Questions Only V: Where's The Beef?

Post by **RJDiogenes** » Wed Jul 17, 2019 10:41 pm

Do I not strike you as the most optimistic optimist ever?

scottydog · Post by **scottydog** » Wed Jul 17, 2019 11:27 pm

Would an optimist conclude that the universe produces far more bad events than good ones?

Post by **RJDiogenes** » Thu Jul 18, 2019 11:50 pm

Wouldn't an optimist look at a universe that is 99 percent vacuum and filled with deadly radiation and cataclysmic events, and in which the only place amenable to human life is a thin glaze of air and moisture on a lonely rock perched in a precarious orbit between fire and ice, on which most geological and meteorological and evolutionary events are antithetical to our very existence, and see that, despite conflict and violence never being far away, we have built a global civilization based on cooperation and empathy, which is filled with the beauty of the arts and sciences, and, seeing this, feel hope?

scottydog · Post by **scottydog** » Fri Jul 19, 2019 12:17 am

^^

How could any response to this poetic question possibly be adequate?

(by the way, I hope you don't mind that I posted your last question to Facebook)

Post by **RJDiogenes** » Fri Jul 19, 2019 10:08 pm

Does that mean the thread is over?

scottydog wrote: ↑
Fri Jul 19, 2019 12:17 am
^^

Thank you.

(by the way, I hope you don't mind that I posted your last question to Facebook)

Not at all, and thanks for the plug.

scottydog · Post by **scottydog** » Fri Jul 19, 2019 10:20 pm

Regarding your statement that "we have built a global civilization based on cooperation and empathy", wouldn't you agree that our heroes are the bedrock of that system we need to thrive on that thin glaze of vapor between fire and ice?

Post by **RJDiogenes** » Sat Jul 20, 2019 11:08 pm

Don't heroes strive against impossible odds?

scottydog · Post by **scottydog** » Sun Jul 21, 2019 1:13 am

If the odds are impossible, would it be more heroic to adopt the view that discretion is the better part of valor?

Post by **RJDiogenes** » Sun Jul 21, 2019 8:35 pm

Does that improve the odds?

scottydog · Post by **scottydog** » Sun Jul 21, 2019 11:56 pm

Are heroes odd?

Post by **RJDiogenes** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 10:03 pm

Yes, but don't you agree with Rod Serling that it's good to be odd?

scottydog · Post by **scottydog** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 10:34 pm

Without oddness, there would be no innovation. Complacency and comfort are the two enemies of heroism, wouldn't you agree?

Post by **RJDiogenes** » Tue Jul 23, 2019 10:32 pm

Does that mean that striving is more important than achieving? Or, as Spock would say, "having is not so fine a thing as wanting?"

scottydog · Post by **scottydog** » Wed Jul 24, 2019 2:14 am

Would it surprise you to know that my students are always adamant about intention being everything, even more important than outcome?

Post by **RJDiogenes** » Wed Jul 24, 2019 10:37 pm

Don't most people agree that it's the thought that counts?

Questions Only V: Where's The Beef?

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