http://www.idkfa.com/v3 idkfa: syndicated http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=621 And grow spikes in your forearms. And maybe dreads. Wilber@idkfa.com (Wilber) Language; Literature; Writing Mon, 20 Sep 2010 15:00:15 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=621 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=619 So I must become like the Nietzscheans from Andromeda, and be in constant struggle to improve oneself, to compete, and to become better. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Language; Literature; Writing Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:54:22 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=619 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=617 The important issue then isn't about the lack of knowledge, but rather about knowing when your knowledge is insufficient. The cargo cults thought they knew everything about building airstrips and attracting planes but their knowledge wasn't the whole story. Of course, it is difficult to know how extensive ones knowledge is from within the system itself. This is why Socrates famously said that he was wise because he knew that which he did not know. Wilber@idkfa.com (Wilber) Language; Literature; Writing Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:50:08 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=617 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=465 I was getting around to it. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Language; Literature; Writing Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:53:26 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=465 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=464 Also, where I'm originally coming on the cargo cult idea is from software engineering, not in the hundred years I'm apparently behind in philosophy. That's why I relate it to fallibility of knowledge, in that it's an example of people doing something with sufficient knowledge, but not the necessary knowledge for something to happen (e.g., when the tribal cultures built the landing strips, but no airplanes landed). kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Language; Literature; Writing Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:52:25 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=464 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=463 Way to totally sidestep the issue. I guess I didn't really raise any questions, but I was still hoping for an actual response. Wilber@idkfa.com (Wilber) Language; Literature; Writing Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:38:28 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=463 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=458 Or Arizona. Lots there. (come on, I was trying to think of a biome that was made of mostly shrubs, and was lame) kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Language; Literature; Writing Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:11:12 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=458 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=457 "I will die in chaparral." You're going to die in California? Or maybe Baja, I guess? There are two separate issues you're addressing here, both illustrating different odditys of the cargo cult phenomenon. [tangent- there are several books I've read which discuss cargo cults, but now I'm not recalling what books these might be. I know there is definitely a Palahniuk book where this is an important theme. Anybody recall?] Issue one: the lack of knowledge involved with the practice of both everyday activities and the fields one specializes in. This, I think, is not very well illustrated by cargo cults, and your tree analogy only makes a little sense to me. Suffice it to say that I'd say that there is some sense in which you can totally master a subject; it may be that you can only master on subject in your lifetime, but I'd like to believe, at least, that it is possible to have all available knowledge about something. Probably not in fields like cosmology or history, but certainly in manmade fields like computers or something like language or semiology. Issue two: the example of the cargo cult is really demonstrative of the existentialist's critique on modern society; that is, it serves to illustrate the modern (or eternally human?) tendency to simply live by the structures and tropes that have been already established for us. We worked this problem out throughout the 20th century though, at least in the field of philosophy: God is dead, and we have killed him. The preconceived notions of what life is or should be have been destroyed by our moving beyond them, and we are thus condemned to be free, and cursed by the freedom to choose or life's purpose, or lack thereof. That being said, I don't think that imitating others to achieve a similar outcome is wrong or misguided, as long as the ends are sought for one's own purposes, and not the purposes of others. The paradox of the cargo Wilber@idkfa.com (Wilber) Language; Literature; Writing Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:36:52 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=457 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=450 Nice. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Language; Literature; Writing Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:54:59 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=450 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=449 "Far away between Sirius and Vega/ All along the Road of the ancient Gods/ In the black heart of Orion/ Beneath the surface of the soul/ The momentum/ Everything is so different now/ The moon looks down with orphaned eyes/ And the lighthouse sends out the fragile signals/ To a distant desert sea/ Roads and rivers are winded into a circle/ Around the curled up monumental dream/ Outside looking in, time and time again/ Feeling the weight of a jaded me" Scrotor@idkfa.com (Scrotor) Language; Literature; Writing Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:51:42 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=449 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=426 I'm less worried about the size of my trees, more in the fallibility of knowledge, in things I'm well-versed in, and moreso in things I'm not. The weight of my ignorance. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Language; Literature; Writing Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:28:43 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=426 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=421 Interesting. I think that is what we all think about. Just be happy that you are firmly rooted in one thing. All of my trees would likely be shorter than your 'computer science' tree. I keep thinking of how easy it would be for me to be replaced in my job. My only advantages are that I can work quickly, and usually don't get things wrong. But knowledge.... oh I need a base of knowledge that is broader than what it is now. Anyhow, how can you detest anger?? Just give in to the rage. Become the hulk. But don't end up in prison. Scrotor@idkfa.com (Scrotor) Language; Literature; Writing Sun, 05 Sep 2010 04:26:00 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=421 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=381 New Escape Characters article, "Cargo Cults", Sept 2, 2010. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Language; Literature; Writing Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:55:14 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=381&msg_id=381