On opinion vs judgement

[Morning Glory]

I think I got a boner

[Ajax Knucklebones]

I think I got a boner

And the only prescription is more cowbell. Whoops. Wrong thread. Sorry.

[Ubiquitress]

boner with cowbell? Impressive, sounds like a John Zorn piece.

[Raza]

Sure, grow a thicker skin. not apathy so much as detatchment from ego. Not removal of, but detatchment from.
Anyway the 'damage' is intrinsic. If you decide what something IS definitively, you've removed for yourself the possibility of other variables that you hadn't considered and will not learn anything new on the issue.

So don't decide on what is, but rather on how this must be determined. If you've got the principles you measure the worthines of any given opinion by at hand and the practise needed to apply them as quickly as words are spoken, you can acknowledge or dismiss remarks as appropriate the moment they are fired off. Start treating anything spoken about your person as information - true, false or meaningless - and stop even considering intentions and whether it would constitute something 'bad' or 'offensive'.

Information is harmless, and it is always the recipient's initiative to make more of it.

[OrganizedKhaos]

No no... how good it is to see YOU ice blue eyes frozen in time. I don't always get carried away with stunning fotos but... hang on yes I do... but anyway... I know you are a fotographess and all but geez... I will develop a crush if not on you then definitely on your pic

You're just as charming as you ever were.
It figures you're back... just as soon as I decide to take a break.

[DonkeyMoses]

So don't decide on what is, but rather on how this must be determined. If you've got the principles you measure the worthines of any given opinion by at hand and the practise needed to apply them as quickly as words are spoken, you can acknowledge or dismiss remarks as appropriate the moment they are fired off. Start treating anything spoken about your person as information - true, false or meaningless - and stop even considering intentions and whether it would constitute something 'bad' or 'offensive'.

Information is harmless, and it is always the recipient's initiative to make more of it.

Well, sure. That's the ego detatchment I was speaking of. But it's real easy to have a knee-jerk reaction when someone starts casting aspurtions on your character or beliefs then defends it as only an opinion. Things like "All Jews are evil and miserly and they all have horns under their beanies, but that's just my opinion." or "I hate faggots, but that's just my opinion." would be hard for most people to dismiss.

[OrganizedKhaos]

I love all peoples.
I dont see the point in fighting over all the things that separates us... but see those things as the beauty

(yeah, I know that's kinda random)

[Raza]

Well, sure. That's the ego detatchment I was speaking of. But it's real easy to have a knee-jerk reaction when someone starts casting aspurtions on your character or beliefs then defends it as only an opinion. Things like "All Jews are evil and miserly and they all have horns under their beanies, but that's just my opinion." or "I hate faggots, but that's just my opinion." would be hard for most people to dismiss.

No, not really. Your examples are characterised by political incorrectness here and now, but we've had plenty of proofs of populations ready to accept them. A 'difficult to accept' opinion isn't made or broken by its content, it's made by all the people ready to affirm to one another how it's such a horrible thing to say.

It's human nature to attach significance to opinions based on the scale on which they get mirrored back at them from their social environments, insofar as they identify with that environment. This significance is what gives insults like 'I fucked your mom' or statements like "I hate jews' or even kids going 'Chicken! Chicken! tooc toc toc toc!" at each other their offending power; it's not that the words affect you, it's that you're convinced that they are 'supposed' to constitute an attack on you, from which point on your emotions treat it like 'an attack' of a certain arbitrary intensity, rather than information. Nothing offends you by default, everything that does is artificial. If we hadn't 'learned' to perceive these things as offensive, they'd be powerless. They require recognition on the part of the recipient, and with practise, you can choose to deny them that.

[DonkeyMoses]

No you cant.

[DonkeyMoses]

Yes you can.

[Raza]

See, there you are. Practise.

[Ajax Knucklebones]

I say let's have one big fuckin' orgy and call it a night. I'll leave it up to everybody if you want to invite Thistle....Although I hear he gives good cowhead.

[DonkeyMoses]

Yes you can.

No you can't, shutup!