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Well, I'm not going to try to stop you. Although, if people start asking me questions again you'll be missing out...
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I deactivated my profile. I will (almost certainly) return to Facebook at some point. I turn it off periodically when Facebook begins to occupy too much of my brain. Although, I do have an active alter-profile the purpose of which is to keep the pages I've created visible. That way, everyone still has the opportunity to "Like" my Frederick C. Cuny fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Frederick-C-Cuny/69137074304
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My only concern is that someone could profit from the use of my DNA. I wouldn't want anyone else to claim proprietary rights to my genome. Perhaps there could be something like a creative commons license for genetic material. Also, I wouldn't object to being cloned as long as it didn't occur within my lifetime--I don't want to have to compete with myself.
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Most of my anger is reserved for my own foibles. However, I am commonly troubled by willful ignorance and the lack of human compassion.
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Given that I haven't answered questions in two weeks, I can't really complain about not receiving more.
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I wasn't sure what this question meant, so I went to Wikipedia and read the "American Dream" entry. There you will find this quote:
"The American Dream, that has lured tens of millions of all nations to our shores in the past century has not been a dream of material plenty, though that has doubtlessly counted heavily. It has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development as a man and woman, unhampered by the barriers which had slowly been erected in the older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the benefit of classes rather than for the simple human being of any and every class."
-James Truslow Adams
I think that's a nice idea. Clearly, we have yet to achieve it. Race, gender and intergenerational wealth have played pivotal roles in restricting or enabling the opportunities of individuals throughout American history. Some of those restrictions have abated in contemporary society, but increasingly the interests of the individual is superseded by the interests of multi-national corporations. In short, there's a lot of work to do. -
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I agree, that would be lame. 13 answers is not all you get. Keep asking questions. New answers will magically appear this week.
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I promise I will answer this question to the best of my ability at some point. But, not today.
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Yes. Although I'm not sure that there's much evidence to support this claim. I seem to be pretty awkward around small children. Actually, I seem to be awkward around humans in general.
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It's really more that I've surrendered some of the romantic notions that were prerequisites for making such a claim about myself.
It's kind of like the Wilco song "Solitaire." -
I'm confident that LeBron James can play with anybody. I'm less convinced that Wade and Derrick Rose can be productive together considering that they both get their points from creating off the dribble. Although Rose would likely be content to sublimate his game and allow Wade to handle the ball.
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Do I look like someone who's learned anything in life?
I hesitate to answer this question because it's clear that my capacity to understand the world far exceeds my ability to live in it. So any answer has the potential to demonstrate a kind of hypocrisy with which I would not wish to be associated. Also, because I don't really have a good answer.
I'm not certain this is an actual lesson but as I was trying to formulate a response to this question, one of my pet phrases sparked in my mind: "Life is about making choices."
Many people lack the sophistication to examine their own behavior and attitudes. They cede the power and responsibility inherent in human freedom and live their lives by rote. But even those of us inclined toward the difficult work of introspection can find ourselves being stitched into a ready made pattern--tugged along by our crooked desires, our imperfect thoughts and the wanton forces of society.
Nevertheless, there are always choices to be made. And the lives we live are made from the choices we make or the choices we abdicate for better or for worse.
Also, read David Foster Wallace on the importance of choosing how to think about life in the world: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122178211966454607.html -
It depends on your view of reality. If you believe in a solipsistic reality which exists only so far as you are able to perceive or experience it, then no, it doesn't make a sound. But, that's a pretty silly way to view the world. If there is an objective reality then the properties of the tree or the forrest exist independently of being perceived. In which case, of course it makes a sound.
You may apply this reasoning to the second question which seems to have indeed acquired relevance. -
If a woodchuck could chuck wood wouldn't it then be something other than a woodchuck?
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Is it acceptable for me to answer this question with a poem?
"Do you think I know what I'm doing?
That for one breath or half-breath I belong to myself?
As much as a pen knows what it's writing,
or the ball can guess where it's going next."
--Rumi -
Well, it's hard to say which Doctor is the best since they are all purposefully different. The 7th Doctor, Sylvester McCoy was my sentimental favorite as a kid. The 4th Doctor, Tom Baker, is THE iconic Doctor--even appearing in an episode of The Simpsons.
I will say without equivocation, however that the current (11th) Doctor, Matt Smith is the best actor to ever play the role. -
You know, in the time it took for me to answer this question, you could have written a research paper on this subject. Or else hired, coerced, or manipulated someone into doing it for you.
Shams of Tabriz was the closest friend and companion of 13th Century Persian Sufi mystic poet Jelaluddin Balkhi (known as Rumi). It was said that prior to encountering Rumi, Shams traveled the Middle East in search of someone who could endure his company.
I, being the meloromantic (I just invented that word) fellow I am, took it up as a moniker many years ago when I was inclined to think of myself as a sage loner.
Now there are several people who can endure my company, so perhaps the name no longer applies. -
Oh no.
"Never trust a big butt and a smile."
-BBD
Unless, of course, you enjoy being hoodwinked, bamboozled, run-amok, led astray... -
Maybe there isn't a greatest moment. There are various moments that resonate for me personally as a fan. There are sports achievements that I recognize as being great. But to take one of these and apply a superlative to it seems like a futile exercise.
The performance of Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin was a significant athletic achievement in the midst of an important historical moment. But whatever can be said about that, one cannot pretend that the sports moment had any impact on the world outside of sports. And if it doesn't have any impact outside of sports, then who cares? It's just sports.
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Shams
The People's Republic of Chicago
Shams’s Bio
Urban Philosopher
