More things to Ponder
1. What is the essence of our America?
- Eternity or Chanel no.52. Is compassion innate?
- No, I think chimps feel compassion, too.3. What is the psychology of zealotry in general? (Political and religious zealotry)
- I don’t know, but it’s pretty bad in colonels and majors, too.4. Name three people you’d really like to get to know.
- Moe, Larry, and Curly; or Manny, Moe, and Jack, the Pep Boys5. What is the essence of intelligence?
Seriously, those are great questions, Steel. The first three are broad enough that entire books could be and have been written on the subjects.
1. I think it spans from the original intent of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to greed, wealth, and material gain. I guess it depends on who you are. I’m curious as to why you used the qualifier “our” America.
2. Like any other trait or personality characteristic, I believe some is learned, some is innate or instinctive. If compassion is innate or instinctive then it is only so in order to facilitate survival of the species. One could argue, therefore, that a certain amount of compassion is necessary for survival. One could also argue that too much or too little compassion is counter-productive to survival as well.
3. Damn, I really have to ponder this one. Hate? Love? Narcissism? Control? Persecution complex? Pure insanity?
4. You didn’t specify living or dead, so my three are: Jesus, Jimi Hendrix, and any Marine who walked out of the Chosin Reservoir.
http://www.chosinreservoir.com/5. The more you learn, the more you realize how little you know. Or, the quest for knowledge raises more questions than it offers answers.
I’ve been away for awhile. Glad to see such a welcome mat as this.
(a): By “our” America, I suppose Steel means the America now confronting us. If so, I would suspect that its “essence” is not far from the “essence” of the Roman Republic on the eve of the Gracchi.
(b): Yes, compassion is innate, but being stuck with the bill for someone else’s compassion is another matter altogether.
(c): Zealotry? An ideology plus an idiot equals a fanatic.
(d): The three people I would most like to get to know? All long gone, Beethoven, Wagner, and Johann Strauss Jr.
(e): The essence of intelligence? Knowledge is potential energy, and intelligence makes it kinetic.
Pleasure to be back, and best regards to one and all.
Steel, you always post something that requires so much thought. It makes my brain tired.
1. What is the essence of our America?
A sorts of different people, living in freedom and working togeter to make a better future.
2. Is compassion innate?
To a certain extent, or the whole damned world would descend into chaos.
3. What is the psychology of zealotry in general. (Political and religious zealotry)
My way or the highway.
4. Name three people you’d really like to get to know.
George Washington, Will Rodgers and Bob Wills.
5. What is the essence of intelligence?
What the hell would I know about intelligence?
Tannenberg is back, we need to do some big band stuff today.
Amen, brother!
1. The essence of America is finding and maintaining the perfect, delicate balance between freedom ‘to’ and freedom ‘from’.
2. If the survival of the individual is an instinct, compassion must be learned because, in general, it runs counter to self-interest. Unless, of course, the compassion is taught to someone else - which may in itself be a selfish act. In other words, preaching compassion is much more natural than practicing it yourself.
3. One difference between a political zealot and a religious zealot is that the former can afford more machine guns, but the latter will use them more quickly.
4. Vaclev Havel
Paul Johnson (British historian)
Jesus5. Objectivity. Objectivity makes the difference between a cognitive leap and jumping to conclusions.
Posted by Phoenix
04/21/2005 at 12:37 PM
Sheesh brain strain at 5am Friday morning Essence of America
Multicultural, multilateral individuals, all of whom in their own way are orbiting the basic foundation of the USA, supporting or exploiting the freedoms and liberties available.Compassion Innate
In my opinion compassion is firstly a mixture of many different emotions/actions some being empathy, understanding and mercy, therefore this has me wondering which aspects are instinctual and which are learnt behaviour
ie Mother soothing a child’s hurts (instinctive)
ie Mother disciplining that same child to teach a lesson for the good of that child (learnt compassion). My conclusion albeit a Very simplistic view is that compassion is a combination of innate and learnt.Zealotry
Belief combined with fanatical intolerance3 People
Nobody
Somebody
EverybodyIntelligence
Knowing you know nothing
1. Essence of America:
Freedom to do whatever you can dream of before you die (without hurting too many bystanders).
2. Is compassion innate?
It’s 9/32 guilt battling 8/32 kindness battling 15/32 of trying not to get involved.
3. Psychology of zealotry:
Always wanting to be right and refusing to back down when you know you’re wrong because of an overdeveloped sense of hubris (mixed with embarrassment).
4. 3 people to get to know:
Mel Gibson (balance of faith, family, success, happiness) Leonardo da Vinci (genius), John Wayne (duh).
5.Essence of intelligence:
Knowing when to talk and when to shut up and listen. AND objectivity. Abso-friggin’-lutely (hat tip to Phoenix!)Posted by Riggs
04/21/2005 at 03:39 PM
Phoenix, I have to take exception to your answer to #2 when you state, “If the survival of the *individual* is an instinct...”
Darwin’s principle of natural selection is not based on survival of the *individual*, but survival of the *species*. The survival of the individual is only important insofar as that individual is able to survive long enough to reproduce and pass on traits that will be conducive to survival of the offspring and so on. If compassion is learned, then it is a behavior, and behavior is subject to the same law of natural selection as inherited traits.
Hat tip to Phoenix. Anyone so well versed in the philosophy of objectivism is fine by me. I especially like her choice of Paul Johnson. “Modern Times” is worth a dozen cover-to-cover reads. IMHO, it is to the study of history what “Atlas Shrugged” is to the study of philosophy.
And either book, of course, is more than sufficient to make the pantisocracy crowd wet their pants.
INC,
Thank you for your thoughtful response. I admired your answers, as well. I will stick with my answer for #2. If the survival of the individual fails, the species fails. It is the individuals which promulgate the species. Compassion is, indeed, a learned behavior. Maybe an example here - for instance a baby… had a baby ‘instinctive’ compassion, he might give up the breast to feed his brother; thus, starvation. Behavior, I believe, is more subject to the vagaries of cultural laws than nature’s laws.
Posted by Phoenix
04/21/2005 at 09:13 PM
Tannenberg,
hahaha...."The pantisocracy crowd wet their pants.”
I’ve read all of Paul Johnson’s works, and loathe coming near the end of each.
“The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it.”
Ayn RandWhat is the difference between good and evil?
You give it power.Thank you for your considerations, and, of course, your agreements.
Posted by Phoenix
04/21/2005 at 09:17 PM
1- The “Essence Of America” is .. THE WORLD. America is a combination of all the world’s peoples, working together and is a symbol of what the human race can achieve when we unite in freedom and democracy and work together. QED.
2- Compassion is an innate part of mankind’s nature. Otherwise, the race would have died out because every human baby born is totally helpless for the first year, as opposed to most animals. Humans had to develop compassion as part of their nature to insure the survival of the youngest members .. and the race. Sexual predators and pedophiles are anathema to this concept and should be weeded out of the gene pool.
3- Zealotry is a “misfiring” of the brain’s engine. It is caused when the conscious mind becomes fixated on one idea or ideal to the exclusion of all else and no applied reasoning will cause the zealot to deviate from this fixation because the individual suffering from this malady is unable to comprehend either (a) his/her own neurosis or (b) the harm he/she is causing with this infatuation over something that is not nearly as relevant to the race or society as a whole as perceived by the narrow view of reality the zealot embraces.
4- Three people I’d like to get to know: (1) myself a little better, (2) my natural father whom I never knew, and (3) my grandson who is not born yet.
5- The essence of intelligence: knowing yourself and your goal in life. All else is simply details.
So there!
Not bad, Skipper. But at the risk of being sent to Davy Jones, might one suggest that you find a less labyrinthine way to make Point #3?
TANN: my apologies to you and the less verbose among our readers but I decided to expound in detail on zealots because of their peculiar abundance in our modern world. I am hereby rewording #3 to read: “Zealots of all flavors are Barking Moonbats and should be exterminated at the earliest possible opportunity.”
How’s that?
Sir, at the risk of the lanyard’s linguistic lash, I would like to point out a contradiction in #2. If man had to ‘develop’ compassion, then it is not innate/intrinsic.
#5 Is an excellent answer: “Wisdom implies knowing thy place in the world, being able to take the wide view, with a due sense of proportion.” Sophocles 400BC
Posted by Phoenix
04/21/2005 at 11:53 PM
PHOENIX: are you so bloody minded that you cannot conceive of the usage of the word “develop”, as used here, can be understood to mean “evolve”. Fish had to develop a method of living on land before they became amphibians and by the same token, man had to “develop” compassion in order to care for newborns and insure the sruvival of the race. Now stop arguing over semantics and pay attention or it’s the cat o’ nine tails fer ye!
The rewording is much better, Skipper. Succinctness is the point of the sword.
Keep up the good work.
Skipper, I did, indeed, take into consideration your usage of ‘develop’ in the Darwinian sense; however, with your ‘semantics’ you brought in the realm of ‘consciousness’, thereby eliminating ‘instinct’ as the progenitor of the emotion of compassion. Your last sentence of #2 demonstrates my point. That is what made me go with the ‘consciousness’.
Twice now you’ve threatened physical violence upon me. Kindly stick with your lanyard of linguistic lashings… verbal spankings will keep me in order. I promise.
Posted by Phoenix
04/22/2005 at 12:46 PM
04/21/2005 at 04:28 AM
