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Re: cultural myths and misery



On 7 Dec 01, S.K. Harrison wrote:

Thanks for the reply Sean, so often my posts go unanswered! 8<(

> A petty issue. What I left out added nothing to
> the substance of your post.

With a string of English grandparents in my heritage I've been steeped 
in irony. After many years of Internet participation I've learnt that 
irony is not a universal art but I still fall into the trap. So not 'petty' or 
even pedantic, the missing part contained the ironic twist in the 
tale/tail that conveyed my _light_ intent.

> In spite of your accusation, I made no sweeping
> claim for the sole value of scientific knowledge.

Good... there is an old adage that science should not be left to 
scientists.

> John made a *single* statement that can be
> quantified, to which single statement I replied
> with my request for data. If I'm to inform my
> choices with knowledge--which I can't help but
> do, as an independent thinking human being--I
> want bona fide evidence, not the isolated
> anecdotal musings of some joe on the street, or
> even of a lone professor. Read my other posts in
> this thread, in Out of Control, and in language,
> meaning and nature (or something). Careful
> reading will demonstrate that your comment
> remains undeserved.

To be frank I haven't attempted to fathom your posts in full, their 
emphatic tone confuses me.

> Spare me your moralisms. Phrasing a point as a
> joke does not qualify as an uncharitable
> attitude. You failed to understand me in the last
> post--and you continue to do so here. Look again.

Methinks you are too quick to apply labels, I use emoticons in an 
attempt to express intent. My life experience is that very little is black 
or white in fact by giving free rein to my intuitive side, especially in the 
development of our patch of paradise, results in a strong creative 
quality - beyond measure!!

Masanobu Fukuoka is a major inspiration for me. As my last call in 
this thread I'll include a favourite quote from "The Natural Way of 
Farming".

"There is no need for philosophy in the farming village. It is the urban 
intellectual who ponders human existence, who goes in search of 
truth and questions the purpose of life. The farmer does not wrestle 
with the questions of why man arose on the face of the earth and 
how he should live. Why is it that he never learned to question the 
purpose of human existence; there was no seed of uncertainty to 
lead him astray.   

With their intuitive understanding of life and death, these farmers 
were free of anguish and grief: they had no need for learning. The 
farming village was above all a society of philosophers without a need 
for philosophy. It was none other than the philosophy of Mu, or 
nothingness - which teaches that all is unnecessary, that gave the 
farmer his enduring strength."  

Cheers... Rex