anonrobt

Generally speaking, the individual who takes up the cognitive style of the first-hander will place no one else's judgments of reality above his own, not even those of Branden or of Rand. This is the meaning and the standard, as taught by Ayn Rand. ...................................... And yet, when it comes to aesthetics, this seems not to be applied, and most graspings of art works seem to settle within the conventional of the social world around them, as if that were the norm from which to base [in this case specifically, paintings] the 'universe' within the four walls - and which, among those who claim adherence to reality, such as Objectivists, results in accepting as 'valid' fantasy works like fairies, dragons, angels, demons, trolls, and such disfigurements as hiding the figure amidst clothing for the so-called 'virtue of modesty', and living in economically non-viable setting like feudalism on a planetary or trans-planetary scale [and, along with it, all the servitudes of altruism] - all because the technical quality of the rendering makes these fantasies seem 'possible' because of how they are 'seen'.... instead of glorifying reality and the extrapolation of that - reality - to the future...

Values Values are that which we seek to achieve or maintain according to our life as the standard of evaluation. Values are the motive power behind purposeful action. They are the ends to which we act. Without them, life would be impossible. Life requires self-generated action to sustain itself. Without values, one could not act, and death would follow. Value specifies a relationship between a person and a goal. A value requires a valuer--a particular person who aims to achieve or maintain something. An object cannot have value in itself. Value is relational, and so requires a person and a goal. The goal to which one aims is called the "value", but the relationship is always required. This means an object cannot be a value in itself. It only gains the title of value when a person acts to achieve or maintain it. Values are essential to ethics. Ethics is concerned with human actions, and the choice of those actions. Ethics evaluates those actions, and the values that underlies them. It determines which values should be pursued, and which shouldn't. Ethics is a code of values. [from Objectivism 101]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHSlyyzUR78 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMIzhxcXnxA...feature=related

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/8525

the egg - and the doughnut was made from the hole thing...

As a retired baker, I can attest that doughnut holes do indeed exist - they are the by-product of making doughnuts... its nature is of the same material as the doughnut... the hole in the doughnut, however, is not the same as the doughnut hole... its nature is that of consequence - the removal of the doughnut hole...

So many good books... so little time... :shifty:

not even in the OED, so is for sure an odd one...

Without a doubt you are the brightest bulb on our Christmas Tree. You have also cost me a fortune in books I have purchased after reading your postings. Ba'al Chatzaf Yes - but, ah - the quality of the books...;-) [am in the same boat - lol]

Have always loved that song...

Your mistake is in presuming all consciousness is the same... conceptual conscious is not the same as perceptual consciousness, far less than the sensal level... consciousness, for those who possess it, is a consequence of centralization of the pleasure/pain mechanism in terms of organizing thru nerves [and the centralization thru what evolved as the brain] the means of coordinating defensiveness and attentiveness to better survivability...

There is more to the article for those interested. The second link goes to a NYT article: Vast Spy System Loots Computers in 103 Countries By JOHN MARKOFF New York Times March 28, 2009 From the article (which charmingly used the term "whaling" in addition to "phishing"): Wanna see the other side of the coin? As a coincidence, I recently discovered a wonderful proxy called UltraSurf. For those who don't know what a proxy is, your computer has a numerical identification number. A proxy is a program that temporarily assigns you a new number so the sites you visit have no way to identify you. It's like a false passport so to speak. In China, they have a problem with censorship on the Internet. But there are many Chinese who are curious and highly intelligent. So the more rebellions-minded teamed up with some people in Silicon Valley and came up with a turbo-charged proxy system that is so encrypted the Chinese censors and censor programs cannot identify that the person is from China, much less who the person is. It has some limitations (like the small number of IP's and it works a lot better on IE than Firefox), but it's really cool, especially speed-wise. Here is the link for the spook-minded: UltraSurf There. That's a little bit more information than "they're coming to get us..." Michael There's always two sides to every sword...;-)

If they can do it, so can others - ones ye know not of...

Beck is in 3rd place. CNN fell behind MSNBC. Michael Yes - am informed that Fox outs the other two combined...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Mann

And I believe there is a sequel or two in that, too... would had mentioned her name with those others listed for home schooling books to read if had remembered [my books are, for the most part, almost all yet in storage]...

I go by results. Look at the life expectancy in those countries. Pathetic. Also the general level of hygien and cleanliness. If Thailand and India are so great, why to the rich and famous come to the U.S. for treatment? Superb? By whose estimation. I would like to see an unbiased evaluation of Indian and Thai medical treatment compared to the U.S. and Canada. Ba'al Chatzaf Perhaps these resort-class hospitals and surgeons are not for the peasants...

Never underestimate the possibility of how much understanding a youngster can get from an interested book, even Animal Farm... I was reading Carl Sandburg's six volume Lincoln bio when 10... 'age level' is actually whatever complexity they can muster, and it varies tremendously, especially if they're interested... you mention having lots of Sci/fi, but while that means Heinlein, does it include James Hogan, Eric Frank Russell, Robert Forward, L. Neil Smith, the early F. Paul Wilson, Barry Longyear [Circus World books], Melinda Snodgrass' Circuit trilogy, Vernor Vinge, Charles Sheffield, and the old classics of Burroughs, Fletcher, Platt, Weinbaum, and Hal Clement... tho male oriented, as most books are, what of Robert Louis Stevenson or even the Sherlock Holmes tales... ever read Inkheart? or the original Nancy Drew series [before they corrupted her in 'modernizing' her].... just a few to mention - many of these are outright libertarian or at least self-reliant and personal responsibility oriented...

Those are not included in 'the complete cummings' ?

have always enjoyed cummings - and this only reinforces it...

Adam, I appreciate your good advice but I already called my representative and encouraged him to co sponsor the bill and told him I would be watching to see where he stands. I did send him emails at the time of the bailouts and received a form letter thanking me for my concerns but that he had to do what he thought best for his constituents. So he voted for the bailouts twice. I had admonished him that the result would not be in the interests of his constituents because of the massive inflation the bailouts are more than likely to cause. Bernanke has said he will print up as much money as necessary to cure the recession! gulch My friend Gulch - We are unfortunately being governed by statists who seem to be ignorant of economics, and to have as their highest concern having good sound bytes on TV. They seem to unable to understand the danger to freedom and the economy from their statist policies, and unwilling to understand the danger to the republic from external threats (terrorism, re-ascendant hostile nations, etc...). Bill P They've been 'Bambi'ed, and consider all other humans much like they now consider wildlife...

That seems always the problem with 'conservatives' - the craving to impose religion on others, and the notion of national servitude [which is really just an outgrowth of their religion, that 'sacrifice for others' gambit] - their refusal to grasp the nature of what individualism really is ... good video, otherwise, as you said...

I understand that the plan has been dropped...

Our nervous systems are designed to abstract from energy sources of various types like sound, light, mechanical, heat, etc. I'm not sure how this makes us "nothing but energy"?? Since matter is nothing but concentrated[or 'stored'] energy, this has a degree of sense...

Thanks Robert. If collectors can feel the love, effort, and care in an artwork then investing some of their discretionary income into art can be very gratifying. Michael Actually, along with good books, am inclined to say these are the best investments to make, under the present conditions...