Re: MD On Faith

From: Mark Steven Heyman (markheyman@infoproconsulting.com)
Date: Sun Oct 31 2004 - 02:11:55 GMT

  • Next message: Charles Roghair: "Re: MD On Faith"

    Hi Erin:

    My quick response to your recap in response to my recap... :-)

    1) I don't dismiss the possibility of ESP. I simply do not accept
    reports of ESP experiences as proof of ESP, any more that I would
    accept someone's report of seeing Martians playing on a swingset as
    proof of extraterrestrial life.

    2) You can't make a Quality distinction if Quality doesn't exist.
    Any time someone says A is better than B (regardless of what A and B
    are) they are making a Quality distinction. Therefore, Quality
    exists. Q.E. freakin' D.

    3) I'll leave the discussion of the relative value of religions to
    others. To me, all religions are of equal value.

    Best,
    msh

    On 29 Oct 2004 at 16:53, Erin wrote:

    Let me do my recap:
    I wasn't clear how you could dismiss things like ESP or let me add
    another example a high quality dream with the idea that things are
    not accepted by just saying they are experienced they have to be
    demonstrated. I had given the example of painting vs bare wall
    because I thought the value of the painting could be experienced but
    not sure about demonstrated. When it is the painting or the bare
    wall, I was trying to see whether you could demonstrate whether the
    painting had quality. Then it turned to comparing which had higher
    quality. Let me use an analogy of another thing that confuses me. I
    came in on this discussion with the not understanding why people
    argue there is no value in religion but then thinks Buddhism has
    value. As I already explained I think Buddhism is a religion, and
    the only explanation of why it isn't has been mu, which hasn't helped
    clear up my "emprical evidence" that it is. So hypothetically say the
    "picture" represents religion and I am trying to demonstrate that
    religion has value. Then the discussin turns to which "religion" has
    more value. To me a different question--if you accept one religion
    has value then you accept religion has value.

    I know that exchange between the scientist was just being silly, I
    was showing why I prefer to use the word experiences rather than
    empirical evidence (that is how I typically see the word, and so
    seeing it used so differently just seems to cause confusion and
    miscommunication with me but again science doesn't own the word so go
    for it I will just do the mental translation when I see you write
    it.)

    Erin

    Mark Steven Heyman <markheyman@infoproconsulting.com> wrote:
    Hi Erin,

    I don't want to leave you with the impression that I've dismissed
    your
    question; I'm just not sure what question you are talking about.

    Let me recap: The question of whether or not Quality exists is
    demonstrated affirmative any time any one makes a Quality judgment;
    it
    doesn't matter whether it's the wall-guy's decision or the
    painting-person's. So I thought that question was settled.

    But then comes the next question: Why do people sometimes disagree
    about the objects in which Quality resides? I suggested that this
    might be because they bring to their evaluations different bases of
    experience, but that these bases may be broadened (on both sides) by
    engaging in an honest exchange of ideas and experience, perhaps
    resulting in a closing of the gap between their quality judgements.

    The example you offer of Erin and the Scientist doesn't show an
    honest exchange of ideas and experiences, as neither person makes an
    attempt to share why they make the judgements they do.

    Anyway, sorry if I seemed overly sensitive. I have to be stingy with
    my time and energy, and I was getting the idea that you weren't
    spending as much energy reading my posts as I was in writing them.
    Just a cost-benefit analysis kinda thing...

    I've enjoyed our discussion very much.

    Best,
    Mark Steven Heyman (msh)

    -- 
    InfoPro Consulting - The Professional Information Processors
    Custom Software Solutions for Windows, PDAs, and the Web Since 1983
    Web Site: http://www.infoproconsulting.com
    "Thought is only a flash between two long nights, but this flash is
    everything." -- Henri Poincare'
    On 29 Oct 2004 at 13:21, Erin wrote:
    But the example was just a bare wall and instead of answering my
    question theexample changeto having magnificent ripples and 
    stainsthat
    made it 'found art" Sorry if you felt that I dismissed your example,
    but by changing the example, didn't you dismiss my question. Erin
    Mark Steven Heyman wrote:
    I think your frivolous dismissal of the wall being found art only
    further convinces me that we are not communicating.
    Good luck in your exploration of Quality and the MOQ.
    Best,
    msh
    On 29 Oct 2004 at 8:41, Erin wrote:
    On 28 Oct 2004 at 13:10, Erin wrote:
    msh says:
    Well here's what I said:
    "...people often fail to see the value in valuable things for a 
    variety of reasons, one of the most common being discomfort with the
    unfamiliar. Though we often appear to be far apart in our value
    estimations, we need not be. If everyone's ground of experience was
    equally broad I'd expect the discrepancies to all but disappear. We
    share a common humanity, after all." erin: True. But in case there 
    was
    a hidden implication, i don't think this is the reason (i.e 
    discomfort
    of the unfamiliar)I don't like c! alling my experiencing the value of
    a painting as empirical.For me itis more analgous to when something
    "new" doesn't seem as good as old, e.g., the trend of calling
    something you really like"bad". Don't forget thediscomfort with the
    old----- Maybe this is the underlying reason why somebody doesn't 
    like
    toadmit Buddhism is an old religion, discomfort with the idea that
    something oldmay be better than the new. 
    msh: So one way to solve the problem might be to try to broaden our
    ground of experience. Maybe the person who likes the painting and the
    one who likes the wall should get together and talk it over. It may 
    be
    that the wall guy sees walls as a kind of found art. Maybe he likes
    the texture, or values the way a certain crack ripples and spreads
    into a subtle off-color stain. Or the painting-person might point out
    some beautiful but subtle effect in the painting that the wall person
    had missed. In sharing, their bases of experience become broader, and
    their chance of quality agreement more likely.
    erin: LOL the wall is found art, you crack me up. Are you a 
    salesman? politician? diplomat? 
    Okay my turn to be silly and I am not only going to embrace the new
    definition of empircal but also add some more to help unify science
    and the MoQ. Erin and her scientist friend went to the art museum.
    Erin: I really like this painting. Scientist: Ugghh it is awful. 
    Erin:
    I hypothesize that this painting has high quality. I just did an
    experiment and the results were significant. Therefore I have just
    demonstrated empirical evidence that supports my hypothesis.
    Scientist: ????? Erin: I have broadened the meaning of these terms.
    Scientist: whatever it is still ugly Erin: You have no hope of
    understanding the MOQ or more succinctly mu.
    -- 
    InfoPro Consulting - The Professional Information Processors
    Custom Software Solutio! ns for Windows, PDAs, and the Web Since 1983
    Web Site: http://www.infoproconsulting.com
    "Thought is only a flash between two long nights, but this flash is
    everything." -- Henri Poincare'
    MOQ.ORG  - http://www.moq.org
    Mail Archives:
    Aug '98 - Oct '02 - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/ Nov
    '02 Onward  -
    http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/summary.html MD Queries -
    horse@darkstar.uk.net
    To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
    http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
    --    
    InfoPro Consulting - The Professional Information Processors
    Custom Software Solutions for Windows, PDAs, and the Web Since 1983
    Web Site: http://www.infoproconsulting.com
    "Thought is only a flash between two long nights, but this flash is 
    everything."  -- Henri Poincare'
    MOQ.ORG  - http://www.moq.org
    Mail Archives:
    Aug '98 - Oct '02 - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
    Nov '02 Onward  - http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/summary.html
    MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
    To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
    http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
    


    This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sun Oct 31 2004 - 02:29:27 GMT