Looks A Mite Chilly...

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ex-khobar Andy
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Re: Looks A Mite Chilly...

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

Actually I quite often agree with rubato (well sometimes, at any rate) and very often with Meade but I think they are both wrong this time. We have tried being objective and polite and using the norms of science (you know - peer review, dry conferences, achieving a consensus on most points if not some of the details which remain to be worked out) but there are still some people who think it's a hoax.

If I had Donald Trump alone in a room for one minute I would pin him to the wall and roar in his ear: "This is not a fucking hoax!" I could give him an elevator speech and try to convince him but he does not have the ability to understand an argument which takes more than three sentences. Unless I can tell him that he can make megabucks by assuming it's real. Which I wouldn't mind doing.

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: Looks A Mite Chilly...

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

Sometimes I agree with myself, but not often. Look, the guy was bleating to the converted. It was cheap laughs (why on earth do people find the F word so amusing?); we all know that farts are funny but not f...s.

His juvenile potty-mouth is not going to convince any person of intelligence and good taste of anything other than his own banality. Much less is it going to convince global weirding deniers* that science has anything worth saying.

*I am not one
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

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RayThom
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Looks A Mite Chilly...

Post by RayThom »

Words are words... we supply their meaning."
The word "fuck" is certainly one of the words that has lost its obscene meaning and impact. My father -- a medieval, old world, out-of-touch, mentally unbalanced, Englishman -- used to turn purple, with spit coming out of his mouth condemning anyone within his castle walls who dare say the fuck word in his presence.

On several occasions I was grounded for weeks on end when he heard the fuck word come out of my mouth. "Bloody hell," he would scream at the top of his lungs, "no child who lives under my roof will use such a vile, contemptible word," all the while beating me with the buckle end of his belt. Welts and torn flesh for his interpretation of filthy language -- I always thought it was a bit extreme, especially knowing that my father's auto mechanic, and even his big time, white collar boss, would use the fuck word quite liberally around my family's faux Adolf. (He raised me as his little "brown shirt" where excessive authoritarian driven behavior was unflinchingly expected.)

Now, move to modern day... I can get involved in conversations with my daughter, her boyfriends, or any friends and acquaintances in general, where the fuck word is used -- not liberally, but often enough to notice -- and no one flinches in shock with its use. The fuck word has become just that, just another highly flexible word in the OED. It has lost its power to disarm or discomfort anyone under sixty, and/or anyone who has changed with the times -- especially with children under thirty.

Thank God, the fuck word isn't what it used to be. Language evolves... get used to it.
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rubato
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Re: Looks A Mite Chilly...

Post by rubato »

"I think the people who say we need satire often mean, "We need satire of them, not of us." I'm fond of quoting Peter Cook, who talked about the satirical Berlin cabarets of the '30s, which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the Second World War. "

Tom Lehrer

We need public authorities; people who speak carefully and with attention to truth. People who, whether they are always right of not, are at least trying to hew to a standard of intellectual honesty. We don't need more comedians and cheap laughs.
Re: Looks A Mite Chilly...

Post by ex-khobar Andy » Sat May 25, 2019 5:23 am...

If I had Donald Trump alone in a room for one minute I would pin him to the wall and roar in his ear: "This is not a fucking hoax!"
Proving only that you are frustrated and angry. Besides, Trump is of the category who I would not waste time trying to persuade. He can't recall what beliefs he said he had 2 years ago. You might be able to get Trump to do what you want (by showing him that it is to his glory or venial advantage) but he does not have a mind beyond that. He does not have values only appetites.

Bill Nye in other contexts has behaved rather well and responded quietly and reasonably to idiocy; like his visit to the giant ark "museum" of creation. But he likes public acclaim A LOT, he is really a bit of an egomaniac (a is N. dG Tyson in his worse moments) Hey, nobody is perfect. But he needs to reign it in if he wants to be important and make a real difference. Some people have a much stronger negative reaction to swear words akin to how some people react to "kike", "Jap", "Popish idolators" &c. And if you want to communicate with that, largish, portion of the audience you will swear as infrequently and judiciously as possible. It is like using an electric collar in training dogs. At a very low level it can be useful to train a dog not to eat the cat's food but if you use too high a setting in the dining room (for ex.) you can make the dog afraid of tables, chairs or the whole room not teach him what you want. The over-stimulation drives out the ability to learn and pay attention.



yrs,
rubato

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: Looks A Mite Chilly...

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

Thanks to you RayT for deciding for me what is or is not flippin' offensive to me. Oh and not only that but also what is and is not inane drivelling doo-doo coming out of people's mouths. Well. That's all right then. :nana
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

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RayThom
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Looks A Mite Chilly...

Post by RayThom »

MajGenl.Meade wrote:Thanks to you RayT for deciding for me what is or is not flippin' offensive to me. Oh and not only that but also what is and is not inane drivelling doo-doo coming out of people's mouths. Well. That's all right then. :nana
Free speech. You say what you want/need to say in a matter you feel appropriate and necessary, and I'll do the same.
Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth
When two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth!"
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