Comments on: Zen and The Art of Computer Maintenance http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/04/06/zen-and-the-art-of-computer-maintenance/ Socio-Economical Articles about the Second Life® world Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:25:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Lunette http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/04/06/zen-and-the-art-of-computer-maintenance/comment-page-1/#comment-17290 Lunette Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:29:24 +0000 http://gwynethllewelyn.net/?p=300#comment-17290 You lured me in by referring to one of my favorite books, and the post was worth the read. I hope you are right in your predictions. You lured me in by referring to one of my favorite books, and the post was worth the read. I hope you are right in your predictions.

]]> By: Lunette http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/04/06/zen-and-the-art-of-computer-maintenance/comment-page-1/#comment-28664 Lunette Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:29:00 +0000 http://gwynethllewelyn.net/?p=300#comment-28664 You lured me in by referring to one of my favorite books, and the post was worth the read. I hope you are right in your predictions. You lured me in by referring to one of my favorite books, and the post was worth the read. I hope you are right in your predictions.

]]> By: Ashcroft Burnham http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/04/06/zen-and-the-art-of-computer-maintenance/comment-page-1/#comment-16988 Ashcroft Burnham Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:48:07 +0000 http://gwynethllewelyn.net/?p=300#comment-16988 Don't make the mistake of conflating preference with irrationality: rationality is an attitude to the use of reason in forming conclusions. However, a preference of the sort to which you refer is not a conclusion: it is the sense-data which is a partial basis for conclusions. It is what people do with that sense-data (which comprises their reaction in terms of levels of enjoyment from undertaking certain sort of activities) that is the conclusion. So, if I enjoy, say, collecting stamps, it is quite rational for me to decide to have a stamp collection. Conversely, it would be quite irrational for me to spend a lot of time collecting stamps if I did not enjoy it. By contrast, the fact that I either enjoy or do not enjoy collecting stamps is not something that is itself rational or irrational any more than what it feels like to look at green is rational or irrational. Those are not the kinds of things to which it makes sense to conceive of arriving at by a process of reasoning (<i>cf</i>. irrationality, where people could use reason, but decide not to do so). As to Macs and PCs, as I think that you know, I am rather a fan of PCs. I don't really want to do my computing on a <a href="http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=14496" rel="nofollow">toaster</a>. Don’t make the mistake of conflating preference with irrationality: rationality is an attitude to the use of reason in forming conclusions. However, a preference of the sort to which you refer is not a conclusion: it is the sense-data which is a partial basis for conclusions. It is what people do with that sense-data (which comprises their reaction in terms of levels of enjoyment from undertaking certain sort of activities) that is the conclusion.

So, if I enjoy, say, collecting stamps, it is quite rational for me to decide to have a stamp collection. Conversely, it would be quite irrational for me to spend a lot of time collecting stamps if I did not enjoy it. By contrast, the fact that I either enjoy or do not enjoy collecting stamps is not something that is itself rational or irrational any more than what it feels like to look at green is rational or irrational. Those are not the kinds of things to which it makes sense to conceive of arriving at by a process of reasoning (cf. irrationality, where people could use reason, but decide not to do so).

As to Macs and PCs, as I think that you know, I am rather a fan of PCs. I don’t really want to do my computing on a toaster.

]]> By: Ashcroft Burnham http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/04/06/zen-and-the-art-of-computer-maintenance/comment-page-1/#comment-28663 Ashcroft Burnham Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:48:00 +0000 http://gwynethllewelyn.net/?p=300#comment-28663 Don't make the mistake of conflating preference with irrationality: rationality is an attitude to the use of reason in forming conclusions. However, a preference of the sort to which you refer is not a conclusion: it is the sense-data which is a partial basis for conclusions. It is what people do with that sense-data (which comprises their reaction in terms of levels of enjoyment from undertaking certain sort of activities) that is the conclusion. So, if I enjoy, say, collecting stamps, it is quite rational for me to decide to have a stamp collection. Conversely, it would be quite irrational for me to spend a lot of time collecting stamps if I did not enjoy it. By contrast, the fact that I either enjoy or do not enjoy collecting stamps is not something that is itself rational or irrational any more than what it feels like to look at green is rational or irrational. Those are not the kinds of things to which it makes sense to conceive of arriving at by a process of reasoning (<i>cf</i>. irrationality, where people could use reason, but decide not to do so). As to Macs and PCs, as I think that you know, I am rather a fan of PCs. I don't really want to do my computing on a <a href="http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=14496" rel="nofollow">toaster</a>. Don’t make the mistake of conflating preference with irrationality: rationality is an attitude to the use of reason in forming conclusions. However, a preference of the sort to which you refer is not a conclusion: it is the sense-data which is a partial basis for conclusions. It is what people do with that sense-data (which comprises their reaction in terms of levels of enjoyment from undertaking certain sort of activities) that is the conclusion.

So, if I enjoy, say, collecting stamps, it is quite rational for me to decide to have a stamp collection. Conversely, it would be quite irrational for me to spend a lot of time collecting stamps if I did not enjoy it. By contrast, the fact that I either enjoy or do not enjoy collecting stamps is not something that is itself rational or irrational any more than what it feels like to look at green is rational or irrational. Those are not the kinds of things to which it makes sense to conceive of arriving at by a process of reasoning (cf. irrationality, where people could use reason, but decide not to do so).

As to Macs and PCs, as I think that you know, I am rather a fan of PCs. I don’t really want to do my computing on a toaster.

]]> By: https://me.yahoo.com/a/t_A4wuF.n87Gdaq75Jwi0uuLibJCsQ--#ee21c http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/04/06/zen-and-the-art-of-computer-maintenance/comment-page-1/#comment-16978 https://me.yahoo.com/a/t_A4wuF.n87Gdaq75Jwi0uuLibJCsQ--#ee21c Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:01:18 +0000 http://gwynethllewelyn.net/?p=300#comment-16978 Ah, Zen and the Art...the book not by Kurt Vonnegut I most wish I had written myself. Thanks for your ideas, Gwyn, really first rate. My only disagreement is with your spelling of "Balkanization" 8-) 8-) Ah, Zen and the Art…the book not by Kurt Vonnegut I most wish I had written myself.

Thanks for your ideas, Gwyn, really first rate. My only disagreement is with your spelling of “Balkanization”
8-) 8-)

]]> By: https://me.yahoo.com/a/t_A4wuF http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/04/06/zen-and-the-art-of-computer-maintenance/comment-page-1/#comment-28662 https://me.yahoo.com/a/t_A4wuF Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:01:00 +0000 http://gwynethllewelyn.net/?p=300#comment-28662 Ah, Zen and the Art...the book not by Kurt Vonnegut I most wish I had written myself. Thanks for your ideas, Gwyn, really first rate. My only disagreement is with your spelling of "Balkanization" 8-) 8-) Ah, Zen and the Art…the book not by Kurt Vonnegut I most wish I had written myself.

Thanks for your ideas, Gwyn, really first rate. My only disagreement is with your spelling of “Balkanization”
8-) 8-)

]]> By: Deryck Hodge (Anders Falworth in SL) http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/04/06/zen-and-the-art-of-computer-maintenance/comment-page-1/#comment-16948 Deryck Hodge (Anders Falworth in SL) Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:22:51 +0000 http://gwynethllewelyn.net/?p=300#comment-16948 Really nice post, Gwyn. A nice piece of analysis, and it's also nice to see there are others not giving up on the metaverse yet. Really nice post, Gwyn. A nice piece of analysis, and it’s also nice to see there are others not giving up on the metaverse yet.

]]> By: Deryck Hodge (Anders Falworth http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/04/06/zen-and-the-art-of-computer-maintenance/comment-page-1/#comment-28661 Deryck Hodge (Anders Falworth Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:22:00 +0000 http://gwynethllewelyn.net/?p=300#comment-28661 Really nice post, Gwyn. A nice piece of analysis, and it's also nice to see there are others not giving up on the metaverse yet. Really nice post, Gwyn. A nice piece of analysis, and it’s also nice to see there are others not giving up on the metaverse yet.

]]>