objectivity sphinxradio some quality... i think that's why people sometimes think i'm boring. no strong opinions. it's all cool by me. 020510 ... krimilda objectivity... conformism? don't know why i have those two words confused now 020915 ... hellen Is there any such thing? I often wonder. 030127 ... penrose x twiddlybits Objectivity is the opposite of what the mind is capable of in it's true definition. There is no such thing as an unbiased perception - all is subjective. Think of it this way: When you look at anything, how do you describe it without putting your own 'color' to it? It would require being so vague as to cancel out any sort of meaning at all. Therefore, objectivity is a myth. Simply put there to balance out the duality of subjectivity. 030521 ... User24 in your opinion. 030522 ... Death of a Rose logical progression past delusion 031014 ... zeke objectivity is a fetish. i satisfy mine by reading the absolute sound or consumer reports. i also view objects from at least three vantage points and answer peoples questions as asked, not as intended. sometimes i silently re-order the words in a sentence that has been spoken to me to review the semantic differences imposed by syntax given and the possible variations. measuring a signal path in any reproduction chain is quite good, especially if there are multiple steps and a non linear output. these are amongst the ways i find happiness. 040712 ... shower singer There is no such thing as objectivity, and frankly, I wouldn't want it anyway. It's the death gaze. 040713 ... z it is another form of subjectivity, it is true, but within the confines of the scientific method or logical rigor it is a space apart from the subjective. it allows for the testing of hypotheses and repeated success or failure of experiments that indicate something about the nature of reality (if only in a relativistic sense). see: benefit_of_the_doubt_addiction 040714 ... oldephebe i "feel" you z i've often felt like i suffered from a mild form of autism because of the comfort architectures of reasoning and order gave to me. I am often confounded by the emotional and intuitive language of social and relationship interaction vis-a-vis the dynamics of ego needs and unclearly articulated expectations. I've only recently found this so called quasi-poetic voice. I have to admit that I do not have the same ego needs as most other poeple. This isn't because of poor self esteem, it's just that most of my ego needs are satisfied by an internal/spiritual discourse by a kind of quantitatively other directed performance matrix meets unconditional acceptance. Okay. This is kind of inherently incongruous. Hmmmm. Well anyway, I do "feel" what you are saying z. Have you ever read anything by David Foster Wallace? ... 040714 ... z no. should i? 040714 ... oldephebe He wrote Infinite Jest, wich is a kind of magnum opus and celebration of angst for cerebral types that have a little OCD and autism in thier personality matrix. ... I really identified with Wallace except for all of the math wich he felt compelled to weave throughout his fiction. He's a little exhibitionistic but still, it's a great read, it's even got a hundred or so pages of footnotes and everything. ... 040714 ... z i will read it. thanks. 040714 ... oE Notes: Set in the near-future, this swirling comedy/epic revolves around a tennis academy, a residence for recovering substance abusers, a tight group of Quebecois-separatist terrorists, and "Infinite Jest", a film so funny that it literally kills. Perhaps one of the most ambitious attempts to capture the spirit of the age, Wallace's pervasive theme is the oceanic sadness and loneliness of an American society that is spiritually vacant but tirelessly and relentlessly addicted to its various addictions; addicted to capitalism and consumerism, addicted to entertainment, addicted to drugs, and addicted to competition and success. Reviews: "There's no doubt that Wallace's talent is immense and his imagination limitless. When he backs off and gives his narrative some breathing room, he emerges as a consistently innovative, sensitive, and intelligent writer." (San Francisco Chronicle Book Review - David Eggers ) "...so few American writers show anything resembling Wallace's critical engagement with the popular culture that disowns them. At minimum, he's the funniest writer of his generation. I can't decide if I want his next book to be shorter or not." (Voice Literary Supplement - Jonathan Dee ) "...this skeleton of satire is fleshed out with several domestically scaled narratives and masses of hyperrealistic quotidian detail. The overall effect is something like a sleek Vonnegut chassis wrapped in layers of post-millennial Zola." (New York Times Book Review - Jay McInerney ) "Well, there is nothing epic or infinite about this, although much that's repetitious or long....this is not so much a novel of ideas as a novel of brand names and acronyms. They sweep past one's eye in a flutter that leaves only one thing to hope for, and that is style." (Washington Post Book World - Paul West ) "Wallace has not so much written a novel as created a system, an intricately engineered internally consistent system that is fueled by his endless imagination, his pure verbal prowess and a language that looks familiar but feels utterly invented." (Boston Book Review - David McLean ) Excerpt: I am seated in an office, surrounded by heads and bodies. My posture is consciously congruent to the shape of my hard chair. This is a cold room in University Administration, wood-walled, Remington-hung, double-windowed against the November heat, insulated from Administrative sounds by the reception area outside, at which Uncle Charles, Mr. deLint and I were lately received. I am in here. Other Notes: Infinite Jest is the name of a movie said to be so entertaining that anyone who watches it loses all desire to do anything but watch it. People die happily, viewing it in endless repetition. The novel Infinite Jest is the story of this addictive entertainment, and in particular how it affects a Boston halfway house for recovering addicts and a nearby tennis academy, whose students have many budding addictions of their own. As the novel unfolds, various individuals, organizations, and governments vie to obtain the master copy of Infinite Jest for their own ends, and the denizens of the tennis school and the halfway house are caught up in increasingly desperate efforts to control the movie - as is a cast including burglars, transvestite muggers, scam artists, medical professionals, pro football stars, bookies, drug addicts both active and recovering, film students, political assassins, and one of the most endearingly messed-up families ever captured in a novel. On this outrageous frame hangs an exploration of essential questions about what entertainment is, and why it has come to so dominate our lives; about how our desire for entertainment interacts with our need to connect with other humans; and about what the pleasures we choose say about who we are. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, Infinite Jest bends every rule of fiction without sacrificing for a moment its own entertainment value. The huge cast and multilevel narrative serve a story that accelerates to a breathtaking, heartbreaking, unforgettable conclusion. It is an exuberant, uniquely American exploration of the passions that make us human - and one of those rare books that renew the very idea of what a novelcan do. Awards: --Nominated for Boston Book Review Award - Fisk Fiction Prize (1997) Copyright 1996-2004, ULN Corporation. Copyright 1981 040714 ... z thanks again OE. high praise indeed. have you ever read "a confederancy of dunces"? 040714 ... HalIncadenza Umm..Yeah. It's a book. It's thick. It's fireplace fodder. It's frenetic and fevered writing on the wall of a prophylactic. Um..I read it and it was okay. ... 040714 ... oops that is: confederacy 040714 ... oE No. Who's it by? 040714 ... oldephebe OK. just checked it out. Or rather a compelling synopsis and excerpt. Seems like it's just up my alley. Thank you for the reccomendation. 040714 ... z http://www.stokenewington.net/readinggroup/books/toole.html 040714 ... (z) (total_perspective_vortex) 040728 ... . a bias in itself, surely, but ah! we must try. 070224 ... stephshine impossible. 070224 ... . what constitutes objectivity? it's subjective. 100907 ... (z) (the attempt to base all statements of fact on mutually observable, repeatable criteria. also, choosing the explanation for any phenomena which requires the least otherwise unsupported claims, in order to be "true". it is the effort to question all assumptions.) 100907 what's it to you? who go blather from