The new salon topics are in! Quick! I need your input!
Discussion topics for November 2, 2007:
1. What is the future of the book? 2. Does America have a "national identity"? Can it? Should it? 3. To cause or increase suffering is always unethical.
1. E-text may be the the future of books, but that would suck because what would I hug when I am finished reading? What would I underline and dog ear? On second thought, I WILL the book to stay, especially the new textbooks that have that new textbook smell!
2. Yes. I think America does have a national identity, but I don't think it's as established as other countries. Since we are a baby nation, I think we're sort of in a teenage angst stage about our national identity. We were more sure about who we were when we were younger - first rebellious, then in a sort of scramble for definition (bring me your tired, your poor.. no wait! Not YOUR tired and poor!Uh.Now what?), then solid (esp. during WWII). Now I think we're lost and on some sort of subconscious mission to "find ourselves". We think we know who we want to be and have seen our own potential, but we're walking a very fine line to get there and getting distracted along the way. We'll need a few more hundred years to really sort it out.
3. Temporary pain - no. Suffering - always. To clarify, I'm not talking about torture. I'm more speaking to learning not to touch the hot stove by touching it. Some learning comes from pain, but never from suffering.
1. www.wowio.com But anyone who actually reads books would probably prefer a hard copy. That way you get to constantly shift positions while staying up all night to read. You still pass out right after, but at least you aren't all cramped up. Plus, clicking an X on your screen just isn't as satisfying as that little "thump" the book makes when you close it and sigh.
2. I think we're in the middle of an identity crisis. Split personalities maybe?
3. Intentionally causing another or several others (or maybe a lot of others) to suffer. I would say, yeah, that's always unethical.
1. I gotta have a book to hold and underline and revisit - heck even Bill Gates prints out documents that are longer than a page!
2. What Ginger says - it's what I've said for a long time.
3. The o.t. says 'Faithful are the wounds of a friend', there is another quote that says 'What is friendship but the giving and recieving of wounds'. We cannot be in relationship with somebody without sometimes causing them pain or suffering.
A Surgeon causes pain when he operates, but we know that the pain is worth it for the greater healing the other side (except for Dentists who are all the Antichrist LOL)
To be honest with somebody is to sometimes break their hearts and tell them truths that they cannot see.
1. The book will always be around. Even when all the books are "e-books" people will print & bind them themselves. I wonder what will happen to paper media? Newspapers, magazines, etc. I think that magazines will always be around because they are catering to a specific niche. The people that buy a magazinve actively seek it out to be bought. Newspapers however, are on the way out. When was the last time you heard about something from the news, a friend whatever & thought, "I'll go look in the paper & read about it." I know I say, "I'll google it", then I read about it or anything else I might want at the time & don't waste any paper. Unless it's really funny & I want to display it at my desk.
2. I agree with a lot of what you said there Ginger, but is what you said definitive of a "national identity"? Wikipedia says that there are several things to consider in "defining a nation", such as common descent, language, culture, & religion. Therefore, what would our national identity be? I think it is the most tolerant, understanding & flexible country in the world with a cornucopeia of ethnicities & cultures all blended together to create the wonderful, powerful & opportunity-rich situations that we all have & mostly take for granted. Of course there is a whole other side to this story, but I'm an optimist so don't drag me down with you.
3. When a child touches a hot stove to discover that yes in fact mommy was right when saying, "That's hot!! Don't touch!" , is a learning experience. While I would prefer Zackary to learn from what I say to him, I think there will be many times in which he'll figure it out for himself, (more painfully & difficultly usually I'd guess). That is not to say that I would hold his hand to the fire to convince him, because "he'll do it to himself soon anyway!"
When in the case of helping to repair a wound, physically or otherwise, sometimes it is necessary to be hurt more than you are now so that when healed, there will be an even stronger condition afterward. If you are a humanitarian, then of course, causing an increase in another's suffering is unethical. I guess my question would be, "would that increase in suffering today cause a reduction in suffering tomorrow?"
4 comments:
1. E-text may be the the future of books, but that would suck because what would I hug when I am finished reading? What would I underline and dog ear? On second thought, I WILL the book to stay, especially the new textbooks that have that new textbook smell!
2. Yes. I think America does have a national identity, but I don't think it's as established as other countries. Since we are a baby nation, I think we're sort of in a teenage angst stage about our national identity. We were more sure about who we were when we were younger - first rebellious, then in a sort of scramble for definition (bring me your tired, your poor.. no wait! Not YOUR tired and poor!Uh.Now what?), then solid (esp. during WWII). Now I think we're lost and on some sort of subconscious mission to "find ourselves". We think we know who we want to be and have seen our own potential, but we're walking a very fine line to get there and getting distracted along the way. We'll need a few more hundred years to really sort it out.
3. Temporary pain - no. Suffering - always. To clarify, I'm not talking about torture. I'm more speaking to learning not to touch the hot stove by touching it. Some learning comes from pain, but never from suffering.
1. www.wowio.com But anyone who actually reads books would probably prefer a hard copy. That way you get to constantly shift positions while staying up all night to read. You still pass out right after, but at least you aren't all cramped up. Plus, clicking an X on your screen just isn't as satisfying as that little "thump" the book makes when you close it and sigh.
2. I think we're in the middle of an identity crisis. Split personalities maybe?
3. Intentionally causing another or several others (or maybe a lot of others) to suffer. I would say, yeah, that's always unethical.
1. I gotta have a book to hold and underline and revisit - heck even Bill Gates prints out documents that are longer than a page!
2. What Ginger says - it's what I've said for a long time.
3. The o.t. says 'Faithful are the wounds of a friend', there is another quote that says 'What is friendship but the giving and recieving of wounds'. We cannot be in relationship with somebody without sometimes causing them pain or suffering.
A Surgeon causes pain when he operates, but we know that the pain is worth it for the greater healing the other side (except for Dentists who are all the Antichrist LOL)
To be honest with somebody is to sometimes break their hearts and tell them truths that they cannot see.
1. The book will always be around. Even when all the books are "e-books" people will print & bind them themselves. I wonder what will happen to paper media? Newspapers, magazines, etc. I think that magazines will always be around because they are catering to a specific niche. The people that buy a magazinve actively seek it out to be bought. Newspapers however, are on the way out. When was the last time you heard about something from the news, a friend whatever & thought, "I'll go look in the paper & read about it." I know I say, "I'll google it", then I read about it or anything else I might want at the time & don't waste any paper. Unless it's really funny & I want to display it at my desk.
2. I agree with a lot of what you said there Ginger, but is what you said definitive of a "national identity"? Wikipedia says that there are several things to consider in "defining a nation", such as common descent, language, culture, & religion. Therefore, what would our national identity be? I think it is the most tolerant, understanding & flexible country in the world with a cornucopeia of ethnicities & cultures all blended together to create the wonderful, powerful & opportunity-rich situations that we all have & mostly take for granted. Of course there is a whole other side to this story, but I'm an optimist so don't drag me down with you.
3. When a child touches a hot stove to discover that yes in fact mommy was right when saying, "That's hot!! Don't touch!"
, is a learning experience. While I would prefer Zackary to learn from what I say to him, I think there will be many times in which he'll figure it out for himself, (more painfully & difficultly usually I'd guess).
That is not to say that I would hold his hand to the fire to convince him, because "he'll do it to himself soon anyway!"
When in the case of helping to repair a wound, physically or otherwise, sometimes it is necessary to be hurt more than you are now so that when healed, there will be an even stronger condition afterward. If you are a humanitarian, then of course, causing an increase in another's suffering is unethical. I guess my question would be, "would that increase in suffering today cause a reduction in suffering tomorrow?"
Later,
Cliff
Post a Comment