What does it mean?

April 11, 2004

The most important question

Amritas says:


Languages are universes that we map over the one and only real universe.


This gets to the most important question in your life:

How do we know what to believe?

We have many sources of information, some of them we trust, some of them we don't trust. We trust the ones which provide information which fits our worldview, and discard as false the information which doesn't fit.

But where does the worldview come from?

It comes from our parents. We are born trusting our parents, and they provide the bedrock network of "truth" into which we incorporate all further information.

By the time we reach adulthood, we have a complex system of "truth" through which we view the world. This is called "worldview". Most people are unaware of the fact that they have a worldview, which is why they have problems understanding people whose worldview is different from their own. They are most likely to have one of two reactions, either they'll think, "They're crazy," or they'll think, "This must be tactical behavior whose underlying goal is something which fits my worldview."

And this explains the difference between foreign-policy "liberals" and "conservatives". I think that neither recognize the existence of their worldview, let alone that theirs is different from others. The "liberals" think, "This must be tactical behavior whose underlying goal is something which fits my worldview," while the "conservatives" simply think, "They're crazy." In terms of practical value, the latter is much more useful.

Posted by David Boxenhorn at 12:28 AM  Permalink | Comments (2)
Trackback URL: http://blog2.mu.nu/cgi/trackback.cgi/25520

Comment:

As a political centrist and a scientific materialist, I think most people are crazy. Including me, much of the time.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at April 20, 2004 01:46 AM Permalink
Comment:

My favorite artist is Renior,how about you?

Edward hopper paintings

Mary Cassatt paintings

gustav klimt paintings

oil painting reproduction

Oil Painting

handmade Oil Painting

mark rothko paintings

Old Master Oil Paintings

Nude Oil Paintings

dropship oil paintings

Mediterranean paintings

Oil Painting Gallery

Alfred Gockel paintings

Alexei Alexeivich Harlamoff paintings

Aubrey Beardsley paintings

Andrea del Sarto paintings

Alexandre Cabanel paintings

Anders Zorn paintings

Anne-Francois-Louis Janmot paintings

Allan R.Banks paintings

Andrea Mantegna paintings

Arthur Hughes paintings

Albert Bierstadt paintings

Andreas Achenbach paintings

Alphonse Maria Mucha paintings

Benjamin Williams Leader paintings

Bartolome Esteban Murillo paintings

Berthe Morisot paintings

Cheri Blum paintings

Camille Pissarro paintings

Carl Fredrik Aagard paintings

Caravaggio paintings

Claude Lorrain paintings

Claude Monet paintings

Charles Chaplin paintings

Diane Romanello paintings

Diego Rivera paintings

Don Li-Leger paintings

David Hardy paintings

Dirck Bouts paintings

Dante Gabriel Rossetti paintings

Daniel Ridgway Knight paintings

Edmund Blair Leighton paintings

Eugene de Blaas paintings

Eduard Manet paintings

Edwin Austin Abbey paintings

Edward Hopper paintings

Edgar Degas paintings

Emile Munier paintings

Edwin Lord Weeks paintings

Fabian Perez paintings

Francois Boucher paintings

Frank Dicksee paintings

Ford Madox Brown paintings

Federico Andreotti paintings

Fra Angelico paintings

Frederic Edwin Church paintings

Frederic Remington paintings

Francisco de Goya paintings

Filippino Lippi paintings

Francisco de Zurbaran paintings

Gustav Klimt paintings

Georgia O'Keeffe paintings

Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger paintings

Guillaume Seignac paintings

George Owen Wynne Apperley paintings

Gustave Courbet paintings

Guido Reni paintings

George Inness paintings

George Frederick Watts paintings

Guercino paintings

Howard Behrens paintings

Henri Fantin-Latour paintings

Horace Vernet paintings

Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovsky paintings

Il'ya Repin paintings

Igor V.Babailov paintings

Juarez Machado paintings

Joan Miro paintings

Jean-Honore Fragonard paintings

Jehan Georges Vibert paintings

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot paintings

James Childs paintings

John Singleton Copley paintings

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida paintings

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida paintings

Joseph Mallord William Turner paintings

Julien Dupre paintings

Julius LeBlanc Stewart paintings

Jeffrey T.Larson paintings

Jean-Paul Laurens paintings

Jules Breton paintings

Johannes Vermeer paintings

Jacques-Louis David paintings

John Everett Millais paintings

James Jacques Joseph Tissot paintings

Jules Joseph Lefebvre paintings

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres paintings

John William Godward paintings

John William Waterhouse paintings

John Singer Sargent paintings

Jean-Leon Gerome paintings

Lorenzo Lotto paintings

Louis Aston Knight paintings

Leon Bazile Perrault paintings

Leon-Augustin L'hermitte paintings

Lady Laura Teresa Alma-Tadema paintings

Louise Abbema paintings

Leonardo da Vinci paintings

Lord Frederick Leighton paintings

Mark Rothko paintings

Montague Dawson paintings

Mary Cassatt paintings

Maxfield Parrish paintings

Martin Johnson Heade paintings

Nancy O'Toole paintings

Philip Craig paintings

Paul McCormack paintings

Patrick Devonas paintings

Peder Mork Monsted paintings

Pierre Auguste Renoir paintings

Peder Severin Kroyer paintings

Pieter de Hooch paintings

Pietro Perugino paintings

Peter Paul Rubens paintings

Rudolf Ernst paintings

Robert Campin paintings

Rembrandt paintings

Raphael paintings

Salvador Dali paintings

Stephen Gjertson paintings

Sir Henry Raeburn paintings

Thomas Cole paintings

Theodore Robinson paintings

Titian paintings

Theodore Chasseriau paintings

Ted Seth Jacobs paintings

Vincent van Gogh paintings

Vittore Carpaccio paintings

Warren Kimble paintings

Wassily Kandinsky paintings

William Etty paintings

William Merritt Chase paintings

William Blake paintings

Winslow Homer paintings

William Bouguereau paintings

Posted by: handmade painting at May 26, 2008 05:16 AM Permalink

April 13, 2004

"You should set up your own site"

Amritas writes:

I still think you should set up your own site. You don't just repeat the same tired ideological blather.
Posted by David Boxenhorn at 12:34 AM  Permalink | Comments (1)
Trackback URL: http://blog2.mu.nu/cgi/trackback.cgi/25521

Comment:

My favorite artist is Renior,how about you?

Edward hopper paintings

Mary Cassatt paintings

gustav klimt paintings

oil painting reproduction

Oil Painting

handmade Oil Painting

mark rothko paintings

Old Master Oil Paintings

Nude Oil Paintings

dropship oil paintings

Mediterranean paintings

Oil Painting Gallery

Alfred Gockel paintings

Alexei Alexeivich Harlamoff paintings

Aubrey Beardsley paintings

Andrea del Sarto paintings

Alexandre Cabanel paintings

Anders Zorn paintings

Anne-Francois-Louis Janmot paintings

Allan R.Banks paintings

Andrea Mantegna paintings

Arthur Hughes paintings

Albert Bierstadt paintings

Andreas Achenbach paintings

Alphonse Maria Mucha paintings

Benjamin Williams Leader paintings

Bartolome Esteban Murillo paintings

Berthe Morisot paintings

Cheri Blum paintings

Camille Pissarro paintings

Carl Fredrik Aagard paintings

Caravaggio paintings

Claude Lorrain paintings

Claude Monet paintings

Charles Chaplin paintings

Diane Romanello paintings

Diego Rivera paintings

Don Li-Leger paintings

David Hardy paintings

Dirck Bouts paintings

Dante Gabriel Rossetti paintings

Daniel Ridgway Knight paintings

Edmund Blair Leighton paintings

Eugene de Blaas paintings

Eduard Manet paintings

Edwin Austin Abbey paintings

Edward Hopper paintings

Edgar Degas paintings

Emile Munier paintings

Edwin Lord Weeks paintings

Fabian Perez paintings

Francois Boucher paintings

Frank Dicksee paintings

Ford Madox Brown paintings

Federico Andreotti paintings

Fra Angelico paintings

Frederic Edwin Church paintings

Frederic Remington paintings

Francisco de Goya paintings

Filippino Lippi paintings

Francisco de Zurbaran paintings

Gustav Klimt paintings

Georgia O'Keeffe paintings

Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger paintings

Guillaume Seignac paintings

George Owen Wynne Apperley paintings

Gustave Courbet paintings

Guido Reni paintings

George Inness paintings

George Frederick Watts paintings

Guercino paintings

Howard Behrens paintings

Henri Fantin-Latour paintings

Horace Vernet paintings

Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovsky paintings

Il'ya Repin paintings

Igor V.Babailov paintings

Juarez Machado paintings

Joan Miro paintings

Jean-Honore Fragonard paintings

Jehan Georges Vibert paintings

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot paintings

James Childs paintings

John Singleton Copley paintings

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida paintings

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida paintings

Joseph Mallord William Turner paintings

Julien Dupre paintings

Julius LeBlanc Stewart paintings

Jeffrey T.Larson paintings

Jean-Paul Laurens paintings

Jules Breton paintings

Johannes Vermeer paintings

Jacques-Louis David paintings

John Everett Millais paintings

James Jacques Joseph Tissot paintings

Jules Joseph Lefebvre paintings

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres paintings

John William Godward paintings

John William Waterhouse paintings

John Singer Sargent paintings

Jean-Leon Gerome paintings

Lorenzo Lotto paintings

Louis Aston Knight paintings

Leon Bazile Perrault paintings

Leon-Augustin L'hermitte paintings

Lady Laura Teresa Alma-Tadema paintings

Louise Abbema paintings

Leonardo da Vinci paintings

Lord Frederick Leighton paintings

Mark Rothko paintings

Montague Dawson paintings

Mary Cassatt paintings

Maxfield Parrish paintings

Martin Johnson Heade paintings

Nancy O'Toole paintings

Philip Craig paintings

Paul McCormack paintings

Patrick Devonas paintings

Peder Mork Monsted paintings

Pierre Auguste Renoir paintings

Peder Severin Kroyer paintings

Pieter de Hooch paintings

Pietro Perugino paintings

Peter Paul Rubens paintings

Rudolf Ernst paintings

Robert Campin paintings

Rembrandt paintings

Raphael paintings

Salvador Dali paintings

Stephen Gjertson paintings

Sir Henry Raeburn paintings

Thomas Cole paintings

Theodore Robinson paintings

Titian paintings

Theodore Chasseriau paintings

Ted Seth Jacobs paintings

Vincent van Gogh paintings

Vittore Carpaccio paintings

Warren Kimble paintings

Wassily Kandinsky paintings

William Etty paintings

William Merritt Chase paintings

William Blake paintings

Winslow Homer paintings

William Bouguereau paintings

Posted by: handmade painting at May 26, 2008 05:16 AM Permalink

April 20, 2004

The beginning

And that's how it all began.

The truth is, I'd been thinking about blogging for some time. My shy and private nature was at war with my desire to communicate. With a little nudging from Amritas, my desire to communicate won.

Besides, I was having a problem: I kept seeing things that I wanted to comment on, and I wanted a less intrusive way to do it than sending email. (This is a particular problem for Steven Den Beste!) So it was time to bite the bullet and DO IT! Amritas gave me a letter of recommendation to forward to Pixy Misa, and the King of Munuviana was kind enough to let me in.

The rest will be history!

Posted by David Boxenhorn at 01:43 AM  Permalink | Comments (1)
Trackback URL: http://blog2.mu.nu/cgi/trackback.cgi/25528

Comment:

My favorite artist is Renior,how about you?

Edward hopper paintings

Mary Cassatt paintings

gustav klimt paintings

oil painting reproduction

Oil Painting

handmade Oil Painting

mark rothko paintings

Old Master Oil Paintings

Nude Oil Paintings

dropship oil paintings

Mediterranean paintings

Oil Painting Gallery

Alfred Gockel paintings

Alexei Alexeivich Harlamoff paintings

Aubrey Beardsley paintings

Andrea del Sarto paintings

Alexandre Cabanel paintings

Anders Zorn paintings

Anne-Francois-Louis Janmot paintings

Allan R.Banks paintings

Andrea Mantegna paintings

Arthur Hughes paintings

Albert Bierstadt paintings

Andreas Achenbach paintings

Alphonse Maria Mucha paintings

Benjamin Williams Leader paintings

Bartolome Esteban Murillo paintings

Berthe Morisot paintings

Cheri Blum paintings

Camille Pissarro paintings

Carl Fredrik Aagard paintings

Caravaggio paintings

Claude Lorrain paintings

Claude Monet paintings

Charles Chaplin paintings

Diane Romanello paintings

Diego Rivera paintings

Don Li-Leger paintings

David Hardy paintings

Dirck Bouts paintings

Dante Gabriel Rossetti paintings

Daniel Ridgway Knight paintings

Edmund Blair Leighton paintings

Eugene de Blaas paintings

Eduard Manet paintings

Edwin Austin Abbey paintings

Edward Hopper paintings

Edgar Degas paintings

Emile Munier paintings

Edwin Lord Weeks paintings

Fabian Perez paintings

Francois Boucher paintings

Frank Dicksee paintings

Ford Madox Brown paintings

Federico Andreotti paintings

Fra Angelico paintings

Frederic Edwin Church paintings

Frederic Remington paintings

Francisco de Goya paintings

Filippino Lippi paintings

Francisco de Zurbaran paintings

Gustav Klimt paintings

Georgia O'Keeffe paintings

Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger paintings

Guillaume Seignac paintings

George Owen Wynne Apperley paintings

Gustave Courbet paintings

Guido Reni paintings

George Inness paintings

George Frederick Watts paintings

Guercino paintings

Howard Behrens paintings

Henri Fantin-Latour paintings

Horace Vernet paintings

Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovsky paintings

Il'ya Repin paintings

Igor V.Babailov paintings

Juarez Machado paintings

Joan Miro paintings

Jean-Honore Fragonard paintings

Jehan Georges Vibert paintings

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot paintings

James Childs paintings

John Singleton Copley paintings

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida paintings

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida paintings

Joseph Mallord William Turner paintings

Julien Dupre paintings

Julius LeBlanc Stewart paintings

Jeffrey T.Larson paintings

Jean-Paul Laurens paintings

Jules Breton paintings

Johannes Vermeer paintings

Jacques-Louis David paintings

John Everett Millais paintings

James Jacques Joseph Tissot paintings

Jules Joseph Lefebvre paintings

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres paintings

John William Godward paintings

John William Waterhouse paintings

John Singer Sargent paintings

Jean-Leon Gerome paintings

Lorenzo Lotto paintings

Louis Aston Knight paintings

Leon Bazile Perrault paintings

Leon-Augustin L'hermitte paintings

Lady Laura Teresa Alma-Tadema paintings

Louise Abbema paintings

Leonardo da Vinci paintings

Lord Frederick Leighton paintings

Mark Rothko paintings

Montague Dawson paintings

Mary Cassatt paintings

Maxfield Parrish paintings

Martin Johnson Heade paintings

Nancy O'Toole paintings

Philip Craig paintings

Paul McCormack paintings

Patrick Devonas paintings

Peder Mork Monsted paintings

Pierre Auguste Renoir paintings

Peder Severin Kroyer paintings

Pieter de Hooch paintings

Pietro Perugino paintings

Peter Paul Rubens paintings

Rudolf Ernst paintings

Robert Campin paintings

Rembrandt paintings

Raphael paintings

Salvador Dali paintings

Stephen Gjertson paintings

Sir Henry Raeburn paintings

Thomas Cole paintings

Theodore Robinson paintings

Titian paintings

Theodore Chasseriau paintings

Ted Seth Jacobs paintings

Vincent van Gogh paintings

Vittore Carpaccio paintings

Warren Kimble paintings

Wassily Kandinsky paintings

William Etty paintings

William Merritt Chase paintings

William Blake paintings

Winslow Homer paintings

William Bouguereau paintings

Posted by: handmade painting at May 26, 2008 05:16 AM Permalink

Rishon Rishon

So what is Rishon Rishon? It comes from the following:


שבעה דברים בגולם ושבעה בחכם
חכם
אינו מדבר לפני מי שגדול ממנו בחכמה ובמניין
ואינו נכנס לתוך דברי חברו
ואינו נבהל להשיב
שואל כעניין ומשיב כהלכה
ואומר על ראשון ראשון ועל אחרון אחרון
ועל מה שלא שמע אומר לא שמעתי
ומודה על האמת
וחילופיהן בגולם

Shiv`a d'varim bagolem v'shiv`a behakham
Hakham
Eyno m'daber lifney mi shegadol mimenu b'hokhma uvminyan
V'eyno nikhnas l'tokh divrey havero
V'eyno nivhal l'hashiv
Sho'el k`inyan umeshiv kahalakha
V'omer `al rishon rishon v`al aharon aharon
V`al ma shelo shama` omer lo shama`ti
Umode `al ha'emet
V'hilufeyhen bagolem

There are seven characteristics of the ignoramus and seven of the wise man
A wise man
Doesn't speak before one who is greater than he in wisdom or in years
And doesn't interrupt the words of his fellow man
And isn't hasty to answer
He asks to the point and he answers accordingly
And says first things first and last things last
And about what he doesn't know he says I don't know
And he admits the truth
And their opposites for the ignoramus


Talmud, Pirqey Avot 5:7

Can you figure out what Rishon Rishon means?

Continue reading "Rishon Rishon"

It means: First Things First.

Posted by David Boxenhorn at 02:44 AM  Permalink | Comments (5)
Trackback URL: http://blog2.mu.nu/cgi/trackback.cgi/25537

Trackback from trying to grok, WISE MAN:
A buddy of Amritas' started a new mu.nu blog called Rishon Rishon, and I really like how he came up with the name for it....

Comment:

I'm not showing off or anything, but I knew that. At last, my years of Hebrew in high school can come into use. If only I could remember it.

Let's try Shalom Chaver.

Posted by: Simon at April 20, 2004 04:27 AM Permalink
Comment:

Shalom Simon. Nice to have you over! But the question was intended for people who don't know Hebrew.

Posted by: David Boxenhorn at April 20, 2004 05:23 PM Permalink
Comment:

It's amazing that a language as old as Hebrew still exists today. I'm glad that it does, even if the only word I know is "Shalom!"

Welcome!

Posted by: Macker at April 21, 2004 06:18 AM Permalink
Comment:

i like it a lot! welcome to mu.nu. Yay! (This is mu.nu isn't it? )

Posted by: annika at April 21, 2004 05:56 PM Permalink
Comment:

My favorite artist is Renior,how about you?

Edward hopper paintings

Mary Cassatt paintings

gustav klimt paintings

oil painting reproduction

Oil Painting

handmade Oil Painting

mark rothko paintings

Old Master Oil Paintings

Nude Oil Paintings

dropship oil paintings

Mediterranean paintings

Oil Painting Gallery

Alfred Gockel paintings

Alexei Alexeivich Harlamoff paintings

Aubrey Beardsley paintings

Andrea del Sarto paintings

Alexandre Cabanel paintings

Anders Zorn paintings

Anne-Francois-Louis Janmot paintings

Allan R.Banks paintings

Andrea Mantegna paintings

Arthur Hughes paintings

Albert Bierstadt paintings

Andreas Achenbach paintings

Alphonse Maria Mucha paintings

Benjamin Williams Leader paintings

Bartolome Esteban Murillo paintings

Berthe Morisot paintings

Cheri Blum paintings

Camille Pissarro paintings

Carl Fredrik Aagard paintings

Caravaggio paintings

Claude Lorrain paintings

Claude Monet paintings

Charles Chaplin paintings

Diane Romanello paintings

Diego Rivera paintings

Don Li-Leger paintings

David Hardy paintings

Dirck Bouts paintings

Dante Gabriel Rossetti paintings

Daniel Ridgway Knight paintings

Edmund Blair Leighton paintings

Eugene de Blaas paintings

Eduard Manet paintings

Edwin Austin Abbey paintings

Edward Hopper paintings

Edgar Degas paintings

Emile Munier paintings

Edwin Lord Weeks paintings

Fabian Perez paintings

Francois Boucher paintings

Frank Dicksee paintings

Ford Madox Brown paintings

Federico Andreotti paintings

Fra Angelico paintings

Frederic Edwin Church paintings

Frederic Remington paintings

Francisco de Goya paintings

Filippino Lippi paintings

Francisco de Zurbaran paintings

Gustav Klimt paintings

Georgia O'Keeffe paintings

Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger paintings

Guillaume Seignac paintings

George Owen Wynne Apperley paintings

Gustave Courbet paintings

Guido Reni paintings

George Inness paintings

George Frederick Watts paintings

Guercino paintings

Howard Behrens paintings

Henri Fantin-Latour paintings

Horace Vernet paintings

Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovsky paintings

Il'ya Repin paintings

Igor V.Babailov paintings

Juarez Machado paintings

Joan Miro paintings

Jean-Honore Fragonard paintings

Jehan Georges Vibert paintings

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot paintings

James Childs paintings

John Singleton Copley paintings

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida paintings

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida paintings

Joseph Mallord William Turner paintings

Julien Dupre paintings

Julius LeBlanc Stewart paintings

Jeffrey T.Larson paintings

Jean-Paul Laurens paintings

Jules Breton paintings

Johannes Vermeer paintings

Jacques-Louis David paintings

John Everett Millais paintings

James Jacques Joseph Tissot paintings

Jules Joseph Lefebvre paintings

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres paintings

John William Godward paintings

John William Waterhouse paintings

John Singer Sargent paintings

Jean-Leon Gerome paintings

Lorenzo Lotto paintings

Louis Aston Knight paintings

Leon Bazile Perrault paintings

Leon-Augustin L'hermitte paintings

Lady Laura Teresa Alma-Tadema paintings

Louise Abbema paintings

Leonardo da Vinci paintings

Lord Frederick Leighton paintings

Mark Rothko paintings

Montague Dawson paintings

Mary Cassatt paintings

Maxfield Parrish paintings

Martin Johnson Heade paintings

Nancy O'Toole paintings

Philip Craig paintings

Paul McCormack paintings

Patrick Devonas paintings

Peder Mork Monsted paintings

Pierre Auguste Renoir paintings

Peder Severin Kroyer paintings

Pieter de Hooch paintings

Pietro Perugino paintings

Peter Paul Rubens paintings

Rudolf Ernst paintings

Robert Campin paintings

Rembrandt paintings

Raphael paintings

Salvador Dali paintings

Stephen Gjertson paintings

Sir Henry Raeburn paintings

Thomas Cole paintings

Theodore Robinson paintings

Titian paintings

Theodore Chasseriau paintings

Ted Seth Jacobs paintings

Vincent van Gogh paintings

Vittore Carpaccio paintings

Warren Kimble paintings

Wassily Kandinsky paintings

William Etty paintings

William Merritt Chase paintings

William Blake paintings

Winslow Homer paintings

William Bouguereau paintings

Posted by: handmade painting at May 26, 2008 05:16 AM Permalink

Chicken Cow Lion Fox

Well, it looks like I'm not the only one in the blogosphere who quotes Amritas and Pirqey Avot.

Monkey! Blog! notices the similarity between this Chinese saying:

Rather be chicken head, not be cow rear

And this quote from Pirqey Avot:

Be the tail of lions and don't be the head of foxes - (havey zanav la'arayot v`al t'hi rosh lashu`alim)

Unfortunately, he misses the point that their meanings are opposite.

Posted by David Boxenhorn at 03:22 AM  Permalink | Comments (1)
Trackback URL: http://blog2.mu.nu/cgi/trackback.cgi/25545

Comment:

Ah, well. Part of the reason I started a blog in the first place is to practice writing better. Among other mistakes, I do horrible things to points - bury them, forget to actually state them, beat around the bush for a few unnecessary pages before getting to them, etc.

I understood that they're opposite, which is why said 'I agree with the professor when he says, "I'd rather be the phoenix's tail"'. I should have finished by saying 'It goes against the Chinese saying, but agrees with Rabbi Mattia.'

Or some such. Thanks for pointing it out.

Posted by: H. Monkey at April 21, 2004 06:59 PM Permalink

You are your worldview

Bret Stephens of the Jerusalem post has this to say about the importance of worldview with respect to the 9-11 Commission:

The difference September 11 made was not that it increased the store of knowledge, but that increased the store of experience. Americans knew for themselves what terrorists could do. This is the kind of knowledge no wire dispatch from Jerusalem or Belfast, and no Presidential Daily Briefing, can adequately impart. The only thing that could have moved Americans to be better prepared for September 11 was September 11.

In my words: More than anything else, more than being American, or African-American, or Irish-American, more than being short or tall, more than being educated or uneducated, people are their worldview. People will risk their lives, and the lives of their children rather than give up their worldview - for good or ill. Though a person's worldview naturally evolves over time, a sudden change is a traumatic event; in a very real sense it is like dying. Conversely, it is usually only a traumatic event like 9-11 that can produce a sudden change in worldview.

Posted by David Boxenhorn at 09:59 AM  Permalink | Comments (1)
Trackback URL: http://blog2.mu.nu/cgi/trackback.cgi/25577

Comment: