Intelligent Conversation

[Dillinger]

That makes it all so very clear. As clear as mud. There are no things?

That last part was just because I can. It was me being stupid, asking stupid questions. As only I can do. It just is...it's all very Zen. ( I think I should have slept instead of trying to have an intelligent conversation)

Well not exactly... there is ONE thing... there is mud.

 

[MissTaken]

Ah - nope - I can't sing! *lol* Bt I do play saxophone... among other instruments.

Do you still play?

Of late, keyboard and guitar are all I have time for.

 

[lilfrk]

Well not exactly... there is ONE thing... there is mud.

Oh man how did I get into this.

Ok there's mud...where did it come from? Did it come from some where or is it just there?

Do you really consider this intelligent conversation?

 

[Dillinger]

Do you still play?

Of late, keyboard and guitar are all I have time for.

Not in public in ages... I miss it. I still record though.

 

[Dillinger]

Well now, is that it for intelligent conversation for tonight? No comments on my responses to Todd? No response from Todd? Anyone?

Ah well... I think I will try this again tomorrow, or soon - perhaps I will make it my goal to have at least one intelligent conversation with everyone on the board...

 

[morninggirl5]

Dillinger, I would love to have an intelligent conversation with you. Hopefully, next time I'll be in an "intelligent conversation" mode.

 

[scrymettet]

Verdi or Wagner ?

Aïda or Iseult ? German or Italian ? Im going for Der Ring.

 

[Dillinger]

Ok there's mud...where did it come from? Did it come from some where or is it just there?

Yes.

Do you really consider this intelligent conversation?

What do you consider it? I find it entertaining. Whether its intelligent or not really depends. You could view my comments as being trite and inane... or you can examine your questions in light of said comments.

 

[MissTaken]

Well now, is that it for intelligent conversation for tonight? No comments on my responses to Todd? No response from Todd? Anyone?

Ah well... I think I will try this again tomorrow, or soon - perhaps I will make it my goal to have at least one intelligent conversation with everyone on the board...

Dill,

You may have better luck if you were to consider having an erotic conversation with everyone on this board!

 

[Dillinger]

Dillinger, I would love to have an intelligent conversation with you. Hopefully, next time I'll be in an "intelligent conversation" mode.

Its a deal!

 

[Dillinger]

Re: Verdi or Wagner ?

Aïda or Iseult ? German or Italian ? Im going for Der Ring.

I'll always take Verdi over Wagner - I'd rather be bored by lyrical beauty than beaten over the head by egotistical genius.

You only gave me one Verdi choice but two Wagner? I'd take Tristen over Der Ring - slightly less pompous.

But why am I limited to Verdi and Wagner? Why can't I have Mozart?

Or why does it have to be the "classics" - how about Einstein on the Beach (Glass)... or if not so modern... can I have some Berg or Webern? Perhaps we can throw in Schonberg and do a whole 12 tone retrospective?

 

[Silverlily]

You are probably in bed by now, but if you aren't or tomorrow, let's pick this up again.

Tell me, why do you think so many people fear the weather? Despite the fact not one f***ing snowflake hit the ground here, everyone panicked simply because the weatherman said snow. Did everyone run out to buy five gallons of milk because they personally felt the need to have it or because everyone else was doing so? What is it about winter storms that cause us to forget we do not have room for five freakin' gallons of milk?

Rarely in Maryland do we have weather that inconvieniences anyone for more than a day, yet every single time bad weather is mentioned, the populace goes mad. Why?

And how can Zen calm public hysteria? Nevermind, screw the public, will becoming one with the snowflake change my irritation with the whole mess?

 

[Calamity Jane]

Ahhh... Dillinger's asleep, huh?

Well Dilly, have you read the book God's Debris I think you'd enjoy it. For a short, written for the masses type book, it made my brain start working. Been a long time since I read a book that made me want to think.

KE... perhaps it's along the same lines as why FOX news decided it was newsworthy that an asteroid 'just missed us' on Monday. It missed us by 500,000 miles! And then they devoted 15 minutes of the newscast to what 'might have happened' and interviews with astronomers who didn't even see it til it had passed by.

Which brings up another question for Dill (or anyone else)...

Why are we, as a species, so focused on what might have happened or what could possibly happen instead of what's happening to each of us right now?

 

[Silverlily]

Why are we, as a species, so focused on what might have happened or what could possibly happen instead of what's happening to each of us right now?

The ultimate distraction. When we focus on what could be, we no longer have facts, just supposition. We get to fantasize about how we would know the right thing to do or be brave in the face of difficulty. Seriously, when people "what if", do you ever hear someone say, "Oh, if that had happen, I would have completely lost my mind and curled up in a corner, babbling to myself"? Occasionaly, but more likely is a tale of how good we would have been had a crisis occured.

 

[Calamity Jane]

The ultimate distraction. When we focus on what could be, we no longer have facts, just supposition.

I think that's what makes me crazy about it. What led to this question was the stupid news story about the asteroid. They were asking random people if they would want to be warned that something like this was coming. Apparently, this asteroid was rather large, and had it hit, would have eliminated life on the planet (or, so they think). Anyway, peobably 99% of the people interviewed said that they would want to know so they could tell their family that they loved them.

Now. Does it really matter if you tell people you love them in the last 10 minutes? If you haven't bothered to show it for the past 10 years, or whatever, but you say it at the end, does that make everything ok? Wouldn't it be more important to express that love every day so that when the last few minutes are here, it's just an accepted fact?

 

[Calamity Jane]

Another question for Dill

You asked for it darlin!

My mother in law was telling me today about a Doctor who has discovered that he can grow an extra frog eyeball on a tadpole and then transplant it into an adult frog later. He hopes to be able to extend this research to growing new human eyeballs.

I believe that we're here on this planet, in this life to learn something. I also believe that things like this may interfere with the learning process. What's your opinion?

 

[login]

Now. Does it really matter if you tell people you love them in the last 10 minutes?

It would to me. Turn it around... what better way to spend the last 10 minutes of your life than showing/telling someone you love them? Would you prefer to spend those last 10 minutes doing the same day to day tasks you normally do?

 

[login]

Re: Another question for Dill

I believe that we're here on this planet, in this life to learn something. I also believe that things like this may interfere with the learning process.

I don't follow you. Why would a medical scientific advance like this interfere? Are you saying that if you're blind, then that blindness is part of something you're supposed to learn? That there are no such thngs as "accidents"; that everything happens according to a grand scheme?

Hmmm. I'm not a big fan of predestination. My ego is a little too big to consider me a helpless cog in the machine of the universe.

 

[Mike Hammer]

I don't get the connection either P/C. How does the eyeball thing interfere with learning. Are you just trying to say things such as this tip the scales from normal balance?

Dilly isn't quantum mechanics based on mathmatical theory, or am I thinking physics? Whereas Zen is more of a place within ones own mind?

 

[lilfrk]

What do you consider it? I find it entertaining. Whether its intelligent or not really depends. You could view my comments as being trite and inane... or you can examine your questions in light of said comments.

It was entertaining to me. It was what I needed at that point last night. It took my mind off the hell that has become my life of late. So I thank you for it.

 

[Dillinger]

You are probably in bed by now, but if you aren't or tomorrow, let's pick this up again.

Tell me, why do you think so many people fear the weather?

Because they're wimps?


[/QUOTE]Despite the fact not one f***ing snowflake hit the ground here, everyone panicked simply because the weatherman said snow. Did everyone run out to buy five gallons of milk because they personally felt the need to have it or because everyone else was doing so? What is it about winter storms that cause us to forget we do not have room for five freakin' gallons of milk?[/QUOTE]

Ah - I know the answer to that. You know how many animals can sense an earthquake coming? Well its a little known scientific fact that humans are very sensitive to upcoming snowstorms - not even a storm, just a few flakes can set it off - and what happens is that it completely messes up our ability to do math, cross-wires our depth perception and causes us to truly believe that are refrigerators are much larger than they actually are.
Rarely in Maryland do we have weather that inconvieniences anyone for more than a day, yet every single time bad weather is mentioned, the populace goes mad. Why?

And how can Zen calm public hysteria? Nevermind, screw the public, will becoming one with the snowflake change my irritation with the whole mess?

Simple - if you truly understand Zen then you won't need milk because you will know that milk is always with you, wherever you are.

Uh... One with the snowflake - that's not Zen per se - that's actually Buddhism or Zen Buddhism but not Zen. Becoming one with the snowflake would mean that you've either attained the Buddha Mind or that you've read too many Dr. Strange comic books.

 

[Dillinger]

Well Dilly, have you read the book God's Debris I think you'd enjoy it. For a short, written for the masses type book, it made my brain start working. Been a long time since I read a book that made me want to think.

I haven't read it, but thanks for the recommendation. My reading time has greatly diminished since I discovered the BB... *lol* I will add it to my list.

Which brings up another question for Dill (or anyone else)...

Why are we, as a species, so focused on what might have happened or what could possibly happen instead of what's happening to each of us right now?

Interesting discussion you started here... and, though you might not have realized it - the answer to this as well could lie in understanding Zen. What you describe is a problem that afflicts 99.99% of humanity. We don't live in the now. We live in the past, the future, the what could have been, the what might be... but almost never the here and now. 100% of our attention in the MOMENT. If you ever achieve that you will have achieved Zen, you will be enlightened - at least for that moment... after it passes, see if you can catch it... *lol*

We are the only species (on this planet) that is obsesses with time - maybe the only species that is even aware of time. Time is a human construct. It doesn't exist in isolation - you can't separate it as an entity from space, the continuum... its all the same thing - the clock is a prison created by our imaginations.

 

[Dillinger]

The ultimate distraction. When we focus on what could be, we no longer have facts, just supposition. We get to fantasize about how we would know the right thing to do or be brave in the face of difficulty. Seriously, when people "what if", do you ever hear someone say, "Oh, if that had happen, I would have completely lost my mind and curled up in a corner, babbling to myself"? Occasionaly, but more likely is a tale of how good we would have been had a crisis occured.

Fantasizing is healthy - but not at the expense of living. Fantasize for fun... fantasize to make your life better - take your fantasies and make them real. People obsess rather than deal.

 

[Dillinger]

Now. Does it really matter if you tell people you love them in the last 10 minutes? If you haven't bothered to show it for the past 10 years, or whatever, but you say it at the end, does that make everything ok? Wouldn't it be more important to express that love every day so that when the last few minutes are here, it's just an accepted fact?

It shouldn't matter because you should live your life in such a matter that they never doubt your love for them. Saying it is not the same as living it. So, yes - in my opinion you are quite right... it is more important to express that love every day...

 

[Dillinger]

Re: Another question for Dill

You asked for it darlin!

My mother in law was telling me today about a Doctor who has discovered that he can grow an extra frog eyeball on a tadpole and then transplant it into an adult frog later. He hopes to be able to extend this research to growing new human eyeballs.

I believe that we're here on this planet, in this life to learn something. I also believe that things like this may interfere with the learning process. What's your opinion?

He's behind the curve. I read recently about a case where they grew a new penis for someone on their arm and then attached it to his groin.

How could this interfere with learning? You learn something different, but your'e still learning... no?