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flwydRandom note #1: My
secret Hobbit name is Falco Brockhouse of Loamsdown. George Bush's is "Squinty of Simpleton." Thanks, memepool.
Some other random comments...
Nietzsche is lots of fun to read. He makes his point succinctly, with wit, and in a way that grabs you. He doesn't pull any punches. For instance, "The bad conscience is an illness, there is no doubt about that, but an illness as pregnancy is an illness."
Reading Nietzsche, I am often struck with the feeling of "Hey, that's what I've always thought too." (Not in the quote above, though.) He and I get along in the way that Dannik and I get along. We notice oddities and inconsistancies in the lives of other people and find a shocking way to share them. "The capacity for and the duty of protracted gratitude and protracted revenge - subtlety in requital, a refined conception of friendship, a certain need to have enemies (as conduit systems, as it were, for the emotions of envy, quarrelsomeness, arrogance - fundamentally so as to be able to be a good friend): all these are typical marks of noble morality..." One thing I like about my philosophy-student friends which I find in few other places is the willingness to take intellectual requests -- making comments for their intellectual value alone, without worrying about what people think. Arguing for positions which I don't necessarily support, but which are interesting or helpful to think about. Willingness to salvage a nugget of wisdom from a poor theory or confused person. Example: The terrorists, say what you will, were not cowards. It takes a lot of courage to plan in advance to kill yourself. The terrorists of 9/11 showed several qualities often cited as good -- courage, determination, devotion to God, wealth or wealthy friends, and skill in planning and logistics. They also demonstrate qualities which are generally considered bad -- disregard for human life, primarily. Why do so many people think that, when I point this out, I'm condoning terrorism? Return to Nietzsche, "It is immediately obvious that designations of moral value were everywhere first applied to human beings, and only later and derivatively to actions."
Discussions aren't much fun if everyone agrees. If you're ever at a dull party, make some outrageous bold statement and press people when they disagree with you.
But moving beyond Nietzsche. Tonight's topic for diversity training was issues of sexual orientation. Among other things, the facilitators passed out buttons with a pink triangle and a fist that said "I support Gay and Lesbian Rights." They asked us to put them on and then talk about how we felt wearing them. Several RAs said that they felt weird; like they would be criticized or thought homosexual. I commented that I felt absolutely no different. Partly because I normally construct my appearance (insofar as I do so intentionally) to get people to think, question, or be offended. I mean, if you're going to think I'm gay because of a button, what conclusions are you going to draw about the shark on my head? I need to find a good opportunity to wear a skirt and observe people's reactions. I'd make a very unconvincing cross-dresser. Maybe I should do Halloween as Jesus in a skirt this year and see how many people I can annoy. Or maybe I could be Marilyn Manson and go door to door trying to shock people.
secret Hobbit name is Falco Brockhouse of Loamsdown. George Bush's is "Squinty of Simpleton." Thanks, memepool.
Some other random comments...
Nietzsche is lots of fun to read. He makes his point succinctly, with wit, and in a way that grabs you. He doesn't pull any punches. For instance, "The bad conscience is an illness, there is no doubt about that, but an illness as pregnancy is an illness."
Reading Nietzsche, I am often struck with the feeling of "Hey, that's what I've always thought too." (Not in the quote above, though.) He and I get along in the way that Dannik and I get along. We notice oddities and inconsistancies in the lives of other people and find a shocking way to share them. "The capacity for and the duty of protracted gratitude and protracted revenge - subtlety in requital, a refined conception of friendship, a certain need to have enemies (as conduit systems, as it were, for the emotions of envy, quarrelsomeness, arrogance - fundamentally so as to be able to be a good friend): all these are typical marks of noble morality..." One thing I like about my philosophy-student friends which I find in few other places is the willingness to take intellectual requests -- making comments for their intellectual value alone, without worrying about what people think. Arguing for positions which I don't necessarily support, but which are interesting or helpful to think about. Willingness to salvage a nugget of wisdom from a poor theory or confused person. Example: The terrorists, say what you will, were not cowards. It takes a lot of courage to plan in advance to kill yourself. The terrorists of 9/11 showed several qualities often cited as good -- courage, determination, devotion to God, wealth or wealthy friends, and skill in planning and logistics. They also demonstrate qualities which are generally considered bad -- disregard for human life, primarily. Why do so many people think that, when I point this out, I'm condoning terrorism? Return to Nietzsche, "It is immediately obvious that designations of moral value were everywhere first applied to human beings, and only later and derivatively to actions."
Discussions aren't much fun if everyone agrees. If you're ever at a dull party, make some outrageous bold statement and press people when they disagree with you.
But moving beyond Nietzsche. Tonight's topic for diversity training was issues of sexual orientation. Among other things, the facilitators passed out buttons with a pink triangle and a fist that said "I support Gay and Lesbian Rights." They asked us to put them on and then talk about how we felt wearing them. Several RAs said that they felt weird; like they would be criticized or thought homosexual. I commented that I felt absolutely no different. Partly because I normally construct my appearance (insofar as I do so intentionally) to get people to think, question, or be offended. I mean, if you're going to think I'm gay because of a button, what conclusions are you going to draw about the shark on my head? I need to find a good opportunity to wear a skirt and observe people's reactions. I'd make a very unconvincing cross-dresser. Maybe I should do Halloween as Jesus in a skirt this year and see how many people I can annoy. Or maybe I could be Marilyn Manson and go door to door trying to shock people.
