Objectivists' cases, I think it generally involves one's not living up to even a fraction of one's expected Objecti-potential, and psychologically manufacturing (including subconsciously) denials or excuses for not having turned out to be a real-life John Galt.

end quote

Very insightful, J. That may explain why, at Walmart yesterday, I could not resist buying a gingerbread pound cake with Paula Dean’s picture on it. It was over six bucks too. You know what she says? “If the recipe calls for milk, use cream.” Damn it IS good.

If we did have a collapse of civilization what would people eat the first day? How about after canned goods are gone? I remember reading “How to Survive a Nuclear Attack,” by a former head of the US Nuclear program and he thought we were ONLY three missed meals away from out right thievery and riots.

So if all you fans of Rand and Objectivist Living, would you still be Objectivists after three missed meals? What would you stoop to eat? I would take a suggestion from the stomach contents and poop of long dead hunters and gatherers.

I think I would eat grubs, grasshoppers, mice, and such after a couple of weeks of starving. Any other suggestions? My plans for the future would be to acquire seeds for the spring, join a local militia, and get more guns and ammo.

Peter

[Selene]

The lure of the Paleolithic Diet craze is fairly obvious -- first, if one accepts the heuristic that Cavemen-Diet-Is-Adapted-Diet, then the lure is essentially Romantic; there was a Garden of Perfection and all we need to do is eat like they did.

I think that Magic Perfect Pretend Diet fads are often pretend attempts to cure ailments which are symptoms or manifestations of psychological issues which are due to a comfortable fantasy meeting a distressing reality. In Objectivists' cases, I think it generally involves one's not living up to even a fraction of one's expected Objecti-potential, and psychologically manufacturing (including subconsciously) denials or excuses for not having turned out to be a real-life John Galt.

J

This looks like a job for Johnny Roventini ... Call for Herr Doctor...Herr Doctor Diana Hsieh ...

Orthorexia nervosa is the term coined for the 'health food eating disorder'

Sufferers may be 'plunged into gloom' by eating a piece of bread

They may become anxious about when their next superfood hit is coming

Exaggerated focus on food can be seen in raw, clean and paleo dieters

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3033325/Why-healthy-eating-new-eating-disorder-Raw-food-paleo-dieters-risk-dangerous-obsession-nutrition.html#ixzz3X1PnHKdp

"Orthorexia nervosa, the 'health food eating disorder', gets its name from the Greek word ortho, meaning straight, proper or correct."

Now who does that remind me of?

Bratman, mentioned in the article explains that:

All I could think about was food,' he said. 'But even when I became aware that my scrabbling in the dirt after raw vegetables and wild plants had become an obsession, I found it terribly difficult to free myself.

'I had been seduced by righteous eating.'

Bratman's description draws parallels with many modern dietary fads that promise superior health by restricting whole food groups without a medical reason or even a valid scientific explanation.

Raw food followers might meet regularly to 'align their bodies, minds and souls' by feasting on 'cleansing and immune-boosting' raw foods.

Such foods are never heated above 44˚C, so 'all the living enzymes in the food remain intact'. No gluten, dairy or 'sugar' is allowed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3033325/Why-healthy-eating-new-eating-disorder-Raw-food-paleo-dieters-risk-dangerous-obsession-nutrition.html

I literally cannot stop smiling as I read the article. I know quite a few folks who could wear this "fixation."

A...

[Brant Gaede]

The Paleo diet will keep you alive long enough to reproduce, all other things being equal. After that your DNA could care less.

--Brant

[Selene]

The Paleo diet will keep you alive long enough to reproduce, all other things being equal. After that your DNA could care less.

--Brant

Ok we open a Paleo Restaurant Vasectomy and Tubal Ligation Franchise and sell immortality?

A...

John Brant is my hero...

[Brant Gaede]

The Paleo diet will keep you alive long enough to reproduce, all other things being equal. After that your DNA could care less.

--Brant

Ok we open a Paleo Restaurant Vasectomy and Tubal Ligation Franchise and sell immortality?

A...

John Brant is my hero...

Dunno. Let me know how it works on you.

--Brant

[Selene]

The Paleo diet will keep you alive long enough to reproduce, all other things being equal. After that your DNA could care less.

--Brant

Ok we open a Paleo Restaurant Vasectomy and Tubal Ligation Franchise and sell immortality?

A...

John Brant is my hero...

Dunno. Let me know how it works on you.

--Brant

Nah I am Italian none of that will ever happen.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Actually, self-righteous eating is a good way to diet if you have a true believer mindset.

That will keep you on the straight and narrow.

The paleo diet is pure core story stuff. You get a backstory going back to cavemen--and ancient tradition to boot, doom and gloom for the future for mankind's sins of straying, evil government and corporations for villains, a community of fellow worshipers, rituals, tokens, folklore and legends, esoteric secrets, witnessing by followers with before and after stories, a strong natural way to divide "us against them"--that is us against the rest of mankind, evolution in the place of the godhead (not perfect, but it works), the whole enchilada.

Someone needs to put a story together like this for a really healthy diet. Many people will follow it--all for the wrong reason--but at least they will be healthy.

God knows I need something...

There's this mantra:

Eat less, eat healthy, get enough sleep, exercise more,

Eat less, eat healthy, get enough sleep, exercise more,

Eat less, eat healthy, get enough sleep, exercise more,

Eat less, eat healthy, get enough sleep, exercise more,

Eat less, eat healthy, get enough sleep, exercise more...

But that's not enough.

No darn story.

In fact, a core story bordering on religion with an emotionally charged transformational soul-salvation experience might be the only thing that will work for me.

Michael

[Brant Gaede]

Jesus died so you'd do that?

[BaalChatzaf]

I have done a little bit of helpful work with Diana's Tweets about her tormenters, and put it online at Storify.

See Doctor Comrade Diana and the self-hoisting petard

You are cruel but truthful....

[Brant Gaede]

I have done a little bit of helpful work with Diana's Tweets about her tormenters, and put it online at Storify.

See Doctor Comrade Diana and the self-hoisting petard

You are cruel but truthful....

Her "False Friends of Objectivism" seems to cover only 2 - 3 years a decade ago. Is she suffering from burnout?

I suspect that nobody cares about it any longer. I could be less interested, I suppose, if I were interested in examining my disinterest further.

Why she would consider herself an expert on practical ethics and dish out advice because it had something to do with her PhD--did it?--I forget--is beyond me. When she went to podcasts she went off to zip. I don't listen to podcasts, not even from interesting and valuable sources. Give me a transcript and I'm done in 2 minutes. What's a podcast? 30 minutes?

I have some old Ayn Rand NBI records from the 1960s. On one she reads one of her short stories. (I don't think they're generally available in any form anymore, but I've never checked ARI, etc. on this. I don't need to; I've got them and, no, I won't sell or lend them.) Those I could listen too. I could listen to some other old NBI records and lectures. That's all I can think of on short notice.

--Brant

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

I could be less interested, I suppose, if I were interested in examining my disinterest further.

Brant,

Interesting...

Michael

[Brant Gaede]

I could be less interested, I suppose, if I were interested in examining my disinterest further.

Brant,

Interesting...

Michael

You've been hoodwinked. Heh.

--Brant

I make myself interesting for no good reason--kind of an inverse to argumentum ad hominem: argumentum ad Brantum--it's all a sham hiding a truly vicious personality always ready to lash out in shame and rage artfully concealed behind a thin skim of what looks like rationality and good manners and, even though I here flat out tell you this truth, you can't come to make yourself believe it in your all too human innocent naivete--you are right, however, if you think I'm a navette, at least I do, and a very rare one at that (I just found that word looking for the correct spelling of "naivete")

[Peter]

She has done some very good work. But I am still peeved that she never responded to me when I wrote to her.

Peter

Diana Hsieh wrote about Roger Bissell:

Roger Bissell's paper A Dual-Aspect Approach to the Mind-Body Problem (published in the Fall 1974 Reason Papers) defends the view that a mental process and the physical brain process correlated with it are one and the same brain process, as viewed from different cognitive perspectives (Bissell 1974, P4). Thus the brain has two distinct, irreducible aspects: a mental aspect and a physical aspect (Bissell 1974, P29, P47). And mental processes are actually mental physical brain processes distinguishable from all other physical brain processes by virtue of their introspectable, mental aspect (Bissell 1974, P47).

The basic problem with dual aspect theories is one of circularity, in that concepts of consciousness (like perspective and appearance) are used to explain the basic nature of consciousness itself. (Binswanger has a clear discussion of this problem in the first lecture of The Metaphysics of Consciousness, while Kelley has a more confusing comment in response to a question after the second lecture on free will in The Foundations of Knowledge (Binswanger 1998; Kelley 1986.) Bissell's theory certainly seems to suffer from circularity in speaking consciousness as our introspective awareness of brain processes, as seen in this comment:

The Dual-Aspect theory holds that mental processes are actually certain physical brain processes as we are aware of them introspectively, i.e., that mental refers to the fully real, introspectable aspects of those particular physical brain processes. Our awareness of them is the form in which we are aware of certain brain processes introspectively, just as our awareness of the physical aspects is the form in which we are aware of those brain processes extrospectively. (Bissell 1974, P45)

Here and elsewhere, Bissell inverts the hierarchy of concepts by explaining the lower-level concept of consciousness in terms of the dependent, higher-level concept of introspection. Consequently, the meaning of introspective awareness is rendered completely unclear, given that it usually refers to awareness of our own mental states, not awareness of our brain states. Additionally, by describing consciousness as awareness of brain states, Bissell seems to have provided a theory of mind more consistent with idealism or representationalism rather than the realism espoused by Objectivism.

Despite these critiques, Bissell's arguments are often interesting and compellingand deserve more attention than given here.

end quote

[George H. Smith]

Peter,

When did Hsieh write her remarks about Roger's paper, and where were they published or posted?

Ghs