tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post4580608999479277764..comments2024-03-27T11:16:36.951-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Explaining the Cognitive Barbarism of the Proglodyte LeftGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-49327802954205696332009-06-21T12:49:30.411-07:002009-06-21T12:49:30.411-07:00Lance said "Van, the reason I ask questions i...Lance said "Van, the reason I ask questions is because sometimes I want to be sure I am getting the point."<br /><br />It just dawned on me... if you meant this as a serious question, not a rhetorical statement, then I owe you an apology. Not for the details of what I said, but the tone of how I said it. <br /><br />It is inconceivable to me how you could honestly miss all that context... but if you really did... sorry about that.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-38701703831933378932009-06-19T12:49:16.416-07:002009-06-19T12:49:16.416-07:00Thinking there is a non-theological solution to th...Thinking there is a non-theological solution to the problem he addresses trivializes Hick's analysis and makes his work in this case undeserving of attention.<br /><br />The answer to every question is given (in the sense of both enabled and proscribed) in the question.<br /><br />If the answer is deemed insufficient, the question driving the analysis and the producing that answer was superficial, making the analysis trivial.<br /><br />"The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature, and all material and cultural developments of the past 2,000 years. It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh."<br /><br />General of the Army Douglas MacArthur<br />Speech to Congress, April 19, 1951David R. Grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16416692639208634879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-78208225001828833392009-06-18T09:35:09.538-07:002009-06-18T09:35:09.538-07:00"Though to be honest sometimes when you respo..."Though to be honest sometimes when you respond to my questions it causes an emotional response that I have to take time to control before I respond in kind."<br /><br />Lance, I sypmathize, having as I do the same reaction when I see people making comments which, although probably unintentional (though sometimes it's darned hard to see how it couldn't have been), are at the heart of everything which is so clearly destroying us <i>right now</i>, and (opening another can of worms) are usually due to not clearly understanding or applying the relevant principles, or dismissing them in favor of one feel good notion or another. And although able to control that response in person, I freely admit being often unable to do so in 'virtual'. (Huh. Interesting).<br /><br />"But it felt ,to me, like there was an assumption being made that the commentators to the right are all believers and the commentators to the left are not."<br /><br />I didn't, I got the impression that the post was discussing those under the influence of post-modernism, and in this passage not just under it's influence, but actively so, even endorsing it, which pretty much rules out those on the Right (though there are many who are under its influence, especiall the little 'r' republicans... McCain, Brooks, etc). <br /><br />"I realize that I may have just opened a can of worms. :)"<br /><br />It's a hobby we share.<br /><br />;-)Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-21645206659781124872009-06-18T07:40:57.275-07:002009-06-18T07:40:57.275-07:00Van, the reason I ask questions is because sometim...Van, the reason I ask questions is because sometimes I want to be sure I am getting the point. I will freely admit to my confusion on a myriad of issues. But as I read and process the murk begins to clear up. Though to be honest sometimes when you respond to my questions it causes an emotional response that I have to take time to control before I respond in kind. <br /><br />I think I asked also because I feel that you can be politically to the left and still realize that there is a theological solution. But it felt ,to me, like there was an assumption being made that the commentators to the right are all believers and the commentators to the left are not. <br /><br />I realize that I may have just opened a can of worms. :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04973448750714819716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-29045371713556745072009-06-17T21:52:31.735-07:002009-06-17T21:52:31.735-07:00Nomo, thanks for the tailwiggle re the new Dan Hic...Nomo, thanks for the tailwiggle re the new Dan Hicks. Love them!ximezenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-35445661718799559682009-06-17T20:51:23.736-07:002009-06-17T20:51:23.736-07:00Nothing more to add, but wv wanted me to pass it&#...Nothing more to add, but wv wanted me to pass it's latest along:<br />prevenomVan Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-17715902614833709772009-06-17T20:50:20.763-07:002009-06-17T20:50:20.763-07:00Lance said "Couldn't you argue that any o...Lance said "Couldn't you argue that any of the ranters and ravers on TV or radio both on the right and the left inhabit this space?"<br /><br /><br />Oh come on, Lance. Did you happen to read the sentences leading up to what you quoted? Let's have a look, shall we?<br />"My only critique of Hicks is that he seems to believe that there is a non-theological solution to the problem, which I do not believe. "<br /><br />So we're beginning from a perspective of the importance of having a theological solution...<br />"Rather, as I discuss below, postmodernism in all its varieties is simply the "final common pathway" of the rejection of the Absolute."<br /><br />... focusing on those who have rejected that in general, and absolutes in particular...<br /><br />"Once you reject the Absolute, there is nothing to stop your philosophy from descending all the way to the bottom."<br /><br />... focusing more sharply in now on those who have rejected the Absolute, which would particularly single out those who embrace relativism, flexible morality, spreading the wealth of some around from their pockets to the grasping hands of others, where right and wrong is not mentioned in order to make the immoral feel a higher sense of self esteem...<br /><br />"...And then crashing through, into the nether regions where man cannot survive as man. Rather, he must become something else in order to live in that environment...."<br /><br />... here we've got the post-modern exemplar who denies that our senses tell us anything about reality, that words have particular meaning, that judging someone on the content of their character rather than on the demographics of their appearance is not only anathema but mean, heartless and the only thing worthy of condemnation, and that the creature who embraces this slothful spirit cannot stand upright, but must gather in packs and crouch down snarling at those who do, which brings us to the line before the quote you selected,<br /><br />"...Ultimately he must become the image and likeness of this diabolic inversion, whatever you wish to call it..."<br /><br />... does that help put "A Keith Olbermann or Bill Maher are perfect adaptations to the "minus pneumaspace" in which they live." into perspective for you? Does it help you to see how ridiculous your comment of,<br /><br />"Couldn't you argue that any of the ranters and ravers on TV or radio both on the right and the left inhabit this space?"<br /><br />... truly is? If you are unable to see that the preceding lines of the paragraph clearly separates those of the far left, from those of the right - regardless of whether they conduct themselves in cool, measured tones or not... it is only because you have plucked your own intellectual eyeballs out. You dropped the full context, of not only that paragraph, but of the entire post, in order to make an effort to equivocate on the non-essential particulars of their style of expression, as if whether or not they raise their voices or even do so for an extended spiel, is somehow more defining of them and their ideas, beliefs, purposes and character, than their ideas, beliefs, purposes and character. <br /><br />I strongly suggest you buy Hicks book Lance, though if this post in particular, and OC's posts in general haven't begun to rematerialize your eyes as of yet, you probably aren't going to allow it to happen at all. Still... I suppose there's a chance. I wish you luck.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-59826746112187659182009-06-17T20:15:47.814-07:002009-06-17T20:15:47.814-07:00As I was enjoying the soundtrack from Oh Brother t...As I was enjoying the soundtrack from Oh Brother this evening, it struck me that perhapa I should start a new depression era radio / podcast station.<br /><br />NDR - New Depression Radio<br /><br />Any thoughts?<br /><br />By the way, for any of you Dan Hicks fans, he is back among the living with a great new release - Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXX4R7GrodE" rel="nofollow">"Tangled Tales"</a>. Dig it.NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-83388605382607526552009-06-17T19:16:25.161-07:002009-06-17T19:16:25.161-07:00Lets face it. Now we know good and evil. No amount...Lets face it. Now we know good and evil. No amount of thinking under any heading will enable us to eat from the tree of life. Better to use what we do know for our betterment, than what we don't know for our demise.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-42796896232921993062009-06-17T19:01:36.800-07:002009-06-17T19:01:36.800-07:00Off topic, while I still don't know what I thi...Off topic, while I still don't know what I think about Twitter, there's <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/baynewser/twitter/profile_the_kid_at_the_state_department_who_figured_out_the_iranians_should_be_allowed_to_keep_tweeting_119136.asp" rel="nofollow">one reason</a> to respect it, at least.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-27498234108758798182009-06-17T17:36:56.542-07:002009-06-17T17:36:56.542-07:00Anonymous @4:31, I've definitely heard of Scru...Anonymous @4:31, I've definitely heard of Scruton, and have enjoyed several of his lectures at ISI, and articles elsewhere.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-56189512125278829382009-06-17T16:31:23.211-07:002009-06-17T16:31:23.211-07:00The sinister motives behind the "thinking&quo...The sinister motives behind the "thinking" of the postmodern liberal intelligentsia were revealed very clearly by the English author/philosopher Roger Scruton in his lecture "Culture Matters." I am surprised I have not seen Scruton mentioned more in the comments on this blog. . .perhaps he is only well known here in England. The general thrust of his ideas are certainly in keeping with those of many readers here. Cut and paste this link to get a downloadable MP3 which I recommend instead of the text because he is an excellent speaker.<br />http://www.isi.org/lectures/lectures.aspx?SBy=search&SSub=title&SFor=culture:%20why%20is%20it%20important<br /><br />The text can be found here:<br />http://www.isi.org/lectures/text/pdf/scruton10-15-04.pdfAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-67732899107820715632009-06-17T16:30:47.655-07:002009-06-17T16:30:47.655-07:00"I'm surprised there is no call for Bobis..."I'm surprised there is no call for Bobist evangelism here."<br /><br />Liar. You call for it every time you comment.ximezenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-81780922327971985102009-06-17T15:42:45.737-07:002009-06-17T15:42:45.737-07:00If that's how you feel, nony, get to it. We...If that's how you feel, nony, get to it. We've never yet tried to stop you. But if you really understood anything, you'd understand why we don't evangelize.<br /><br />Maybe some day, it will sink in. Though frankly, I don't know right now if I would wish that upon you; the truth is no respecter of persons.<br /><br />Anyway, good luck spreading the good word.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-40277810640697261022009-06-17T15:25:36.230-07:002009-06-17T15:25:36.230-07:00Anonymous-
When you talk about trying "to ...Anonymous- <br /> <br />When you talk about trying "to substantiate the existence of God by blasting everything/one that contradicts it," I think you are 180 degrees wrong......i.e., you have put the cart before the horse. <br /><br />Let me put it this way: Let's say I see a whole host of ugly symptoms out there...pustulent sores, impotence, amnesia, delusion. I begin to suspect this is a disease. I grope to discover what it is, what sickness itself is, what health is. I press on until I get a glimpse of Health. I keep on learning. Maybe, maybe, if I keep going, I'll get a glimpse of a Healer, but that's almost beside the point.<br /><br />This have nothing to do with rationalizations for ideas/beliefs that may or (more likely) may not be already held. It's a dynamic journey of coming to grips with reality.<br /><br />I cannot speak for Bob, but as for me, I recognized the reality of Satan long before that of God. Approaching the Good, the True, and the Beautiful by facing, naming, and contemplating what they are NOT is an old method. <br />In any case, it seems to me that once you get down the road on this journey, you find yourself using all kinds of approaches, angles, and tools to move on. <br /><br />The analogy with a straight-line road breaks down, and it's more like moving into the center from all different directions....<br />And things on the periphery (like politics and faculty meetings)are more and more seen "sub specie aeternitatis," from the standpoint of the Whole.<br /><br />(I hope that doesn't confuse the issue more than it helps.)Cassandranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-14532333126681298132009-06-17T15:04:29.832-07:002009-06-17T15:04:29.832-07:00Regarding language, meaning, 1984, etc., nothing s...Regarding language, meaning, 1984, etc., nothing so new <a href="http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0609/goldson_language_of_confusion.php3" rel="nofollow">here</a>, but very well said.<br /><br />"evil waters" = koolaid?NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-61311301828114257972009-06-17T14:45:12.042-07:002009-06-17T14:45:12.042-07:00The only logical response from those who believe t...The only logical response from those who believe towards those who do not is to exert influence.<br /><br />I'm surprised there is no call for Bobist evangelism here. In fact, when suggested in the past, it has been booed and hissed.<br /><br />We need just one Raccoon willing to stand up and say, "In light of what Bob says, the only reasonable response is to influence the godless left towards a more enlightened posture, one benighted wanker at a time."<br /><br />Otherwise, what is left but snarling contempt? And what good does that do? It is not efficient; it expends psychic energy but changes nothing. <br /><br />There is nothing wrong with evangelism. It has somehow gotten a bad name, but it is actually the most efficient possible response to the human dilemma in general.<br /><br />The strong must help the weak, or the true, good, and beatiful tries in vain to enter the world fully. <br /><br />Do your part.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-41252535547271666052009-06-17T13:58:10.544-07:002009-06-17T13:58:10.544-07:00"Bob, if I may, my connecting narrative of yo..."Bob, if I may, my connecting narrative of your posts is your strenuous efforts to substantiate the existence of God by blasting everything/one that contradicts it."<br /><br />There, fixed it for ya.Prof. Emeritusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-47210567642276274892009-06-17T13:50:55.487-07:002009-06-17T13:50:55.487-07:00Perhaps Bob's posts stir in one English degree...Perhaps Bob's posts stir in one English degree graduate, the shame behind the realization of his own impotence in speaking up against the "new" PC establishment?Prof. Emeritusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-371103793488204692009-06-17T12:45:27.237-07:002009-06-17T12:45:27.237-07:00Lance, I think not. A fundamentalist belief in not...Lance, I think not. A fundamentalist belief in nothing cannot be the same as a fundamentalist belief in something, especially when the something involves traditions that have proved out over millenia and the nothing has a 100% failure rate.<br /><br />Anon, if I can be so bold, I think Bob has answered this question before, and recently. I recall him saying something to the effect of Let It Be not cutting it when the fate of civilization hangs in the balance. I really can't answer for his unconscious, but I'm tangentially acquainted with my own, and the need to speak out, to keep trying to awaken the few souls who are able to, is a drive that can't be completely ignored, as much as it may need to be toned down from time to time.mainemannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-20655962719941235142009-06-17T12:14:09.559-07:002009-06-17T12:14:09.559-07:00Kant was right in a sense, in that we ourselves, o...Kant was right in a sense, in that we ourselves, of ourselves, never can touch the numinous. Rather, as we reach out to the numinous we find that it reaches out to touch and transform us. A little of that "Draw near unto me, and I will draw near unto you" stuff. But we have to reach out, and the average nihilist leftist is so determined there is nothing to reach out to that he never tries--and in fact actively attempts to convince others to stop reaching out as well.<br /><br />In other news, behold the polar opposite of Bush-bashery: somebody at the SF Chronic trying to paint the picture that if anything good happens in the world, it is fueled by the charm of the Obamessiah. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/12/MN7N186CKE.DTL<br /><br />(heave)marimoishenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-42113501690866881672009-06-17T11:30:51.953-07:002009-06-17T11:30:51.953-07:00Bob, if I may, the connecting narrative of your po...Bob, if I may, the connecting narrative of your posts is your strenuous efforts to substantiate the existence of God by blasting everything/one that contradicts it.<br /><br />If I may say, in great respect for you for it is my problem too, you may have a quanta of doubt or resistance that you are struggling to efface. <br /><br />In other words, complete deep belief beyond a shadow of a doubt may have hitherto evaded you and it is what you may be after.<br /><br />I arrive at this supposition because the errors of postmodern philospophy and many academic programs seem patently obvious, stemming from a failure to recognize God.<br /><br />Such being the case, the posts you launch against these entities can seem like an enraged person striking the corpse of a dreaded enemy over and over, long after the enemy is vanquished; a case of over-kill.<br /><br />This reader is entertained and recieves much wisdom from you by way of a side-effect, but has to ask, "What makes him do that?" <br /><br />Could it be you are literally trying the beat the last iota of doubt out of your system?<br /><br />Another clue is your seeming reliance on Petey to interceed between yourself and the Master. Why not commune directly with the big cheese? <br /><br />You could always say to Petey "thank you for your help, friend, but I want to talk to the one YOU talk to. Please arrange it."<br /><br />I am an English degree graduate, encountered the gdless English department at San Jose State at gruesomely close proximity, felt stifled in its clasp, endured having my papers shunned and talked about for political incorrectness, etc. I know of which you speak and it is a horror.<br /><br />So, by all means forge on, for it is good, but there is my two cents on it. I probably should have remained silent but maybe the comment will be of some use to you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-77273308831609341742009-06-17T11:09:12.573-07:002009-06-17T11:09:12.573-07:00"This is because he appears to be an objectiv..."This is because he appears to be an objectivist or secular libertarian, and seems vaguely hostile to religion (and one cannot blame him for this if he has only been exposed to irrational religion)"<br /><br />Yes, as an Objectivist, while he does accept the Oneness of the Cosmos, and the whole, non-contradictory nature of Truth, the appreciation and reverence towards the Good, the Beautiful and the True, with the notion that all religion is irrational, he opposes <i>that</i>, and for that reason, while unconsciously supporting its essential core (philosophic) principles.<br /><br />Also coming out an Objectivist mindset, Kant is THE bad guy. And although I don't disagree with anything he said about Kant, I wished he had devoted a bit more space to what made Kant possible, Descartes (who made unintentional errors) and Rousseau (who did it all deliberately, IMHO). In regards to Post-Modernism, Descartes made it possible, Rousseau made it attractive desirable, and Kant built the looong intellectual facade necessary to put it all into practice, making post-modernism unavoidable.<br /><br />Then again, if I ever sought to write a pithy book about the origins of Post-Modernism, the only way it would come in at 200 pages, would be if someone took an axe and gave it forty whacks to cut off the other 800 pages....Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-51398034351380894522009-06-17T10:08:32.015-07:002009-06-17T10:08:32.015-07:00"A Keith Olbermann or Bill Maher are perfect ..."A Keith Olbermann or Bill Maher are perfect adaptations to the "minus pneumaspace" in which they live."<br /><br />Couldn't you argue that any of the ranters and ravers on TV or radio both on the right and the left inhabit this space?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04973448750714819716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-80638197591661907032009-06-17T10:05:21.697-07:002009-06-17T10:05:21.697-07:00"By closing off the noumenal reality to reaso..."By closing off the noumenal reality to reason, Kant thought he had spared religion from the onslaught of scientific skepticism, when he had actually opened the door to all the baleful forms of irrationalism that followed. For in the Kantian system, all we can really know is our own nervous system -- reason and science merely toy with the phenomena, leaving the deeper reality unknown and unknowable. The next time some cliche-ridden boob says to you, “perception is reality,” know that they are a metaphysically retarded son or daughter of Kant."<br /><br />Can't tell you how good it is to see someone saying that, and the rest of the post.<br /><br />"Nothing special here, ..."<br /><br />'Nothing special' my foot!Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.com