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One Of The Few
Minister of Truth
Post #54826
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Posts: 3259
Total Words: 460,056
Average words per post: 141.16
PoliMatch: n/a
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Posted: Fri 2008-04-18 15:21
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| Politics: Just plain NUTS! |
Country: Scotland |
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| CARNAGE |
Post Rating: 3.4/4 (5 votes cast) |
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"Where have you been?"
"Where HAVEN'T I been?!"
Hiya all, my period of intensive essay writing and ascetic living is over.
I have been informed there have been one or two flamewars while I've been away. This is disappointing but hardly surprising, giving the vastly calming effect I had on the forum, before I departed out of frustration at the stormy nature of affairs. Hmm... Still, this seems to be an easy spell at the moment and thus I've hoisted by Jolly Roger (this is not a penis joke) in order to set sail on the seas of high finance/intellectual debate once more. Plus, this new "debate mode" looks sexy.
Some of you should be wondering what I've been doing. Well, aside from pondering the subtler depths of Hellenistic philosophy and being appointed editor of my philosophy society's journal next year (despite the fact that, while writing this post, I lost The Game), writing countless essays on everything from 17th century English history to the historical development of the Canadian prairiers, a turbulent relationship with an older woman, meeting up with "old friends" in the British academic community and playing an RPG involving a Lovecraft-esque earwig, I've had a somewhat dull time.
Aside from revising for my exams, I've been starting on my 4rth year dissertation (I suspect two years should be just enough time to get it done properly) which currently is orientating around the subject of management science in relation to Karl Popper and falsificationist scientific philosophy. Having plumbed the tree of business study "academic" texts in my spare time this years and having looked a bit at the history of business theory, I've come to the suspicion that this is the most under-insulted pseudo-science out there. Even in the usual suspects, like Marxism, psychoanalysis and Christian "science", I have rarely come across such a rotten excuse for a science.
My basic plan of attack at the moment is to examine why management isn't a science; how we discrete between the pseudo-scientific and the non-scientific disciplines; and finally whether or not it is possible to approach business in a scientific manner and whether or not some disciplines are simply impossible to render into a scientific form because of the nature of the discipline. It should be a lot more fun than that sounds.
The inspiration, oddly enough, was when I was checking around for possible- although by no means imminentely essential- alternatives to journalism (an unpredictable line of work) or the civil service (just isn't what it used to be as a career) and people started recommending management to me. I decided that I could definitely dig working in a corporate ethics job, but on examination of the business, I'm starting to suspect that management is the biggest load of bollocks this side of feminist studies... Which is ok with me, provided there's a chance to get a 6 digit salary and a measure of job security.
As for politics, this year has been good to me. First, the only party I can stand in the UK (the Scottish National Party) got elected at Holyrood, albeit with a minority administration. Then, their stock when up while Labour's went down. In England, the Conservative party (a key part of my strategy to bring independance to Scotland) have made a considerable headway on the disintergrating Labour party. Gordon Brown has went down in the border like a bean curry: quickly and unpleasantly, with a considerable chance of being out in the near future.
In terms of my political positions, I've moved to the libertarian side on some issues (the abolision of corporation tax, the legality of private education etc.) and to the big-state side on some other issues (the provision of healthcare, limited subsidisation of "culture") but generally my positions have been so validated in the past eight months. This is especially true in regard to regulation of the financial system and the economic disharmony between Scotland and most of England (right now, house prices are still going up in Scotland at a steady rate) that I've changed little.
_________________
If you can't say what you mean then you'll never mean what you say
God holds no fears
Death no worries
And while good is readily attainable
Evil is readily endurable |
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Ingsoc Officer
Minister of Truth
Post #54833
Joined: 20 Apr 2004
Posts: 3722
Total Words: 368,198
Average words per post: 98.92
PoliMatch: n/a
  
    
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Posted: Fri 2008-04-18 18:55
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| Politics: Democratic Socialist |
Country: Evil Empire |
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Post Rating: 0.0/4 (0 votes cast) |
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One Of The Few
Minister of Truth
Post #54834
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Posts: 3259
Total Words: 460,056
Average words per post: 141.16
PoliMatch: n/a
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Posted: Fri 2008-04-18 20:04
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| Politics: Just plain NUTS! |
Country: Scotland |
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| Re: CARNAGE |
Post Rating: 0.0/4 (0 votes cast) |
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| Ingsoc Officer wrote: |
By the way, dig your avatar. I would probably have chosen lord Blackadder myself, though... |
Blackadder, at least in his later incarnations, was too cunning for my liking. There's something to admire about a man like Flasheart, who lacks any sense of direction in his life and is driven purely by impulse. He's sort of like Conan, except I don't think the Barbarian would be comfortable in a dress.
| IO wrote: |
| The worst flamewar in the forum's history has been fought in your absence. The result is that three forum members have chosen unpersonhood and that there's a different debating climate, closer in nature to the old one. Basically, the forum is in a state of reconstruction. |
I actually tried to check through the Minitrue back issues to work out what the hell happened, but I've come to the conclusion that enlightened unawareness is not synonomous with blissful ignorance. There are some things that man is not meant to know (like what women do with that barkey stuff they put in toilets), bringing us onto-
| IO wrote: |
| So you finally followed the call of Cthulhu... |
It's a path I've been following for many years, but it wasn't until this year that I dealt with a conspiracy in the academic world to corrupt the minds of professors with the promise of academic tenure, in return for having a mind-controlling earwig hosted in them. That led to a six hour gaming marathon that took place in one university hall, one pub and one flat.
| IO wrote: |
| After studying different economic disciplines myself, I couldn't agree more. I'd say that it's not seldom on the same scientific level as astrology. |
I actually don't have a problem with economists, at least in Edinburgh, because they have the humility that one usually associates with historians. They know that they can at best hope to interpret collected data and try to create models to understand how things work. They do use a lot of scientific jargon, but that's less obsfucation and more an attempt to aid cross-disciplinary work. I also think that, to at least some degree, there has been progress in economics over the last one hundred years as well as a complex and interesting debate.
Business studies and the airy world of "management science", on the other hand, has greater pretensions and lesser presented. It's a true pseudoscience: terminological voodoo masquerading as physics of man. It's learning about how to talk about "out-of-the-box" thinking and "innovative solutions", without ever having to produce them. Four years of studying history, philosophy and geography would be far better preparation, I suspect.
| IO wrote: |
| Once upon a time, I had similar ambitions, although within the field of marketing management. Then I realised, just like you, what a soulless and corrupt business it really is. The rest is history: I'm a bloody teacher and I love my bloody work. On the one hand, it won't make me rich; on the other hand, I won't die feeling that I've lived a pointless life. |
I've always thought of business as being as cold as a Yeti's earlobe and I've never had a problem with it. My main objection to business as a career was and is that there has to be a very good solution why it is done so incompetantly. To be quite honest, many avenues of business, especially in publishing, hardware and pharmaceuticals really appeals to me; however, I always like to rise to the top of any ladder I climb onto and I want to be sure that I want to get there.
| IO wrote: |
An out-and-out Scottish nationalist, eh? This will be fun.  |
"Fun" without social production is nothing but frivilous distraction from the ultimate goal of creating a Soviet... Er, "European" people.
_________________
If you can't say what you mean then you'll never mean what you say
God holds no fears
Death no worries
And while good is readily attainable
Evil is readily endurable |
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Ingsoc Officer
Minister of Truth
Post #54867
Joined: 20 Apr 2004
Posts: 3722
Total Words: 368,198
Average words per post: 98.92
PoliMatch: n/a
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Posted: Mon 2008-04-21 14:06
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| Politics: Democratic Socialist |
Country: Evil Empire |
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Post Rating: 2.0/4 (3 votes cast) |
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carldiesturmer
Minister of Truth
Post #54868
Joined: 18 Feb 2004
Posts: 4355
Total Words: 715,812
Average words per post: 164.37
PoliMatch: n/a
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Posted: Mon 2008-04-21 15:34
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| Politics: Dominionism |
Country: Oceania |
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Post Rating: 1.0/4 (3 votes cast) |
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...
_________________
What is a Democratic Socialist?
It is a Communist who is cowardly
enough to call himself what he's not, for fear of backlash on the Semantics. It is about the "Speed" of the "Revolution".
Like Hitler said "get them persuaded and us elected"
Caveat Emptor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_Socialism
DO NOT USE BIG BROTHER'S LIBERTARIAN POLICIES AND BELIEFS AGAINST HIS HIMSELF AND HIS FORUM
Last edited by carldiesturmer on Tue 2008-05-20 17:45; edited 1 time in total |
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Kenos
Spy
Post #54932
Joined: 21 Aug 2004
Posts: 93
Total Words: 20,638
Average words per post: 221.91
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Posted: Sat 2008-04-26 14:40
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Post Rating: 3.0/4 (3 votes cast) |
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| great news to see the return of such an eloquent poster |
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One Of The Few
Minister of Truth
Post #56170
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Posts: 3259
Total Words: 460,056
Average words per post: 141.16
PoliMatch: n/a
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Posted: Tue 2008-05-27 16:41
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| Politics: National Libertarian-Capitalist |
Country: Scotland |
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Post Rating: 0.0/4 (0 votes cast) |
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| Kenos wrote: |
| great news to see the return of such an eloquent poster |
In the spirit out this outrageous self-indulgence and obscence self-glorification, I present: my updated polimatch stats!
What's changed- I've decided that, after much philosophical thought, given my emphasis of the mind as being one with the body and the unborn baby being one with the mother, I can't support the illegality of abortion at any point any more. So now I think, in all cases, that abortion should be legal up until the moment of birth.
- Probably out of knowledge that I'm doomed to be a high-ranking member of a corporate business, I've lost my hatred of corporations. Outside of a certain pursuit of competition, which should apply to private firms both big and small, I'm totally cool with corporations provided they stick within the law. Big business can be good business.
- On the topic, I'm now against taxes on businesses. I'm still ok with income tax on the rich, but the system doesn't quite allow for that level of refinement.
- My stance on pot, alcohol and smoking has nearly changed, but I'm still in favour on a pragmatic basis. I don't like direct taxation (in most forms) because I see it as regressive, but when it is necessary to the proper functioning of society I can deal with it.
Most agreeable (highlights)-
1. Kenos is still my most agreeable poster. No wonder he's willing to describe someone with as ham-fisted (sometimes just pork-fisted) a grasp of the English language as I in terms of "eloquence".
4. Zoon is still agreeable, but not as agreeable as he once was.
5. RAK still is surprisingly high despite our differences on economic issues.
11. Royboy, once my most agreeable, is now down to number eleven.
Least agreeable (highlight)-
1. James. James James Jamesie James. Much as we got on, he's still my least agreeable match, something that I suspect would bring a smile to his face.
Other notes- James and Aleks have set a new record for being disagreeable, at an impressive 16.81%.
- Bloody hell, James is a disagreeable person. He dominates the "worst matches" section like a Russian domina who has just lost her apartment in central Moscow.
_________________
If you can't say what you mean then you'll never mean what you say
God holds no fears
Death no worries
And while good is readily attainable
Evil is readily endurable |
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carldiesturmer
Minister of Truth
Post #56173
Joined: 18 Feb 2004
Posts: 4355
Total Words: 715,812
Average words per post: 164.37
PoliMatch: n/a
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Posted: Tue 2008-05-27 17:02
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| Politics: Oligarchical Collectivist |
Country: United States |
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Post Rating: 0.0/4 (0 votes cast) |
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| One Of The Few wrote: |
| Kenos wrote: |
| great news to see the return of such an eloquent poster |
In the spirit out this outrageous self-indulgence and obscence self-glorification, I present: my updated polimatch stats!
What's changed- I've decided that, after much philosophical thought, given my emphasis of the mind as being one with the body and the unborn baby being one with the mother, I can't support the illegality of abortion at any point any more. So now I think, in all cases, that abortion should be legal up until the moment of birth.
- Probably out of knowledge that I'm doomed to be a high-ranking member of a corporate business, I've lost my hatred of corporations. Outside of a certain pursuit of competition, which should apply to private firms both big and small, I'm totally cool with corporations provided they stick within the law. Big business can be good business.
- On the topic, I'm now against taxes on businesses. I'm still ok with income tax on the rich, but the system doesn't quite allow for that level of refinement.
- My stance on pot, alcohol and smoking has nearly changed, but I'm still in favour on a pragmatic basis. I don't like direct taxation (in most forms) because I see it as regressive, but when it is necessary to the proper functioning of society I can deal with it.
Most agreeable (highlights)-
1. Kenos is still my most agreeable poster. No wonder he's willing to describe someone with as ham-fisted (sometimes just pork-fisted) a grasp of the English language as I in terms of "eloquence".
4. Zoon is still agreeable, but not as agreeable as he once was.
5. RAK still is surprisingly high despite our differences on economic issues.
11. Royboy, once my most agreeable, is now down to number eleven.
Least agreeable (highlight)-
1. James. James James Jamesie James. Much as we got on, he's still my least agreeable match, something that I suspect would bring a smile to his face.
Other notes- James and Aleks have set a new record for being disagreeable, at an impressive 16.81%.
- Bloody hell, James is a disagreeable person. He dominates the "worst matches" section like a Russian domina who has just lost her apartment in central Moscow. |
actually too much agreement denotes the basis of Group Think, did you get to read about that?
_________________
What is a Democratic Socialist?
It is a Communist who is cowardly
enough to call himself what he's not, for fear of backlash on the Semantics. It is about the "Speed" of the "Revolution".
Like Hitler said "get them persuaded and us elected"
Caveat Emptor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_Socialism
DO NOT USE BIG BROTHER'S LIBERTARIAN POLICIES AND BELIEFS AGAINST HIS HIMSELF AND HIS FORUM |
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Mephistopheles
Filthy Animal
Post #56190
Joined: 09 Aug 2005
Posts: 1
Total Words: 455
Average words per post: 455
PoliMatch: n/a
 
  
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Posted: Wed 2008-05-28 03:27
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| Politics: Oligarchical Collectivist |
Country: United States |
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| Re: CARNAGE |
Post Rating: 0.0/4 (0 votes cast) |
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| One Of The Few wrote: |
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And what would that picture be of? Looks like a disturbing clown picture.
| One Of The Few wrote: |
| Hiya all, my period of intensive essay writing and ascetic living is over. |
I'm partial to the idea of reading some of those essays and perhaps commenting on them if they meet with the approval of Lord of the Universe, Biggest Ego on Earth, good ol' Mephistopheles.
We never debated much and I don't really like you but I think I feel obligated to welcome you back because I haven't read this thread yet.
| One Of The Few wrote: |
| I have been informed there have been one or two flamewars while I've been away. This is disappointing but hardly surprising, giving the vastly calming effect I had on the forum, before I departed out of frustration at the stormy nature of affairs. Hmm... Still, this seems to be an easy spell at the moment and thus I've hoisted by Jolly Roger (this is not a penis joke) in order to set sail on the seas of high finance/intellectual debate once more. Plus, this new "debate mode" looks sexy. |
First, how long were you gone? You haven't been very active in my recent memory, even before your disappearance, and I was afraid you were dead, shot in the back of the head, in a parking lot under Watergate. Second, there have been two flame wars since December 2007, mostly involving the same characters minus sorianofan. Third, I never really saw you as calming, more as neutral, and I didn't know you left because things became heated. Fourth, I don't see how that can be interpreted as a penis joke. 
| One Of The Few wrote: |
| Some of you should be wondering what I've been doing. Well, aside from pondering the subtler depths of Hellenistic philosophy and being appointed editor of my philosophy society's journal next year (despite the fact that, while writing this post, I lost The Game), writing countless essays on everything from 17th century English history to the historical development of the Canadian prairiers, a turbulent relationship with an older woman, meeting up with "old friends" in the British academic community and playing an RPG involving a Lovecraft-esque earwig, I've had a somewhat dull time. |
I've always loved philosophy, and though I've read a wide variety of philosophers and thinkers, whenever I discuss philosophy someone's always read philosophers I haven't and it discourages me from oral discussions. Even online though, the same situation occurs. I haven't read Kant or Hume (or is it Humes?) and when someone brings them up I simply nod my head and try to change the subject to Hobbes or Nietzsche or Marx. I had a Nietzsche phase when I was younger, and I own perhaps a third of his books, and even though I don't consider myself strongly Nietzschean, his writings have influenced me through the years, and I do enjoy discussing him in particular. But then someone's read a book by him I haven't, and we go back to the old situation of "let's change the subject please".
The Game? That makes me think of the movie The Game.
I've written plenty of essays throughout the years. The good thing about both of our essays is we can always have them published someday, distributed someday, or if we need a thesis essay, pick one of them. Writing has always been one of my chief loves, and it's definitely less strenuous than having sex.
| One Of The Few wrote: |
| Aside from revising for my exams, I've been starting on my 4rth year dissertation (I suspect two years should be just enough time to get it done properly) which currently is orientating around the subject of management science in relation to Karl Popper and falsificationist scientific philosophy. Having plumbed the tree of business study "academic" texts in my spare time this years and having looked a bit at the history of business theory, I've come to the suspicion that this is the most under-insulted pseudo-science out there. Even in the usual suspects, like Marxism, psychoanalysis and Christian "science", I have rarely come across such a rotten excuse for a science. |
Karl Popper rung a bell and I thought "Open Society" but I googled his name to make sure. I read a little of Wikipedia and some kind of Philosophy Library on him, and he is an interesting thinker, if a little too liberal for my tastes. What I understand of my cursory analysis of his thoughts on scientific theory is that we should focus more on the falsification of theories; that we should eliminate theories not fit for our survival, but that they aren't necessarily more true than other theories, if I understand properly. I've never bothered to read Popper, so I don't wholly understand his scientific falsificationist philosophy. I am familiar with his political philosophy of "Open Society" which I obviously don't support. I think he's wrong in his assertion that once people are aware of concepts like freedom or justice, that they won't go back to a society without them, because we've obviously developed forms of unfreedom and injustice like the Nazi or Fascist regimes. I also think a so-called "open society" can be "closed", because if you take a look at America, it's not so hard to recognize people aren't as free as they think they are. I'd know, I live here.
I don't care about business management so I am not familiar with the theories underpinning the science, or the "pseudo-science" as you say it is, so explain if you wish.
Marxism does have its merits even though I do find the concept of giving power to uneducated masses repugnant. Whoaaa. Scratch that. I was starting to write that as I realized I meant Orwell's "Book" of Goldstein. Marxism has no merits that I can think of.
In my own thoughts, throughout history society isn't divided but distinguished by two groups: intellectual and unintellectual. The unintellectual are the masses, and except some intellectuals, are almost chiefly the lower class. The intellectuals are the thinkers and the administrators and the designers. Not all of them are free but I have no doubt they could be if they really wanted to be, because they are the stuff that makes leaders. I'd like to pretend I'm one of them, or that you're one of them, or that Kirov is one of them, but maybe we're all not quite there.
Why is psychoanalysis not a science? What are your opinions of psychiatry and psychology (and of course therapy), then?
I of course view Christian "science" (I too cannot put Christian and science side-by-side without making myself vomit) the same way you do. I was looking forward to Batonfromage's oft-promised "huge critique" on secular science and evolution, and was disappointed when he never did it because Batonfromage turned from Fascist Christian Dominionist to libertarian, but at forums.demsoc.net he's stated he still believes evolution is "unproven" and not a "science". I'm currently trying to coax him through covert and overt means to write something about how secular science and evolution is incorrect. I hope he does write such an essay and post it publically, because I'd love to just thrash the fuck out of it.
| One Of The Few wrote: |
| My basic plan of attack at the moment is to examine why management isn't a science; how we discrete between the pseudo-scientific and the non-scientific disciplines; and finally whether or not it is possible to approach business in a scientific manner and whether or not some disciplines are simply impossible to render into a scientific form because of the nature of the discipline. It should be a lot more fun than that sounds. |
I can't think of anything at the present which is unscientific but not pseudo-science, so how would you discriminate between them, and can you cite examples?
| One Of The Few wrote: |
| The inspiration, oddly enough, was when I was checking around for possible- although by no means imminentely essential- alternatives to journalism (an unpredictable line of work) or the civil service (just isn't what it used to be as a career) and people started recommending management to me. I decided that I could definitely dig working in a corporate ethics job, but on examination of the business, I'm starting to suspect that management is the biggest load of bollocks this side of feminist studies... Which is ok with me, provided there's a chance to get a 6 digit salary and a measure of job security. |
A woman I'm friends with hates her feminist studies course at college. I forgot why but when I remember I'll be sure to share.
| One Of The Few wrote: |
| As for politics, this year has been good to me. First, the only party I can stand in the UK (the Scottish National Party) got elected at Holyrood, albeit with a minority administration. Then, their stock when up while Labour's went down. In England, the Conservative party (a key part of my strategy to bring independance to Scotland) have made a considerable headway on the disintergrating Labour party. Gordon Brown has went down in the border like a bean curry: quickly and unpleasantly, with a considerable chance of being out in the near future. |
I know very little about British politics besides the fact Labour, for being a "socialist" and "liberal" party sure loves war. When I read "Holyrood" I read "Hollywood", which is understandable considering I grew up in SoCal. Can Scotland survive economically and politically as an independent state? I've read Scotland is one of the more impoverished nations in Western Europe. Numerous times.
But I have two Scottish heroes: Chief Miles Edward O'Brien (O'Brien) from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (they claim he's Irish but he has a Scottish accent as far as I can tell) and Montgomery Scott (or Scotty) from Star Trek (The Original Series).
| One Of The Few wrote: |
| In terms of my political positions, I've moved to the libertarian side on some issues (the abolision of corporation tax, the legality of private education etc.) and to the big-state side on some other issues (the provision of healthcare, limited subsidisation of "culture") but generally my positions have been so validated in the past eight months. This is especially true in regard to regulation of the financial system and the economic disharmony between Scotland and most of England (right now, house prices are still going up in Scotland at a steady rate) that I've changed little. |
I have no opinion on corporation tax nor do I know how it is collected; why do you oppose it?
Private education isn't legal in Scotland?
How would you subsidize 'culture'?
House prices here don't seem to be going down too tremendously low but then again I don't really pay attention to it. Obviously though, our "housing bubble" has popped (not a vagina joke) and that ruined my stepmother's job security plans as a realtor.
Two final notes, I've also changed, again, to you-know-what because of a very specific reason I might just share with you if you can't figure it out already. And, I am still disappointed you never responded to my private message about mediating between myself and Carolus. If you had made some attempt to use your influence as a peacemaker, maybe the flame war would be over.[/x]
_________________
Yippykiaye motherfucker. |
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