On 04-21-98 David Martorana wrote to Day Brown... 
 DM>    Don't be so sure! I'm convinced, as part of an ignorant population,
 DM>    that I have multiple hedonist genes (maybe a whole chromosome 
 DM> worth) 
 DM>    and none at all for stoicism. Nearing the end of a pleasure 
 DM> fractal, 
 DM>    I'm only as temperate as my circumstantial limits .....and a 
 DM> Sophist 
 DM>    at heart!                  ..............I don't want to change !!! 
No reason that you should.  But the Stoics suggested that you put 
into the balance of your pleasure, the pain that it costs you and 
others.  To ignore the pain of others, as evildoers do, is to put 
them at a distance, not psychologically healthy, and ultimately a 
painful condition.  So, pain now, or more pain later. 
 
 DM>  DB> Socrates, I believe, showed the value of doubting; thus, contrary 
 DM>  DB> to standard practice, the young should be taught to doubt, not to 
 DM>  DB> believe.  Do they *need* a fortress to defend? 
 DM>   
 DM>      The more I pick up about Socrates/Plato, the less I'm sure what 
 DM>      they meant to mean.   Some MANY have need a fortress to defend,
 DM>      some also to hide in. I believe your own focus blanks out a very 
 DM>      large measure of fragile human qualities ..........perhaps seeing 
 DM>      yourself as a higher minded standard....... damned Elitist ??? 
Yes, I am elitist.  But the high ground is not so constricted or 
difficult that most folks could not reach it.  The dialogs aren't 
ending points, but starting ones, so conclusions are not all that 
rigidly formulated- you are not *spozed* to be *sure*.  This is a 
position that folks find uncomfortable, and that comfort is what 
religion generally sells.  But, the discomfort is not that hard 
to get used to, and well worth the wiggle room later. 
___ 
 * OFFLINE 1.58 * ...of invention? You mean necessity is a mother? 
--- Maximus 3.01
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