I do think it is quite unfortunate that, in our Western society, only European literature is presented as the classics. It is much, much harder to find great works from other areas of the world - that's if they have even been translated.
However, that is not to say that the European works don't have power and worth, but, where possible, other cultures should be checked out for their value.
To add to that, I am a believer in the Harold Bloom school of thought. A work is good if it is good, it is not good if it is from a minority or a disadvantaged group. I'm not saying that non-European literature falls into that category, but it is certainly something to be wary of.
Classic literature is important because it contains the wisdom of some of the most intelligent and insightful men and women of the past 2,000 years.
Wisdom is one of the greatest parts of our cultural heritage, and it does not age at all. Yes, the superficial dressings may change, but the wisdom of the Ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Renaissance authors, the etc will never go out of date, and we can learn from it.
Or are you so arrogant as to think that you are the net accumulation of wisdom in this world? I don't think that, which is why I read the classics.
However.
I do not think that reading the classics makes a person smarter. Not at all. It is up to their intelligence to digest the information properly. But the wisdom is there, if you want it. Say you do.
Ah, but that really doesn't cover it all, does it?
What about a naked twenty year old girl in a bathtub? That could be considered arousing - in fact I certainly would, if she was attractive. I know I've been aroused by my girlfriend taking a harmless bath while I was talking to her.
So. That's another twist. There are plenty more. It is such a hard term to properly define.
Descartes invented co-ordinate geometry
Euclid gave us quite possibly the greatest base for mathematics of anyone, ever
There are plenty of mathematical greats. Which is a good thing!:)
Of course, thinking that way pretty much by definition denies a whole avenue of originality and innovation (with better/easier hardware), but, happily, it also allows for great ingenuity with the current limitations of hardware (in this case the DC)
While releasing two episodes per disk IS a greedy tactic by the various companies guilty of such things, it should be remembered that that sort of thing only really happened during the early years of DVDs, when the medium was new and unpopular. Now, with the massive popularity in owning various television shows, and thanks to the pioneering efforts of (possibly) lesser-known programs, it is expected that entire seasons will be available.
A similar situation would be the features selection on DVDs. Very few early DVDs had much variety of depth in features - some didn't have any. But, thanks to the storage space of DVDs (and of course with a little help from it being one of the most popular forms of entertainment around) the advantages in including extra material is now obvious to all.
So I don't feel like it is a greed situation, more a learning experience. Woe to the distribution company who decides on two episodes per DVD now, right?
When were greed, lust and gluttony NOT considered 'kewl'? Of course, it could be argued that now, instead of merely the aristocratic people believing in such shallow pleasures, everyone does, but, really, that comes down to a fundamental shift in the prosperity levels of the mass populace. Not hard to predict that, once everyone is rich, everyone will want to be rich. Hardly takes the bible to think that.
But, when you slam a normal door, you are slamming it against the frame of the door, which I would consider to be distinct like a lock would be distinct. It's not like the door just slams onto itself, it slams on to the wood (or whatever) around it that forms a case of sorts. Hmmm.
Of course, St Thomas *does* owe this 're-discovering' to the Arabs, who for centuries were the only people studying Aristotle - and a few other Greeks, also even Plotinus! John the Scot (an Irishman) was also familiar with the man's work, probably through the Arab's, although not much is known about all that, and he was around in the 9th century.
Outsourcing isn't really the problem. No, outsourcing is the effect of a much bigger problem. And that problem is, as you touched on, the abuse that corporations are allowed to get away with these days, all under that happy little banner of having the legal rights of a human, and of course with all the government propping that goes on.
James Joyce's Ulysses springs almost instantly to mind. When it was released, it was banned in many countries, declared an abomination by many respected authors (Including, famously, Virginia Woolf), and considered a mass of loose fragments.
Now, of course, it is considered a masterpiece, and has a huge reputation - almost too huge, as any Irish author would attest.
He didn't *Have* to, but I can understand where he is coming from. As an Australian, I have *no way* of getting the Pixies latest song, other than by illegal downloading. While I haven't done so, there is hardly any reason for me not to now, is there?
...the last few years have seen me read more than ever before. I guess it is because I am wanting to get away from the easy-to-swallow, fast commodity, everything is for sale mentality of television, games and pop music.
The following authors are favourites of mine, and their wisdom and insight into humanity is far greater than anything you'll see on television today:
Herman Melville
Jorges Luis Borges
Miguel de Cervantes
Italo Calvino
Saul Bellow
Philip Roth
Thomas Pynchon
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
William Gaddis
James Joyce
Mikhail Bulgakov
Those are a few of my recent favourites. To me, these men - unfortunately they are all men, as I haven't really found many female authors that I like (A stupid prejudice, but I have it) - are capable of looking into the windows of our souls and turning that into text for us to read and learn from. Don't sell them short, and don't sell yourself short. We can all read and enjoy these books, and yes, even learn from them. Most of them have uncovered truths about humans that were always there, but that needed to be put into words. These men did it, and I am grateful for it. Sure, it may take a while for a non-reader to get into a lot of these authors, but once you do, you'll be laughing, smiling, crying, open mouthed in wonder, etc - and you'll be thankful for the life lessons you can apply to your own reality.
While I loved the NES and SNES era as much as the next guy (I grew up then, so...), to say something like that is just wrong. A monopoly is bad whether you like it or not. I understand what you are really trying to say with this post, but it came out horrible.
I think the invites idea was a fantastic one. It created a LOT of hype, everyone wanted in RIGHT NOW, as opposed to just waiting until they felt like it. Gushing reviews were posted on blogs and message boards all over the place, which increased hype. Of course now, gmail accounts are easy to get, and most people I know can't get rid of invites - they've run out of people to give them to! And yet, and yet...even with this, it is STILL hyped to hell, desirable to have, and a talking point. What that effectively means is that, while 'everyone' has it - or has super easy access to getting it - the hype stays high.
Happily for the European/Australian crowd, that room was fixed. It was hell scary going through the dungeon to see a...blob!!
Of course, the game was called Lufia, not Lufia 2 for us, which sure caused some confusion when I was looking for it on the internet some years back...
Only once, while using a file sharing program for legitimate pornography. I opened up the file and didn't know what was going on...and then I did.
I'd consider myself fairly desensitised to a lot of things (this IS the internet), but my heart gave a jump, my eyes bulged and my scalp tingled. I closed it down, deleted it as well as I could, and felt really sad and horrible for a few weeks. Disturbing stuff.
Slashdot Mirror
I do think it is quite unfortunate that, in our Western society, only European literature is presented as the classics. It is much, much harder to find great works from other areas of the world - that's if they have even been translated.
However, that is not to say that the European works don't have power and worth, but, where possible, other cultures should be checked out for their value.
To add to that, I am a believer in the Harold Bloom school of thought. A work is good if it is good, it is not good if it is from a minority or a disadvantaged group. I'm not saying that non-European literature falls into that category, but it is certainly something to be wary of.
Wisdom is one of the greatest parts of our cultural heritage, and it does not age at all. Yes, the superficial dressings may change, but the wisdom of the Ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Renaissance authors, the etc will never go out of date, and we can learn from it.
Or are you so arrogant as to think that you are the net accumulation of wisdom in this world? I don't think that, which is why I read the classics.
However.
I do not think that reading the classics makes a person smarter. Not at all. It is up to their intelligence to digest the information properly. But the wisdom is there, if you want it. Say you do.
Ah, but that really doesn't cover it all, does it?
What about a naked twenty year old girl in a bathtub? That could be considered arousing - in fact I certainly would, if she was attractive. I know I've been aroused by my girlfriend taking a harmless bath while I was talking to her.
So. That's another twist. There are plenty more. It is such a hard term to properly define.
Well said.
I don't have any mod points, so simply accept my compliments through a response.
Descartes invented co-ordinate geometry Euclid gave us quite possibly the greatest base for mathematics of anyone, ever There are plenty of mathematical greats. Which is a good thing! :)
Since when did Communism and tourism hate each other? They can easily and happily co-exist.
Of course, thinking that way pretty much by definition denies a whole avenue of originality and innovation (with better/easier hardware), but, happily, it also allows for great ingenuity with the current limitations of hardware (in this case the DC)
A similar situation would be the features selection on DVDs. Very few early DVDs had much variety of depth in features - some didn't have any. But, thanks to the storage space of DVDs (and of course with a little help from it being one of the most popular forms of entertainment around) the advantages in including extra material is now obvious to all.
So I don't feel like it is a greed situation, more a learning experience. Woe to the distribution company who decides on two episodes per DVD now, right?
When were greed, lust and gluttony NOT considered 'kewl'? Of course, it could be argued that now, instead of merely the aristocratic people believing in such shallow pleasures, everyone does, but, really, that comes down to a fundamental shift in the prosperity levels of the mass populace. Not hard to predict that, once everyone is rich, everyone will want to be rich. Hardly takes the bible to think that.
But, when you slam a normal door, you are slamming it against the frame of the door, which I would consider to be distinct like a lock would be distinct. It's not like the door just slams onto itself, it slams on to the wood (or whatever) around it that forms a case of sorts. Hmmm.
Of course, St Thomas *does* owe this 're-discovering' to the Arabs, who for centuries were the only people studying Aristotle - and a few other Greeks, also even Plotinus! John the Scot (an Irishman) was also familiar with the man's work, probably through the Arab's, although not much is known about all that, and he was around in the 9th century.
Clearly you missed part of his post where he said 'the best thing for civilisation'.
Outsourcing isn't really the problem. No, outsourcing is the effect of a much bigger problem. And that problem is, as you touched on, the abuse that corporations are allowed to get away with these days, all under that happy little banner of having the legal rights of a human, and of course with all the government propping that goes on.
Now, of course, it is considered a masterpiece, and has a huge reputation - almost too huge, as any Irish author would attest.
I have no mod points, so I'll say this: I completely agree.
He didn't *Have* to, but I can understand where he is coming from. As an Australian, I have *no way* of getting the Pixies latest song, other than by illegal downloading. While I haven't done so, there is hardly any reason for me not to now, is there?
The following authors are favourites of mine, and their wisdom and insight into humanity is far greater than anything you'll see on television today:
Herman Melville
Jorges Luis Borges
Miguel de Cervantes
Italo Calvino
Saul Bellow
Philip Roth
Thomas Pynchon
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
William Gaddis
James Joyce
Mikhail Bulgakov
Those are a few of my recent favourites. To me, these men - unfortunately they are all men, as I haven't really found many female authors that I like (A stupid prejudice, but I have it) - are capable of looking into the windows of our souls and turning that into text for us to read and learn from. Don't sell them short, and don't sell yourself short. We can all read and enjoy these books, and yes, even learn from them. Most of them have uncovered truths about humans that were always there, but that needed to be put into words. These men did it, and I am grateful for it. Sure, it may take a while for a non-reader to get into a lot of these authors, but once you do, you'll be laughing, smiling, crying, open mouthed in wonder, etc - and you'll be thankful for the life lessons you can apply to your own reality.
Enjoy.
While I loved the NES and SNES era as much as the next guy (I grew up then, so...), to say something like that is just wrong. A monopoly is bad whether you like it or not. I understand what you are really trying to say with this post, but it came out horrible.
Or for that matter, of having one? You should be proud of what you have achieved as a person, not of a random biological outcome.
Well said
Genius, if you ask me.
Of course, the game was called Lufia, not Lufia 2 for us, which sure caused some confusion when I was looking for it on the internet some years back...
I'd consider myself fairly desensitised to a lot of things (this IS the internet), but my heart gave a jump, my eyes bulged and my scalp tingled. I closed it down, deleted it as well as I could, and felt really sad and horrible for a few weeks. Disturbing stuff.
...Gotta love how a self-serving interest can be an instrument for such fundemental social change!
I mean, really, can you say that Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon is a copy of another genre? Didn't think so.