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Optimists and Pessimists

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Optimists and Pessimists

Unread postby entropyfails » Sun 05 Mar 2006, 13:26:11

I figured that some of you would appreciate the following parable.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')y soul and I went down to the great sea to bathe. And when we reached the shore, we went about looking for a hidden and lonely place.
But as we walked, we saw a man sitting on a grey rock taking pinches of salt from a bag and throwing them into the sea.
"This is the pessimist," said my soul, "Let us leave this place. We cannot bathe here."
We walked on until we reached an inlet. There we saw, standing on a white rock, a man holding a bejewelled box, from which he took sugar and threw it into the sea.
"And this is the optimist," said my soul, "And he too must not see our naked bodies."


That about sums it up! However, he continues...

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')urther on we walked. And on a beach we saw a man picking up dead fish and tenderly putting them back into the water.
"And we cannot bathe before him," said my soul. "He is the humane philanthropist."
And we passed on.
Then we came where we saw a man tracing his shadow on the sand. Great waves came and erased it. But he went on tracing it again and again.
"He is the mystic," said my soul, "Let us leave him."
And we walked on, till in a quiet cove we saw a man scooping up the foam and putting it into an alabaster bowl.
"He is the idealist," said my soul, "Surely he must not see our nudity."
And on we walked. Suddenly we heard a voice crying, "This is the sea. This is the deep sea. This is the vast and mighty sea." And when we reached the voice it was a man whose back was turned to the sea, and at his ear he held a shell, listening to its murmur.
And my soul said, "Let us pass on. He is the realist, who turns his back on the whole he cannot grasp, and busies himself with a fragment."
So we passed on. And in a weedy place among the rocks was a man with his head buried in the sand. And I said to my soul, "We can bathe here, for he cannot see us."
"Nay," said my soul, "For he is the most deadly of them all. He is the puritan."
Then a great sadness came over the face of my soul, and into her voice.
"Let us go hence," she said, "For there is no lonely, hidden place where we can bathe. I would not have this wind lift my golden hair, or bare my white bosom in this air, or let the light disclose my scared nakedness."
Then we left that sea to seek the Greater Sea.


So, fellow sugar and salt throwers, read more at...
http://leb.net/gibran/works/madman/madman.html

May we all find the Greater Sea.
EntropyFails
"Little prigs and three-quarter madmen may have the conceit that the laws of nature are constantly broken for their sakes." -- Friedrich Nietzsche
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Re: Optimists and Pessimists

Unread postby TheTurtle » Sun 05 Mar 2006, 16:09:48

So the moral is that Omar never gets to take a bath? He must remain ever stinky and unclean?

Or is it that Omar's soul is a prig and embarrassed by her body?

Or is she just so conceited that she thinks she and Omar are too good for everybody else?

And why is the guy whom the soul calls a pessimist throwing salt into the water? How does that make him a pessimist? Is a pinch of salt going to change the ocean?

I don't get it.

This whole parable makes no sense ... :?
“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.” (Ted Perry)
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Re: Optimists and Pessimists

Unread postby markam » Sun 05 Mar 2006, 20:47:47

All those dudes sound pretty stupid. I have better things to do than pick up dead fish, throw salt around and trace my shadow.
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Re: Optimists and Pessimists

Unread postby entropyfails » Mon 06 Mar 2006, 01:04:36

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('markam', 'A')ll those dudes sound pretty stupid. I have better things to do than pick up dead fish, throw salt around and trace my shadow.

Exactly the point of the parable. You figured it out. Congrats!
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Re: Optimists and Pessimists

Unread postby entropyfails » Mon 06 Mar 2006, 01:12:21

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheTurtle', 'S')o the moral is that Omar never gets to take a bath? He must remain ever stinky and unclean?

Or is it that Omar's soul is a prig and embarrassed by her body?


Who would bear their soul to the corrupt fools who cannot understand the ocean?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheTurtle', '
')And why is the guy whom the soul calls a pessimist throwing salt into the water? How does that make him a pessimist? Is a pinch of salt going to change the ocean?

I don't get it.

This whole parable makes no sense ... :?


Oh it does make sense to those that can see the ocean. But like most realists you mistake the sound of the ocean in a shell for the sound of the ocean! *grin*

How does a pinch of salt change the sea? Of course it does nothing. The pessimist wastes his time.
How does a pinch of sugar change the ocean? Of course it does nothing. The optimist wastes his time.

The character of the ocean does not include change by either pinches of salt or pinches of sugar. Perhaps you should think of the ocean as reality and the parable may make more sense to you. Good luck!
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Re: Optimists and Pessimists

Unread postby UIUCstudent01 » Mon 06 Mar 2006, 01:20:52

I've read a few of these 'parables'.

And they're entertaining..

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')War
One night a feast was held in the palace, and there came a man and prostrated himself before the prince, and all the feasters looked upon him; and they saw that one of his eyes was out and that the empty socket bled. And the prince inquired of him, "What has befallen you?" And the man replied, "O prince, I am by profession a thief, and this night, because there was no moon, I went to rob the money-changer's shop, and as I climbed in through the window I made a mistake and entered the weaver's shop, and in the dark I ran into the weaver's loom and my eye was plucked out. And now, O prince, I ask for justice upon the weaver."
Then the prince sent for the weaver and he came, and it was decreed that one of his eyes should be plucked out.
"O prince," said the weaver, "the decree is just. It is right that one of my eyes be taken. And yet, alas! both are necessary to me in order that I may see the two sides of the cloth that I weave. But I have a neighbor, a cobbler, who has also two eyes, and in his trade both eyes are not necessary."
Then the prince sent for the cobbler. And he came. And they took out one of the cobbler's two eyes.
And justice was satisfied.


Here's one more.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')The Fox
A fox looked at his shadow at sunrise and said, "I wil have a camel for lunch today." And all morning he went about looking for camels. But at noon he saw his shadow again -- and he said, "A mouse will do."


You could draw some peak oil stuff from this!

(Some of the other stuff are pure genious!!!)
https://www.videogamevoters.org/ http://www.savetheinternet.com/ http://www.votersforpeace.us/index.jsp
www.911myths.com - To the 9/11-ers, give it some thought.
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Re: Optimists and Pessimists

Unread postby 0mar » Mon 06 Mar 2006, 05:18:14

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheTurtle', 'S')o the moral is that Omar never gets to take a bath? He must remain ever stinky and unclean?

Or is it that Omar's soul is a prig and embarrassed by her body?

Or is she just so conceited that she thinks she and Omar are too good for everybody else?

And why is the guy whom the soul calls a pessimist throwing salt into the water? How does that make him a pessimist? Is a pinch of salt going to change the ocean?

I don't get it.

This whole parable makes no sense ... :?


HEY, I take a shower daily (except on days ending in -day).
Joseph Stalin
"It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything. "
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Re: Optimists and Pessimists

Unread postby Doly » Mon 06 Mar 2006, 08:34:11

And the guy who doesn't bath must be the hermit, that won't engage with anybody and even less with reality. I'm not impressed by him.
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Re: Optimists and Pessimists

Unread postby entropyfails » Mon 06 Mar 2006, 14:50:58

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Doly', 'A')nd the guy who doesn't bath must be the hermit, that won't engage with anybody and even less with reality. I'm not impressed by him.

The sound of the conch shell blinds you to the deeper truth. Perhaps one day you may have eyes that see. I wish you luck in your journey!
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Re: Optimists and Pessimists

Unread postby TheTurtle » Mon 06 Mar 2006, 21:37:27

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('entropyfails', 'T')he sound of the conch shell blinds you to the deeper truth. Perhaps one day you may have eyes that see. I wish you luck in your journey!


And Joshu replied, "Mu." :roll:
“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.” (Ted Perry)
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Re: Optimists and Pessimists

Unread postby entropyfails » Mon 06 Mar 2006, 22:40:51

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheTurtle', '
')And Joshu replied, "Mu." :roll:

*laugh*

Or perhaps "3 pound of flaxseed" or my version "A keyboard and a mouse."
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