James Riley

I don't know if it changes an object, but it changes perception of the object. Maybe the tree is the particle and the forest is the wave? Likewise ind...

I know when blood rushes from one head to the other head, we discover a beautiful truth. In that sense, two heads are better than one. But neither one...

Forested areas and the hand of man can certainly hide or destroy a lot. In either place, I would substitute their judgement for mine (or anyone on the...

I'm really a paleo guy, but I do like the archeo too. The land has changed a lot since the Clovis folks were poking around here. Trying to establish e...

In archaeology, lithics are tools made of rock, and the scatter is the little flakes that fly off in the process of manufacture. They usually have a l...

My difficulty might be in finding the distinction between "notice in the first place" and "learning." I can relate to learning something once and then...

I'm not sure what you are saying here. Are you saying there is a difference between choosing to ignore the shadow and learning to ignore the shadow? C...

Animals aren't as dumb as we look.

Pillows, anyone?

Dire is subjective. Some folks would call all that "first world problems." But yeah, if a subjective feeling of dissatisfaction with what is will driv...

The NWF used to have a saying something like "A forest is more than just trees." They were distinguishing between the awesome biodiversity of a forest...

Off topic, but this reminds me of so many Christians who think the second coming will be during their generation. Everyone thinks they're so damn spec...

I draw a distinction between "survivalists" and the "elites" I think were being considered. The survivalist is the prepper with the go-bag, air tights...

:100:

I don't believe in evil. I believe benevolence is subjective. I think what so many want here on Earth now will be coming soon enough, at death. For th...

If I am to be what I perceive as strong and/or wise, then I cannot complain about what I perceive as weak and/or stupid without becoming that which I ...

Dire? There were people who lived through World War I, the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression, World War II, Smallpox (300 million dead), Korean War, p...

I don't hold life in fear or contempt, yet I understand that it's not all it's cracked up to be. Same with individualism. I guess everyone (especially...

:up: Politicians. :grin:

I guess there is nothing for the individualist to whine, worry, or ring their hands about in consternation. Time to get back to individualizing while ...

And yet here we are. It reminds me of the social media memes where some of my generation list all the wonderful suffering we engaged in during our you...

I can relate. Honestly. I just find within that moral framework the seeds of it's own destruction. I guess that would make me conservative, or even be...

Yeah, I wish they all had in common of love of wisdom, but that's too quaint, I guess.

I am not a Christian philosopher (unless you stretch Christian under universal pantheist, and philosopher under simple love of wisdom whether I have i...

No. I merely stipulate to the notion they might find my understanding of it to be quaint. Regardless of what I think, I hope they love what they do.

:up:

:100: I sometimes wonder what saved me. The seduction is real, and it can be very persuasive. I think my proclivity toward both the illness and candid...

I suspect you are right. Drilling down on the word "love" might cause some discomfort.

I wish that were the case, but I've stipulated to your use of terms. I don't think it's a question of language so much as it is a difference of opinio...

I was trying to acknowledge the Vidal quote as illustrative of the statement that I take issue with: "Man is the measure of all things." I'm not here ...

I guess there is the rub. I think we can use the same definition of measure, but still disagree on whether man is the sole measure. As a slight digres...

The intention of one who loves wisdom would not be to simply find agreement. It would be to elicit a reasoned response, to help the asker to understan...

I don't see how I boxed myself in. I can stipulate to all you just said (and I do), and yet it does not mean that man is the measure of all things. Th...

First, on the merits of our argument, that does not make man the measure of all things. That makes me the measurer of those things. Second, my point i...

I did not number them as you did. In my opinion, doing so makes them seem exclusive as opposed to complementary. I consider your 3 to be explanatory o...

P.S. I'm going to measure the inside of my eye lids.

You don't think animals measure their environment? And is what we care about the only measure? And where does the "we" come from? By that, I mean why ...

I guess love can be feigned. Maybe a better vetting process would help. Maybe trying to avoid triggering someone with comments about their thoughts. M...

True. And sometimes they are, and sometimes they are not.

HA! Love it. I just watched a lady die today and was talking with my wife about it. Notwithstanding all the talk and actions, when it boils down to it...

I think that is correct. I don't quite understand how that makes us the measure of all things. If it's simply saying that we can't not be us, okay. If...

Slow yourself down, and try thinking before posting. In referencing clay, I talked of nothing else (i.e. not all dead things). Then, in explaining how...

That sounds good to me. Everyone has a muscle. Everyone has a brain. But the love of their use, simply for the use (and not some practical goal) would...

What I see in your entire post (correct me if I am wrong) is that humans are humans; that humans are stuck being human. I can agree with that. But tha...

You were correct, it is, but my saying so says nothing more than my subjective opinion is human. It does not make man the measure of it simply because...

You just answered the question. Philosophy is, literally, the love of wisdom. That's what distinguishes it from all the day to day thinking you refere...

Another demonstration of your faulty reasoning is when you tell someone else what they meant. I did not divide ALL things into being good and not good...

Do we do all that for the love of it?

How can anyone's reasoning be so faulty? I did not make man the measure of all things when I said I found a blob of clay to be good. I am not the meas...

ala Claude Dallas.