[continued from previous message]   
      
   > If I had infinite amounts of money, I would travel by private jet. If   
   > I had an infinitely compassionate wife I would not travel at all. I   
   > would be perfectly content to spend the rest of my life in my house,   
   > deep in the forest, fishing.   
      
   Yeah---gotta question a bit the need for traveling and tourism.  What's   
   that all about?  I like to travel to see people, not places.  I honestly   
   care very little to see culture and places.  It's different if you are   
   my friend and you're interesting---then Sweden becomes interesting, too.   
   So I'm usually interested where my family and friends are.   
      
   > I feel I have done enough for the world. I feel like I can retire to   
   > fishing with a perfectly clear conscience. =D   
      
   Sounds like wisdom to me.   
      
   >>>> I'm quite okay with the keeping ``truth'' undefined.  I may have some   
   >>>   
   >>> Even if your life depends on it?   
   >>   
   >> My life would never depend on such intellectual matters.  Life depends   
   >> on food, shelter and relationships.  We could easily argue here that   
   >> you're likely valuing the intellect more than you should.  The intellect   
   >> has to be kept on the leash.   
   >   
   > What ever we make into an obsession, tends to control our lives. I   
   > prefer to be in control, so it's always good not to get too focused   
   > and one sided about things.   
      
   Sounds like wisdom to me.   
      
   >> Now, I certainly maximized the occurrence of the event because I'm   
   >> always at the beach.  Nevertheless, though, it could be that somehow   
   >> that's not the whole story.   
   >   
   > Let's see tomorrow!   
      
   Lol.  My mind is in next events.  But I don't expect seeing that person   
   around here any time soon or ever.   
      
   >>> True! No hocus pocus at all! =)   
   >>   
   >> You see, we have this preference for destroying mystery.  Other people   
   >> prefer the mystic.  We are more warranted in our preference than the   
   >> others are in theirs, but we should do it very carefully because   
   >> otherwise we're doing the same silly thing other people do.   
   >   
   > It is dangerous to argue against peoples beliefs. That wakes up the   
   > worst in people.   
      
   So true.  My observation is that people's behavior really comes from   
   deep within, not from the surface, so working on the surface is a   
   complete waste of time.  (And the intellect is on the surface.)  That's   
   why people behave ``irrationally'', meaning that's why we can't   
   understand them at all.   
      
   >>> Oh yes... I am not against imagination and speculation, if that serves   
   >>> to motivate a person, or inspire him, or help him advance theories. My   
   >>> main beef is when people confuse speculation and theorizing, with what   
   >>> we can or cannot prove. Mistaking the map for the real world so to   
   >>> say.   
   >>   
   >> Most people hardly have an education.  They don't know what a theory is   
   >> and what speculation is very well.  Unfortunately.   
   >   
   > Well, from that point of view, we are lucky to have had a good   
   > education! I just look at the students I have today, and get   
   > depressed. =(   
      
   Same here, but it's not clear what you mean by education.  In a sense I   
   don't think it's our education, really, because I think education is on   
   the surface.   
      
   > Last friday I had a meeting with the management of the school, and   
   > they forbade me to have dead lines for assignments out of fear that   
   > fewer students will pass the courses.   
   >   
   > That's complete b.s. And I told them that they are prioritizing profit   
   > over quality of education.   
   >   
   > They smiled and said that no, they would like both profit _and_   
   > education.   
      
   Lol!  _And_.  I do agree that it's obviously a lie.  Those lies that   
   nearly everyone accepts and even repeats themselves.   
      
   > I said that that is unrealistic   
      
   You're so delicate. :)   
      
   > [...] especially if they remove all demands, and want courses to be   
   > easier. Then I asked them to imagine how their children would be if   
   > they said yes to their every wish. Would that be how they raise their   
   > children or do they teach them to respect dead lines, boundaries and   
   > work hard?   
   >   
   > They said, well, you do have a point. But we are your customer, and we   
   > pay, so we decide the rules.   
   >   
   > And I had to agree with that, sadly. But at least I told them what   
   > will happen, so now they cannot blame me when the credibility of their   
   > students degrees drop in the market!   
      
   At least they're minimally honest.  I'm okay with that.   
      
   > At least I won a small victory. Apparently they could possibly   
   > consider a dead line in _one_ course, if the task is changed from lab   
   > to project. But probably only in one course.   
      
   I'd say don't push it hard.  Let them do what they want.  You've already   
   shared your view.  Let nature follow its own course.  You don't have to   
   influence them any further after sharing your view: they are also   
   equally in the position to direct their lives.  Let nature follow its   
   course.   
      
   > Very sad state of affairs. If this is a global trend, we are getting   
   > closer to the end of civilization! =(   
      
   It is a global trend.  And I think we have worse problems---fertility,   
   chronic diseases, work and the general quality of life people have been   
   living.  We're not at the bottom yet.  I think things are gonna down a   
   lot more still.   
      
   >>>> very hard read, but to see them all you could skim a quantum theory book   
   >>>> by descant.   
   >>   
   >> Lol---what?!  By descant?  Lol.  That's a spurious end of sentence.  I   
   >> was totally offline, unable to look anything up, but I wanted to make a   
   >> reference to the book   
   >   
   > Hmm, sorry, I must have slipped on the keyboard. I actually have no   
   > idea what I meant to say! =/   
      
   It was I who said it. :) I wanted to remember the author's name and I   
   couldn't.  I forgot to look it up (later) and ended up posting the   
   message.  That's a down side of being offline.  Sometimes you can't fill   
   up the blank that you could if you were online.  I was literally offline   
   that day.  I have the printed book, but it's boxed in the basement and I   
   surely didn't feel like digging it up.   
      
   Hey, are you getting USENET access during your vacation?  I wanna give   
   you my e-mail address.  Take care!   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)