Maggie's Farm

Oh, yeah I wondered what the 'blogger people' meant as well. Is that like 'pod people'?

http://tinyurl.com/3l35ae

Notice how much 'pod people' and 'ipod people' have in common:

http://tinyurl.com/4uvcte

Scary.

All kinds of stuff passes as intelligence. What IS intelligence? The most commonly accepted definition is 'an ability to learn':

http://tinyurl.com/6gl5og

Because someone has 'an ability to learn' does that mean they can accurately convey what they have learned? Not necessarily. I myself have worked with educational institutions whose students and professors had an extraordinarily difficult time conveying what they had learned, and (partly as a result) often argued with each other about the meaning of the 'facts' they 'knew'. (Some engineering schools now insist on basic writing courses, which they used to ignore, because 'intelligent' students simply could not convey in words what they had 'learned'.)

What does this mean? It means it is possible to know something without understanding it. It is possible to know something without being able to practice it. This is why a rabbi can spend all his life studying the Torah, then go home and beat his wife each night. It goes a long way to explain why a high-tech space program run by those with 'the right stuff' can become undone by a rubber gasket.

The concept of 'intelligence' often gets confused with wisdom or knowledge. But 'intelligence' as it is often used today, means information. It may be 'good' (accurate) intelligence or 'bad' (inaccurate) intelligence. It's commonly said that 'Bush had bad intelligence about Iraq'. (Not making a statement about the war, just showing how the word is used.)

Then there's a question of putting intelligence to work. You may have an encyclopedic knowledge and a good handle on self-expression. But for whatever reason, you just can't be bothered to extend yourself. Your intelligence is deliberately reserved for cocktail parties and trivial tasks. Or you may have a soul-crushing job that makes poor use of your best talents. Either way, your intelligence is wasted.

Quite so.

There are lots of bodegas run by immigrants (mostly Indian) around here. I don't think the average Yuppie spends much time talking with them - it's grab some coffee and a paper, thanks, off to work. A couple who run a local newspaper stand on the main street often have their kids in the store.

It's a humble job, running a newsstand and dealing with the public. To the better-dressed, high-powered and considerably younger yuppies coming in and out of the store each day, they are pretty much faceless. Actually, though, they own the 4-story building they are in. Outright, in the town's prime business section. Meanwhile, the well-educated yuppies buying papers from them are working long hours in high-pressure jobs to keep up pricey but badly-made condos in lesser sections of town.

I asked them about a competing Indian newsstand up the street, which just went out of business, and how that would affect them. Oh yes, they said. We know those people well. They are from the next village back home. They are retiring. Their (friendly) competitors sold their newspaper business - and their building, which they also owned outright, for a multimillion dollar profit.

Tell me who's intelligent.

"Right below where he's saying "dull and lifeless" is a picture of a massive colorful floral extravaganza"

I thought that was the "Ford plant" mentioned next to the image. Talk about autos going green...

Meta is wise.

Don't sit there and act all like you didn't disappear for a few hours, QQQ, because you so TOTALLY did, plus I have witnesses. I'm not making any more comments here, because I have no way of knowing where this post has been or who it's been with.

All I know is: I'm typing now with Playtex Living Gloves.

Habu, go to this post:

http://tinyurl.com/6o79aw

You'll want to start reading around the third comment, ending a few comments after Howard Johnson and Mongol walk in. Then it should all be perfectly clear.

(I don't know HOW Jephnol does that editable post thing. He is a super-genius.)

Of course, Wile E. Coyote was also a super-genius. Just sayin'.

I'm only responding because I want to see how far to the right we can squeeze the comments thread before it implodes.

Why does a man climb a molehill? Because it's there.

She kissed her hairbrush

by mistake

She thought it was

her husband, Jake.

and the hairbrush.

Do we know that was Habu? He usually signs his name, doesn't he? Also I think Habu might take 'You're a disgusting pig' as a woman's way of saying 'Hey, you're kind of hunky. Let's meet and have sex!'.

Of course I could be reading too much between the lines.

I dunno. For Habu, that constitutes foreplay.

Luther, I certainly don't want to offend you, or Meta. I sincerely apologize for having done so.

Here's the choice one has when dealing with people one does not know from a great remove. The first, most popular option is: Strive not to give offense at all times. In which case, no risks can be taken and no gray areas of meaning can be entered. One writes as few words as possible (saying nothing at all is best) and chooses them like a politician.

Or, one can attempt to establish a basis of one's own intent and then understand the limits of the prevailing culture. Then, work within those limits - either within a safe boundary or without a net.

Obviously I prefer the latter. Otherwise - why bother? I'll just post to my own blog, where I can say whatever I want anyway. Or to Dustbury, where I have regularly annoyed the proprietor for years.

Not so much here, but on my own blog, I have been striving to remove the filters we place on ourselves and find a raw honesty (at least, what I understand to be honesty). In doing that, I have found that I have had to remove quite a lot of PC baggage. And I was a guy who thought he was never terribly inhibited or PC.

There's something of a liberation and joy to be found in removing inhibitions in one's own expression, and sometimes magical things can happen. Steve Martin talked about this happening to him during his 70's stand-up acts that made him famous. He found the audiences wanted to follow him even after the shows, and one night took them all down to McDonald's and ordered one french fry. That does not happen in following a safe formula. This concept interests me. I notice that most chat room comments are pretty predictable, following patterns of social dynamics and driven, sadly, by some of our baser instincts. Rarely are they driven by, say, sheer intellectual curiosity or joy.

By contrast, this thread started out with an unremarkable post. I mean no offense to Bird Dog by that, I am simply saying that this post did not seem like something that would get this much traction, did it? But a lot of the fear and friction of posting, and thus exposing oneself, has been lifted here. One result was a lovely comment from Lesley, below.

Of course, I have no right to use Maggie for my Evil Experiments, but so far no one has stopped me. It remains to be seen how long my luck will hold out.

Now this is a much more serious conversation than I wanted to have in this thread, but I think it is needed under the circumstances of having riled you to the point you felt compelled to post 3 times consecutively without response. For which again, I apologize.

FWIW, I like Meta. I think everyone here does. I like her more the more I hear from her. If I thought she was under serious attack I'd speak up, along with probably everyone else. But there was just one off-tone comment and she took care of it. I thought to make light of the moment is all. Otherwise, those kinds of things tend to linger, and that exchange was counterproductive to all else going on in this post. That is to say: A serious and meaningful dissertation of Wile E. Coyote.

In the 'innocent until proven guilty' area: That offensive comment could have been written by anyone, and a society is judged by its willingness to defend the rights of the most offensive, not the most popular. I prefer not to accuse Habu unless he admits to ownership, and to take his word if he denies it. I'd also defend you if you were attacked without just cause. I'm not noble or courageous, I merely have poor herd instincts. (Sooner or later, a hyena will pick me off.)

So I hope there are no lingering bad feelings, and that you better understand my intent. Of course, if I find I'm doing damage in this forum - even if only a handful are offended - I will certainly keep my thoughts to myself.

Bird Dog asks, 'what is intelligence'? Intelligence is like strength: It means nothing unless it is placed at the service of a purpose.

We have shamefully usurped this post and taken it to a place that has absolutely nothing to do with Bird Dog's original and sincere intent.

I'm proud of this group.