From: kovarik@utkux1.utk.edu (Ken)
Subject: Re: belief
Organization: University of Tennessee Computing Center
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 03:03:30 GMT

In article <BuC2w1.Dt8@acsu.buffalo.edu> v122jr52@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Thomas H Dunning) writes:
>In article <79136@ut-emx.uucp>, llama@pooh.cc.utexas.edu (sine nomine) writes...
>>Thomas H Dunning (v122jr52@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu) wrote:
>> 
>>: True, false, right and wrong are all relative terms...given meaning by
>>: the speaker/writer only to have that meaning re(mis)interpreted  by the
>>: listener/reader.
>> 
>>which is why trying to communicate things to people seems so
>>pointless. 
>
>But still we all sit at our tubes and cry out in ASCII, trying to be understood
>

Right and wrong may be relative terms, but if we do live together in a
society, we do have a lot in common experientially, and thus we may have
a tendency to understand or interpret things in our environment in similar
though, not necessarily identical ways.  We assign my mutual agreeement
certain meanings to certain words or expressions.  The basis of communication.
There is no guarantee that any attempt at communication will result in
ideas being interpreted by the recipient in way the speaker intended.
But if both participants in the interaction are from  the same species,
there is some hope.

>
>What I'm trying to say is you really do need to believe in yourself.
>Otherwise, you're not a whole individual, not truly independant.
>

Not only not independent.  But if you don't believe in yourself,
no one else will either.  Self-confidence projects outward, and other
people do sense what you think of yourself.

>Think of a rock concert where everyone sings along with certain lyrics.
>15000 people screaming the same thing in unison...now that's social 
>reinforcement.  Sometimes, to remind me that I'm a thinking individual
>I'll make a point of not singing.
>
>Actually, my favorite way of asserting my individuality is to assault
>herd behavior in public.  When I find myself in a crowd of people bunched
>up at a door or gate at a ball game, concert or fire drill I'll just
>make a few cattle noises... [mooooooooooooo] 
>

What if all those herdbeasts decide to descend upon you to gain
some retribution for your mockery?  I had a friend who used to do 
exactly this, but when confronted by the mob he incited to anger
he would beat a hasty retreat.  I think it might be better to
let herdbeasts be herdbeasts.

>>: >i wish i were religious, like my sister. her reality is all mapped
>>: >out and she knows how it's sposed to go.
>>: 
>>: do you really want that?!?!? to not be a critical thinker?
>>: be careful what you wish for...
>> 

I don't think that Miss Llama means this literally.  But then again, everyone,
at some point or another wants sources of stress to go away. Just so they
can stop worrying, and relax.

>>i realize the folly of this wish, but sometimes it would be restful to
>>know how the story ends. nothing in my life has ever been predictable
>>more than a few months in advance; 

Would you really like to know that you are going to die on
Oct. 14, 1992, at 8:15AM, after slipping on a puddle of water in 
your bathroom, and cracking your skull on the sink, knowing that
whatever you do, you cannot prevent it?  

[Religion!  Bah!]

Didn't someone famous once say:  "Religion is the opiate of the masses"?
Or was that sports?

Have the powers of evil been unleashed.  Will kharmic pain follow?
No one escapes their kharmic dues. (Pardon me. I am just quoting the
dialogue from a terrible TV show I am watching).

				Ken (I hate this name, this symbol
				     of spiritual conformity)
				

ObAngst:  I couldn't possibly look good in Arsenio Hall's wardrobe.
Newsgroups: alt.angst