A couple of reality argument remarks (wa

[Mitchell, Paul T]

Galen of Bristol, yet again!

> Hi Galen. Aquilanne here--again--still!
>
>>I apologize if I insulted; I had no such intent.
>
> Nah. No insult taken; I never figured you meant any.

Good plan!

>>> Nabokov once said that the word "reality"
>>> should always be written in quotes.
>>
>>I'm not sure how you mean that.  To me, putting a non-quotation in
>>quotes indicates that the speaker intends something other than the
>>meaning of the word.  Such as if I were to assert that Adolf Hitler
>>was "compassionate".
>
>I think Nabokov was merely posing the philosophical question of "what's
>reality anyway?" My quoting him is just a concessionary gesture to the
>questionable nature of the word.

Maybe it's a failing in me, but I don't have questions about what reality
is.  I'm pretty sure I know.

<snip>

>>Certainly anything, including the SCA, can be taken to extremes; I   
think
>>you've taken your argument to extreme when I mention "church group" and
>>you argue "Heaven's Gate" cult.
>
>Of course. Using extreme examples, like using metaphors, is just a way   
of
>trying to clarify perspectives. You've used the same rhetorical method
>yourself.

Oh, I didn't say you shouldn't use extreme arguments, I only pointed
out that you had.  In an admitted attempt to thereby weaken that
argument.

>>Tegan's sergeant felt the only worthwhile thing in her life was the   
SCA;
>>that speaks _well_ of the SCA, not badly.
>
>I never asserted that anyone's extreme perspectives speaks well or badly   
of
>the SCA; I never said the SCA itself was in question. I just suggested   
that
>some folk in the SCA (and other walks of life) sometimes have a loose   
grip
>on reality.

This thread started with what I took to be a suggestion (not made by you)
that being "too deeply involved" (by someone's definition) in the SCA
indicated a lack of ability to perceive or cope with reality.  As I said
when I started, separating SCA from real life is one of my hot-button
issues.

>>I don't "really" die, true.  But I really "die".  ("When I make a word
>>do extra work like that, I always pay it extra."  -- Humpty Dumpty)
>
>Naughty boy. You harrumph at the use of the word "reality", then you   
quote
>Humpty Dumpty.  I rather enjoyed that. ;->

I thought you would.  Although actually, it's the punctuation doing all
the work in my sentence above.

>I don't believe you really have this
>problem, Aquillane, but I have to believe that people who think the
>SCA isn't part of the real world either don't understand the nature of
>the SCA, or they don't understand the nature of reality.

Well, I suppose there are those who might tell you that I not only have   
one
foot out of the stirrup, but that I imagined the horse. (Not the dead   
horse
we're presently beating, mind you ;-> )

I only met you briefly, once, several years ago at a Bryn Gwlad Yule
Revel, so I can only judge by what I see on this list; I don't see any
great difficulty with your understanding of reality.

>> Yes, fealty in the SCA carries _no_ mundane
>>obligations, I agree.
>
>Oh, my god, we're agreeing again. Where will this insanity ever stop?!   
;->

I knew we could get to this point all along.  That's why I love arguing.

>>Is this any better?
>>
>>- Galen
>
>Galen, by golly, much like you, I love it when people agree with me!   
Much
>better, yes, thank you!
>
>By the way, if you like, I'm more than willing to argue/agree on issues   
by
>private email, just in case we're annoying or confusing others on the   
list.
>
>Aquilanne

I am, too, but enough others are chiming in that I have to believe that
many have found it to be of interest, and the rest can delete it when   
they
see the subject line, as I do when I see subect lines that don't interest
me (thus emphasizing the importance of relevant subject lines).

 - Galen