Posted: Jan 11, 2017 6:37 pm
Cito di Pense wrote:Believing that there is a farther shore to reach is certainly one way to approach existential issues; I think we are well-familiar with one particular take on the 'farther shore' concept. I'm not saying what we should or shouldn't do. To tell the truth, I'm a bit creeped out by the people who want to understand human behavior to the nitpicking level of detail implied in studying responsibility 'scientifically'. Some do have trouble coping because they don't know in detail what other people are thinking. I'm not saying you're having trouble coping at our current level of knowledge, but the hope that we will discover something wonderful by what you call 'exploring' is just wishful thinking, and besides that, depends in no small way on your very personal take as to what 'wonderful' is all about. Promoting peace is just not the antithesis of promoting war.
Being "creeped out" by those non-scientists seeking 'scientific' treatise on 'responsibility' is a little creepy. As far as I am aware, the scientist who broke ground on these studies were just seeking knowledge of how the brain worked. Is that wrong? My big problem with all this is what you point out right there... the idea that these studies say fuck all about 'responsibility.' The conclusions being drawn by the masses are faulty as I see it. I don't hold the search for knowledge in contempt... and knowledge about the universe around us, including our brains, to me I find just about the closest thing to 'wonderful' I can imagine. YMMV
I think you know me better than to think my "other shore" remark was anything other than the acquisition of new knowledge. Science has never been able to control what the masses do with their discoveries. Why should understanding the brains bio/chemical function be excluded?
Another song for ya -- and look up more recent Hot Tuna (Kaukonen-Casady) renditions, like the live version at Fur Peace Ranch -- but the classic interpretation is right here:
I looked it up... sorry... not my taste. Maybe I can't see past the religious references.
This stuff is wonderful if one doesn't carry around any baggage about the religious symbols in the lyrics. Jorma Kaukonen is one of those underrated treasures, in my opinion, which might very well go to waste, here. You were 6 years old when that one came out.
One of my top ten favorite artists of all time died when I was 7 (Janis Joplin).... so maybe that tells you something. I have eclectic musical tastes. Blues (old and new), is at or near the top of my list, but I also like classical, rock, grunge, motown.... about anything but pop.
I'm not going to blather about the journey-instead-of-the-destination, one of the stupidest platitudes in the archive, but belief in progress is just a comforting fantasy. Ask Pebble what we want to progress toward: All the shit that the religious nuts wibble about, but without God. Whose authority do you want to rely on, then? Don't back down from your personal take on what 'wonderful' is all about, but I simply may not personally support everything you think might be wonderful, because I have a different take on things. I like GB Shaw's take on the Golden Rule, too: "Don't do unto others. They might not share your tastes."
I have no problem with having a differing opinion of what is 'wonderful' with you or anyone, but the farther down ones list of 'wonderful' one finds truth (in the "conforms with fact or reality" sense), the less likely we can be friends. I don't take disagreement personally.