Without evil there'd be no good ...

[Surendra Darathy]

Surendra, Dude, there is actually a happening polo scene on the Northshore of Oahu. If Prince Charles has played at the polo fields of Mokoleia. I could supply you with pictures and references, but I can't think of any reason why I'd give a shit about doing that. You can go back to "holding your own..."

What? You showed up on line to proclaim how important your money is to you? You have enough trouble just carrying on a civil conversation without bringing in your "dozens" game. Showing your money online is best done at ebay.com or amazon.com or tiffany.com. Trying to show it here is like trying to show us you have a thirteen-inch dick. Nobody can tell whether or not your job is to clean up horse turds on a polo field or to suck the Ayatollah's cock. You haven't really revealed to us what resources or skills you actually possess. You could read about the northshore of Oahu on a mainland newspaper.

[Coito ergo sum]

I won't worship any of your invented beings, including the devils and the genies you think are out there...

All evidence to the contrary, pal. You worship your political pundits.

I don't worship anyone. You, on the other hand, worship wishes and dreams.

Worshiping mortal men is an underachievement for a woo-head.

What's next on your agenda today? Are you going to plant your face in the dirt and do some more groveling, or have you done enough of that already? Your will-o'-the-wisp may need some more veneration and prostration in order to like you. If you're feeling really saucy, maybe you can go set fire to some stuff and howl like a banshee because Casper the Friendly Ghost is offended.

[Surendra Darathy]

What's next on your agenda today? Are you going to plant your face in the dirt and do some more groveling, or have you done enough of that already? Your will-o'-the-wisp may need some more veneration and prostration in order to like you. If you're feeling really saucy, maybe you can go set fire to some stuff and howl like a banshee because Casper the Friendly Ghost is offended.

Did I indicate that I worship some ghoastie? Or are you just projecting? Where did I indicate that I am some god-botherer?

I asked you if you were not embarrassed to be worshiping Glenn Beck and the ink that flows out of his pen. Apparently, you're not. In Spanish, there's an expression for that: sin vergüenza.

[LaMont Cranston]

Coito ergo sum, Once again, don't take Surendra's posts seriously. It's pretty easy to tell that he's going emotional on us. Do not be suprised if he makes constant references to woo, wibble and spoonbending.

[LaMont Cranston]

Surendra, You have no idea how important money is to me, no matter how lamely you attempt to grasp at assumptions like that. Thanks for those financial tips, but, if I'm looking for that kind of information, I can do a lot better than what you have to offer. After all, you've already demonstrated that you don't understand what "wealthy" is about. In fact, you've demonstrated that there are many concepts that you don't get, but that's one of those things that go with rigid thinking.

[Coito ergo sum]

What's next on your agenda today? Are you going to plant your face in the dirt and do some more groveling, or have you done enough of that already? Your will-o'-the-wisp may need some more veneration and prostration in order to like you. If you're feeling really saucy, maybe you can go set fire to some stuff and howl like a banshee because Casper the Friendly Ghost is offended.

Did I indicate that I worship some ghoastie? Or are you just projecting?

Oh, you don't like it when people make unwarranted assumptions about you? Imagine that....

Where did I indicate that I am some god-botherer?

I figured since you just make stuff up about me, you wouldn't be a hypocrite and get offended if I did the same about you.

I asked you if you were not embarrassed to be worshiping Glenn Beck

No you did not. You at no time asked me that question. You made a declaratory statement that I was, in fact, worshiping Beck and Limbaugh. You did not ask. That may be a function of your limited writing skills, though.

and the ink that flows out of his pen. Apparently, you're not. In Spanish, there's an expression for that: sin vergüenza.

You think sinverguenza is an expression for worshiping Beck and Limbaugh? Your Spanish is no better than your English, apparently!

[LaMont Cranston]

Coito sum ergo, Very good! You figured out Surendra's game. I told you it was quite transparent. He thinks some of the rest of us have a problem with our attention spans, but he is the one who will slink away. In the meantime, I'm going to keep hitting him with that left jab. It's not my fauilt; he keeps walking right into it...

Now then, would you like to talk about good and evil?

[Coito ergo sum]

Coito sum ergo, Very good! You figured out Surendra's game. I told you it was quite transparent. He thinks some of the rest of us have a problem with our attention spans, but he is the one who will slink away. In the meantime, I'm going to keep hitting him with that left jab. It's not my fauilt; he keeps walking right into it...

Now then, would you like to talk about good and evil?

Sure, have at it.

My position was, basically, that it does not exist outside of our minds. It is an opinion. To say "good and evil" exist is attempt by our brains to conceptualize these abstract ideas. It's like saying beauty and ugliness "exist" - no, they don't. Things exist. Whether they are beautiful or ugly is in our minds only - it's just a value judgment placed upon things that actually do exist. Same goes for good and evil.

[...Idle]

Good and Evil, are just a cultural archetypes. Just a dualistic mindset.

[Surendra Darathy]

Surendra, You brought up Sonny Liston? Somehow I missed that. He really was an interesting character, a true bad assed motherfucker, but I liked him. At the time, it looked like he would be the champ for many years.

Srsly, dude, go back and view the post. Another kick-ass performance by Knopfler.

If you're as ancient as you claim to be, you'll remember Sonny on the cover of Esquire magazine December 1963, in Santa's hat, billed as the man Americans least wanted to see coming down their chimneys (my ref for this is, per usual, wikipedia).

But if the moment has passed, you and Coito can get back to your mutual admiration society, not-quite-yet-circle-jerk.

I very much appreciated Coito's remark: "Things exist." I congratulate him on a command of the language arts that any six year old would be proud to display, and a command of metaphysics anyone fresh from his first exposure to Plato could not resist broadcasting. If you get anything out of Plato, that would be it. More clearly stated: Existence exists.

[Coito ergo sum]

Surendra, You brought up Sonny Liston? Somehow I missed that. He really was an interesting character, a true bad assed motherfucker, but I liked him. At the time, it looked like he would be the champ for many years.

But if the moment has passed, you and Coito can get back to your mutual admiration society, not-quite-yet-circle-jerk.

I very much appreciated Coito's remark: "Things exist." I congratulate him on a command of the language arts that any six year old would be proud to display, and a command of metaphysics anyone fresh from his first exposure to Plato could not resist broadcasting. If you get anything out of Plato, that would be it. More clearly stated: Existence exists.

You haven't even attempted to refute anything I wrote.

What? Too busy? Or are you and your Muslim friends too busy rioting?

[Hermit]

Nothing wrong with a little bit of ribbing, but lately this thread is fast becoming a flame war, which is tedious, distracting from the central issue and discourages others from contributing to the discussion. Can we please get back on topic? Consult the opening post if you forgot what it was.

[Coito ergo sum]

Nothing wrong with a little bit of ribbing, but lately this thread is fast becoming a flame war, which is tedious, distracting from the central issue and discourages others from contributing to the discussion. Can we please get back on topic? Consult the opening post if you forgot what it was.

I'd be happy to. The record will reflect, however, that Surendra began the namecalling. As long as he stops, I'm done. But, if he comes at me again, I reserve the right to respond.

EDIT: namecalling is not really accurate - surendra started the bullshit is more accurate.

[charlou]

Namecalling?


Play nice, guys.

[Surendra Darathy]

You haven't even attempted to refute anything I wrote.

What? That "good and evil are mental constructs"? That they are differences of "opinion"? What's to refute? What's to discuss?

In what way am I wiser for having heard that good and evil are not cosmic immaterial beings battling over the fate of the universe? Hasn't that charade been played out enough times?

Wake me up when something fresh is said about the English language words "good" and "evil", defined in every dictionary, and proxies for social conflict.

Maybe the thread could have been made explicitly sociological from the outset, and the question asked, what are the sources of human conflict?

As the great Mose Allison declaimed, in my favorite version of a song he may or may not have written:

If this life is driving
You to drink
You sit around and wondering
Just what to think
Well I got some consoloation
I'll give it to you
If I might
Well I don't worry bout a thing
Cause I know nothing's gonna be alright

You know this world is just one big
Trouble spot because
Some have plenty and
Some have not
You know I used to be trouble but I finally
Saw the light
Now I don't worry bout a thing
Cause I know nothing's gonna be alright

Don't waste you time trying to
Be a go getter
Things will get worse before they
Get any better
You know there's always somebody playing with
Dynamite
But I don't worry about a thing
Cause I know nothing's gonna be alright