And Then We Wrote

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I have been watching the progress of "an abortion saved my life". I am afraid the way it has gone has only exacerbated my puzzlement atr what passes for debate.

I puzzled over why it is important that Hawking believes this and Einstein believed that - though apparenyly it is lame and irrelevant that Feynman agrees - predictably - with me, Seems physicists are only authorities when speaking of something outside science and saying something Big Brother tells Facebook he Likes.

I puzzled over why it is a crushing blow to the opposition if a comedian can be found making fun of them. Though it seems if a comedian makes fun of something Big Brother Likes and tweets about that is just inappropriate. The Fair One finding that bit on blog politics helped with this, but it still does not compute.

So now I have to ask: How does bringing forward one or even a dozen individual cases contribute to understand the writes and wrongs of abortion, capitalism, homeopathy, gun control, sex education, pasteurization, iodizagtion, sterilization, vivisection or taxreform? How does it argue for this or that public policy?

I have in my repertoir4e a few interesting, perhaps shocking accounts of abortion with prelude and postlude. i thought of posting a couple of these, to ask what people saw as the import of the cases. I decided not to because, frankly, they are not MY stories, there are prople who might not want their situations bandied about without permission which at least one cannot be asked to give.

BUT - if I did, if I posted moving anecdotes - WHAT WOULD IT PROVE?

Well, if your intent was to make a case against abortion, I highly doubt it would prove much of anything.

whatever makes for a better society I guess. One can acknowledge that abortions have decreased crime while still being pro-life and considering most abortions immoral.

At the end of the day opinions don't really matter because its what i say versus what you say, and if we have differing value systems, we can be both right and in good standing with that value system and our biased lens of truth. Anecdotes can be revealing but they almost never tell the whole story by themselves - unless it argues for the position of the person telling the anecdote

Although Hawking and Einstein are obvious nincompoops it's great that Feynman agreed with you rather than you agreeing with Feynman. I am a mite curious about how you convinced Feynman to come over to your side.

Feynman, the nincompoop, was one of the co-creators of quantum electrodynamics. He is one of the ten top greatest physicists of all times. Some nincompoop. In addition to co-creating quantum electrodynamics, his last public act was to expose NASA for the corrupt incompetent organization that it is.

ruveyn

Try finding the subtext in Sand's post. It is less about nincompoops and more about arrogance.

I am literal minded. I not only can't find subtexts, I won't even look for them.

ruveyn (Aspie and damned glad that I am).

It is great to be proud of it. But I guess that gives the one who found a reason to point out the meaning when he does.

Last edited by Vexcalibur on 02 Jun 2011, 6:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

People should say what the mean and mean what they say. Guessing is unnecessary and it is cruel to make someone guess. Sort of like whispering to a deaf person or tripping a blind person.

ruveyn

Subtext was a poorly chosen word anyway. "I am surprised you got Feynman to agree with you" is subtext but then Sand specified with: "I am a mite curious about how you convinced Feynman to come over to your side."

Plus you not only got Sand's sarcasm about them being nincompoops, you used the same sort of sarcasm when talking about Feynman.

Are you likely to believe that the hypothetical anecdotes made a case FOR abortion [taking abortion here to mean approximately as prsacticed under current American law]?

The trouble there began with how at least some of us heard/read the title of that thread: "'an abortion saved my life.'" I suspect few people even noticed it as being a quotation from someone other than the OP, and then, of course, few people took time to wonder either of two things:

1) Why is this thread being started? (OP's thought, pondering or intent)
2) What is the thought or intent of the person therein being quoted?

And then, of course, the mom's opening line is nothing but some kind of emotional appeal:

"I'm a mom, and I love my sons more than anything ... [and so] I had an abortion at 20 weeks."

In the end, however, we discover something else had actually happened: The mom had miscarried.

In the meantime, however, much philosophical debate took place ... and then the wounded just headed back into the hills.

Note: My own initial thought (as derived from the title of that thread) had been along the line of someone having survived an abortion and then being passed along to better parents!

Last edited by leejosepho on 02 Jun 2011, 8:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

You would know.

you promoting hare brained conspiracy theories.

Possibly so, as some people see things, but really only just trying to encourage people to truly learn to truly think for themselves ... and that sometimes requires putting aside even one's own "position", philosophy or whatever.

I would sincerely appreciate - comprehension of that which is strange is important to me - could we so far possible be on question here?

Reiterate:

1. I have been told that the opinions of a high profile public figure count in making judgements on these matters.

2. I have been told that the routines of comedians count in making these judgements.

3. I have been told - thank you for the insight, since confirmed from other sources - that the comic routine carries more weight than the factual claims of the not intentionally funny.

4. NOW I am asking, do anecdotes of individual triumphs or nightmares count as arguments one way or the other in value judgements on practices and policies?