oops, i forgot to invkoe the deities of cross reference...

woha, this is so friggin off context- i didn't even bother to read today's entry but it started off quite nicely, so maybe i will, come tomorrow. "F*** o** and multiply" (or so), that's what Elezier told us earlier. and not quite without reason. Some might be tempted to say "With reason, but little else.", but i don't count that as evidence against him. still, apart from the fact that linear approximations will carry you only so far in most cases, i think i dissent. the point is: when we talk about morals, our only halfway reliable source of judgement is what we feel about the issue. it is certainly not a valid argument to make a linear approximation of the hessian and claim that for the real thing. moral value is not in any way approximable by any kind of math, because it is an inherently purely emotional comcept from the start. it is just not defineable in objective terms, which is ultimately why it is so near to any of us to say "Well the f***, let the friggin' f*****s suffer the motes, but f*** me if I will torture anyone for any length of time to avoid that!". our genetic inheritance seeks risk spreading (preferrably in the direction of "away", clearly). this is part of our social programme. everyone of us is built to be all of "an individual", "part of a group", "a cooperator", "a cheater" and "a cheater detector" - in that order. so, precisely because i would take a mote in my eye any time i could do so to save any one from torture, so i would expect it of my fellows. and if ANYONE dares have the friggin' nerve to shake a trillion billion quadrillion exponents at me then i will just have to promise them to take a gazillion desert planets in my eye if it makes them happy after all. they are about as likely to bring them on as the christians or muslims are likely to see me roast in their imagined hell. so i say: f*** it, just be goode! :-)

It is the courage of a theist who goes against what they believe to be the Will of God, choosing eternal damnation and defying even morality in order to rescue a slave, or speak out against hell, or kill a murderer...

I once read in some book about members of the Inquisition who thought that their actions - like torture and murder - might preclude them from going to heaven. But these people where so selflessly moral that they gave up their own place in heaven for saving the souls of the witches... great, isn't it?

i suggest an alternarive using a few more dimensions: we={male_built,female_built,...} x{male_image,female_image,...} x{sexually_aggressive,sexually_passive} x{attracted_to_males,not_attracted_to_males} x{attracted_to_females,not_attracted_to_females}

sorry, it seems like it does not wrap... (at least here on opera, forgive reposte please)

kind regards, frank

acutally, i suggest an alternarive using a few more dimensions: we={male_built,female_built,...}x{male_image,female_image,...}x{sexually_aggressive,sexually_passive}x{attracted_to_males,not_attracted_to_males}x{attracted_to_females,not_attracted_to_females}

how is that for a start?

kind regards, frank

i think adding an additional dimension does at least not loose any precision. so we have now not ownly "two kind" of people, but "four kind" of people. People={male,female}x{man,women} or however you may call 'em. but then, why stop there? i'm sure we can dissect the whole thing even further, if we only wanted to. why do then some people think that their choice of cutoff point is naturally superior to any other? for some subspace of topics this distinction is indeed relevant, and i understand it when some people do strongly insist on exact wording. but then again, see, what the sender sends is only half the message. the other half of the message comes from the receiver. (and, yes, 50:50 is just another arbitrary border i set - and i expect you to allow me that. the reason for this is that i do not normally want to have to write all those disclaimers.) well, now see if that rant made any sense.... =)

kind regards, frank

eli: thanks for setting a few things straight here!