Random observations for January 2017
o o o o o
You learn more by listening than by talking. If those around you are chatterboxes and you are reserved, you will know much about them, while they know little about you -- which works to your advantage.
o o o o o
An intelligent person will judge your beliefs by your reasons for holding them. The vehemence with which you express them counts for nothing.
o o o o o
I have never seen the point of marriage. It basically means inviting the government and/or a church into your relationship as a third partner, and vastly complicates things if the relationship reaches a natural end.
o o o o o
If you aren't sure which side is right in some social or political controversy, look for which side most of the guys in suits and ties are supporting. That's the side which is wrong. This rule works in probably 95% of cases.
o o o o o
Military conscription is a device whereby old, decrepit males slake their resentment and envy of young, vigorous males by enslaving them and exposing them to dismemberment, disfigurement, and death.
o o o o o
The enemy is not the person who says "I want to do that". The enemy is the person who says "You can't do that".
o o o o o
If you're just going to be like everybody else, what's the point of existing at all?
o o o o o
A response consisting of "You are a [word ending in -ist]" or "This is a form of [word ending in -ism]" is not an argument and does not refute anything. It's just fancy name-calling, a dodge to avoid dealing with the substance of whatever you're supposedly responding to.
[For previous random observations, see here.]
posted by Infidel753 at 4:39 AM
5 Comments:
Your second observation REALLY resonated with this introvert! I've met so many extreme extroverts who would rather monologue than listen or ask questions, and I've ended up learning more about them than they've learned about me. Often, what I learn isn't even what they're trying to broadcast -- I might learn that they're insecure, lacking in empathy, etc.
Still, it's frustrating when someone uses you as a sounding board and never realizes that you might have something of value to say. For that reason, I avoid chatterboxes now.
Regarding "You can't do that", what if it's in reference to evil actions? It makes sense to tell a police officer brutalizing a harmless person, "You can't do that". It's right to tell a business that discriminates against LGBTQ people, "You can't do that".
Good thoughts. And the previous ones, too.
Jono: Thanks!
Ahab: Chatterboxes are annoying, but sometimes hard to avoid. If one has to deal with them, one quickly gets to know all their biases and interests, which can be useful to avoid getting into conflict.
There are some people I wish I knew more about, but they're generally more self-aware (and I don't like to seem nosy either).
There are always exceptions, but properly considered, cops abusing people (or similar situations) are almost always acting as enforcers of some kind of prohibition. It's actually the abusive cop who is telling the victim "you can't do that" ("that" being driving in the wrong neighborhood, living unmolested, or simply being) -- he's just doing it with violence rather than words. A similar argument could be made in cases such as abusive spouses.
Sometimes freedoms clash. Tolerating egregious and widespread business discrimination against minorities actually constrains those minorities' ability to live their lives as they wish much more than prohibiting such discrimination interferes with the freedom of businesses. This is one of my objections to libertarian ideology -- its definition of the freedom it claims to uphold is incredibly narrow, mostly limited to economics.
In any case, I don't expect to ever be in the position of an abusive cop or prejudiced businessperson, so I'll continue to define my own enemies by "he who sayeth 'thou shalt not' to me is my mortal foe."
All great observations and a welcome chance to think about something other than you-know-who.
I think a lot of people agree with the marriage observation, since I believe I read recently that more people are co-habitating and skipping getting married. I'll have to check that. I may have read it incorrectly.
Unmarried cohabitation seems to be becoming the norm in western Europe, anyway. It wouldn't surprise me if the US is catching up.
Post a Comment
<< Home