GENIUS FORUMS

Particle/Wave.

Wave/Particle.

(Light)

Pity is nothing more than vengefulness pretending to be compassion.

Trevor Salyzyn wrote:Only the true sadist would, after seeing all the suffering caused by his delusions, care about his own beliefs but no one else's.

Pity is nothing more than vengefulness pretending to be compassion.

^ 'couple gems.

Although, one might argue that caring about the beliefs of others because of the suffering they cause, is acting out of pity. ;)

Which compells me to say:

The line between self-pity and pity for others, is not so clear.

Which compels me to say:

The difference between an apple and an orange, is pretty great.

No it's not.

"Childhood; He liked Transformers, She liked Popples.......He liked He-Man, She liked My Little Pony."

the best in me may be the worst in you, or vice versa

My qualities might be your vices, or, possibly it's the other way around.

If one is a blacksmith, one's vices are one's best friends.

Peanut butter with jelly is really, really good; white bread is best with it.

Time is a rutabaga -- it grows underground and is beneficial.

Get your head out of the sand, or any perception may be a mirage.

A trombone is like life; the idea is to blow the blues softly.

New York is just a State of mind.

There are only two kinds of writing: aphorisms, and everything that tricks us into reading aphorisms.

Hatred is discovering what you adore or admire, is harmful or harmed.

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Arrogance, its roots sweet, finds the fruit bitter

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Every action, turns to seed, dictating actions, that turn to seed.

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Between light and shadow stands a boundary, between logic and illogic stands the drama of your image.

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Hatred is discovering what you adore or admire, is harmful or harmed.

This one is great, but I think you could tighten it up a bit more. You could try a rhetorical strategy, perhaps, where you only imply one of the logical steps without saying it.

Arrogance, its roots sweet, finds the fruit bitter.

This looks like something you could dig through to find a few more aphorisms. It's pretty good, and I think there's more that can be said. It could stand a few additions.

Every action, turns to seed, dictating actions, that turn to seed.

The agricultural metaphors are over-done. We live in the computer age, damnit. Find a new metaphor for causality.

Between light and shadow stands a boundary, between logic and illogic stands the drama of your image.

Again, computer age. When you say drama, do you mean a high school drama queen, or the silver screen? (Hey, that rhymes.)


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A few nerd aphorisms. I only know a few philosophers, so there's not much (certainly not enough for my idle fantasy of writing a really really short philosophy textbook that covers every single important philosophic thought -- and thus is written by a philosopher who appreciates brevity, and not a historian who does not):

The difference between analytic and synthetic a priori truths is this: if the proposition "a professional thief is a self-employed entrepreneur" is synthetic, nothing happens; if it's analytic, on the other hand, it's a strong argument against Kant's categorical imperative.

As the the suffix "-ism" concludes the word, a word that ends with "-ism" concludes the thought. For example, if someone tries to describe Friedrich Nietzsche with any doctrine, he did not read Ecce Homo.

I deduce that no secular humanists will ever travel through time, for the sole reason that any humanist would be morally obligated to kill Plato right after he finished composing "The Symposium".

A dog is cheaper than a butler, but more expensive than a doorbell.

Trevor Salyzyn wrote:

Hatred is discovering what you adore or admire, is harmful or harmed.

This one is great, but I think you could tighten it up a bit more. You could try a rhetorical strategy, perhaps, where you only imply one of the logical steps without saying it.

Hmmm, I do not presently seem capable of doing any better. I'd like to you see give it a try. If you want.

Trevor wrote:

Between light and shadow stands a boundary, between logic and illogic stands the drama of your image.

Again, computer age.

Again, I'd love to see you dress the meaning of that aphorism into a more modern attire. Metaphors having to do with computers don't come natural to me. Something to work on I guess.

When you say drama, do you mean a high school drama queen, or the silver screen? (Hey, that rhymes.)

By drama I mean egotistical (illogical) activity in general, e.g, actions fueled by lust, grief, hatred, jealousy, envy, terror, hope, joy, dread, anxiety, love sadness, guilt, grief, sorrow, pride, anger, etc.

The impression from my end is that there are not many humans whose outer as well as inner life is not a drama of some sort.

Or as the dictionary puts it: Drama is any situation or series of events having vivid, emotional, conflicting, or striking results: e.g., the drama of a murder trial.

The aphorism is basically saying that the ego casts the shadow of illogical behavior, which cannot exist unless logic is present to some degree, much like shadows can't exist unless light is present to some degree. I find it hard to imagine that I could convey that meaning using computer metaphors or whatever. But I'd love to see a translation.

Hmmm, I do not presently seem capable of doing any better. I'd like to you see give it a try. If you want.

I'll try:

When harm surrounds what we love, we hate.

(The word "surrounds" replaced "comes to or from". I couldn't think of a more appropriate verb, and I wish I could have thought of something better. However, I still think I'm saying roughly the same thing that you said.)

Again, I'd love to see you dress the meaning of that aphorism into a more modern attire. Metaphors having to do with computers don't come natural to me. Something to work on I guess.

Hmmm...

Instead of a simple observation of light and shadow, a more contemporary scientific discovery might work. "The transmission of radiant energy" already brings to mind a fresher paradigm. Maybe an x-ray?

"As hard tissue casts a shadow on an x-ray, ..."

I'm a bit too lazy to finish it (there's a heatwave over Edmonton), but I think it's got enough similarities to your aphorism that you could say the same thing if you started it off like that, or with a phrase close to that.

Many a man owes his success to his first wife and his second wife to his success.

Jim Backus

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Wisdom is never finite: either you have infinite wisdom, or none.

The hardest thing about being an artist is not believing your own lies.

Sorry, this one needed more:

A dog is cheaper than a butler, but more expensive than a doorbell.

Just as a dog is cheaper than a butler, but more expensive than a doorbell, a scholar is less than a philosopher, but more than a book.

Trevor Salyzyn wrote:The hardest thing about being an artist is not believing your own lies.

You are obviously not an artist. That wouldn't even make the top ten hard things about it.

Think I'll make some cool-sounding shit about stuff I know little about, too, like, Quantum Mechanics.

A quantum mechanic is cheaper to hire than a auto mechanic, but less expensive than a String Theory Cheese pizza delivery person.

Trevor Salyzyn wrote:Wisdom is never finite: either you have infinite wisdom, or none.

Wisdom is never finished; but even infantile wisdom, is some.

You are obviously not an artist. That wouldn't even make the top ten hard things about it.

I am an artist, though. I compose music and write short stories. I can paint somewhat, and have no problem writing poetry. I also deal with a lot of philosophy.

If you want a qualification, understand that I'm bipolar. It is pretty damn hard for me to tell the difference between fiction and reality sometimes; taking my conception of reality and saying "this is simply fiction" requires a substantial amount of effort on my part -- far more effort than the actual writing.

Actually, I changed my mind. Carl, you are a poor artist if the skill takes more effort than the message.

Trevor: The hardest thing about being an artist is not believing your own lies.

Carl: You are obviously not an artist. That wouldn't even make the top ten hard things about it.

Trevor: I am an artist [but]...taking my conception of reality and saying "this is simply fiction" requires a substantial amount of effort on my part -- far more effort than the actual writing.

Fair enough.

Actually, I changed my mind. Carl, you are a poor artist if the skill takes more effort than the message.

This I don't get. Changed your mind about what?

And, how does a message take more effort than developing the skill to express it. What is it about a message that takes any effort? How does the balance of effort between skill and message determine the quality of an artist?

This I don't get. Changed your mind about what?

I changed my mind about how universal the rule is. I think that all artists have some difficulty separating the necessary lies of art from reality. If they are not experiencing this problem, they are not overly commited to creating quality art -- they are not exploring the art enough. Their consciousness has partitioned itself into distinguishing reality from art, and their thoughts are not focused on living with their art. When the work is complete, that is when an artist should come back to reality. He should lose himself in the work.

And, how does a message take more effort than developing the skill to express it. What is it about a message that takes any effort? How does the balance of effort between skill and message determine the quality of an artist?

Skill is something that should be habitual, whereas the message should be deliberate. True, acquiring good habits requires work. But a doodle and a finished piece are qualitatively different -- the finished piece being essentially carefully selected doodles, consciously combined into patterns that convey an intention. I would say that the true measure of an artist is how well he consciously combines his doodles, not how good his habits are. Good habits create talent, but sustained consciousness is needed to create the masterpieces.