klnielsen

Go read where a very eloquent woman, Kathy Sierra, rips multi-tasking a new orifice. Creating Passionate Users: Multitasking Makes Us Stupid?

Hmmmmmm... Michael Artifacts from film and video can trigger neurological symptoms in susceptible persons, much as the imperceptible flickering of fluorescent lights can. Before my cure really started working, I couldn't watch TV for more than about ten minutes because the interlacing would give me a disconnected, spaced out feeling along with headaches and anxiety. See: The Pokémon Seizure Incident

I'm currently in the process of reading Nathaniel Branden's writings, and I'm going through the 37-week cycle of sentence stems in Six Pillars. I was a bit put off by the "child self" thing, too; it reeked of the "inner child" nonsense that was flying around Santa Cruz while I was living there. I see the "child self" thing as being different, though--and I started getting it when he referred to the "opposite gender self" and others. I think it is a combination of a metaphor and a description of subsets of our personalities. It is presented in a role-playing aspect, especially in some of his exercises.

Hi David, What type of software are you posting--free, shareware or proprietary, and for what platform? Do you need a storefront, or just publicity, and do you need or already have a repository? I have a project up at Freshmeat. It is just for publicity. You need to have your package stored elsewhere, and they will provide a record page with a description and links for free. They exist to serve the *nix and PalmOS communities, so they may not be useful to you. Sourceforge may be useful if you are looking to attract developers, but it is only for open source projects so again it may or may not work out for you. Here is my project, btw </shameless plug>

Religion and Objectivism involve two entirely different thinking processes. If religion is followed consistently, it demands more and more dogmatism. If Objectivism is followed consistently, it demands more and more independent thinking. It makes sense that someone attracted to religion would eventually gravitate toward fundamentalism, and that someone attracted to Objectivism would gravitate toward the open system, however they receive their initial exposure.

I haven't yet come across any discussion of excellent per se in my Oist readings, but it has been implicit in everything I have read. I think of it as a side effect of the dedicated pursuit of core values, or as a descriptor of success. I have heard a saying along the lines of perfection being a path rather than a state. I think that as we continually progress we re-define our goals upward. Our visions of excellence are context dependent; the word always refers to the highest we are able to visualize under our present circumstances. Stephen: Your post popped up while mine was in preview. Well said.

Well said, I agree. It makes perfect sense that altruists are so toxic. It's a well known dynamic of abusive relationships that the abuser doesn't have a firm grip on where his/her self ends and the target begins. The target is not seen as a separate person. "She thinks he's growing out of her side" is how we describe it at my house.

Thanks, Michael. I hadn't heard that Chinese saying before, and it make sense. That's exactly why I'm here--to "shar[e] ideas, values and outlooks" and generally connect with people who will be a better influence on me than those I meet in "real" life. Plus work at getting over my cynicism, from the types that you mentioned. Having a long term illness is isolating. It brings out the worst in people, both in the sick person and the bystanders (often in the doctors, too). Also I admit that judging all of human nature by what takes place on Linux forms isn't exactly fair. Thanks again, Michael and Kat, for keeping this forum civilized.

Thanks, Bill. I just didn't want anybody to feel I'd dumped them.

I don't post much because I don't consider myself to be qualified. I'm not even familiar with the core Objectivist works yet, let alone the works of other philosophers. I have zero debate skills and no brilliant insights other than intensely personal ones at this stage. I'm a rank beginner; I'm studying and learning, but it takes time, and there are other things on my plate too. Since my initial long post (which I'm not exactly proud of) I've figured out that I'm in over my head, and probably became a member for the wrong reasons despite lurking before doing so. I definitely don't want to post for the wrong reasons. Opening your mouth just to get your voice out there is a recipe for disaster. As I learned from Linux forums, asking a question that can be answered by Reading The Fine Manual just wastes the scarred veterans' time, and the answer can always be found in The Fine Manual. Maybe this is why the n00bs don't last, or at least, don't post?

Mr. Bissel, Mr. Biggers, Mr. Peron, Drs. Branden and everybody, I am just grateful to have this book, thanks all. I don't care about the index or any other perceived problems, the value of having it to study outweighs all of that. Objectivism is really helping me get my life together and I am glad to have this work made accessible to me. There are always tradeoffs involved in getting a product out, and a little roughness is a lot better than not having it at all. If I come across a cultural reference I'm not familiar with there is always Google.

I spent a week in Hawaii recently, and despite having a good time I was kind of underwhelmed. My expectations of natural beauty had been blown out of proportion. I also felt this nagging unearned guilt about the native culture disappearing, although at the same time I identified these thoughts as racist. This clarified where my faulty premise came from.

This vastness is wonderful for our importance because of the opportunities it gives us to explore it, understand it, and hopefully, ultimately harness and use it.

Use the current position to bargain for another job in the same field, and leverage the hunt and any success obtained through it against the original employer.