Hi All Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Hope all are well. I thought I'd start off with a question about cynicism. Do people think its healthy practice, a necessary evil, so to speak? Or, are cynics a hinderence towards progress and achievement? Heres a few examples I thought were quite interesting and if you've got a minute check this site out. "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." (Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895) "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." (Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943) "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." (Ken Olsen, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977) "The telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." (Western Union internal memo, 1876) "Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." (Marshal Ferdinand Foch, French commander of Allied forces during the closing months of World War I, 1918) "The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" (David Sarnoff's associates, in response to his urgings for investment in radio in the 1920's) "Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools." (New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work, 1921) "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" (Harry M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927) "Everything that can be invented has been invented." (Charles H. Duell, commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899)
cynism is not evil but extremely stupid, and I fear stupid people more than evil. Wlecome to the Sciforums, AussiePlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Join our australian colony over herePlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Too many Aussie's!! Stupid people you can talk to and direct. Evil people, you can't reason with, so....evil people i fear more, they pose as a friend but in fact they hit you where it hurts most... Hahaha, welcome also...another aussie...Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Hi peoples, thanks for the welcome Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Ahhh a new colony - but do we have permission for this one Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I'm very much a follower of Diogenes than a cynic. Well, actually, I simply have a lot of respect for Diogenes and his way of life: http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/d9.htm#diog
stupid people can do most idiotic and suicidal things , the evil ones woulld not even consider. You can kill evil people as well as stupid ones, but the stupid are very unpredictable, while the evil ones, although evil, can be very intelligent. just like my sig says-> II prefer clever enemies, not stupid friends. cheers
Hi Xev Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Do you lead a simplistic lifestyle also?? I would find that very difficult in todays modern world - somewhat impossible? ie/ with bank accounts, bills, computers! etc etc...
Aussie: Perhaps more an attempted follower. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Actually I'm not big on the whole "following" thing. But Diogenes is a hero of mine. I very much respect his attitude towards societal conventions and the balls it must have taken to live the way he did. As for my lifestyle, it is quite simple....relatively speaking. Welcome to Sciforums.
Xev - I agree totally Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I find people who aspire to EXCESSIVE material wealth quite inhibited.
Aussie: I agree. I'm having a bit of a philosophical crisis at the moment, but I think that the pursuit of happiness is more important than the pursuit of wealth. Most wealthy people are boring, anyway.
hehe, well I won't argue against your statement, but some wealthy people do things normal people aren't capable of...like traveling all over the world, bungjee jumpin on a private jet...pay NASA to show you how weightlessness feels (with your lover..ohhh) (have a plane go couple miles up and dive down)...I plan to do all this...but of course happiness first! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Weathly people are different, they think differently if anything. They can fake reasoning...but their true evil intentions won't change, a clever evil person is the worst enemy
Welcome to sciforums, Aussie. There are a few of your fellow countrymen here. Come join the crowd. Just goes to show, Never, Never, Say Never...
Its funny, any new change is inevitably addressed with negative critiscm....... In fact my Uni tutor's THesis was on that theory///
Hi wet1 'n' Yoda Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Howdy Agent@5 I and most people Im sure would agree: but I guess my question is more is this necessary, can we achieve the same results without this negativity? I would tend to say no. That is, people srtive to achieve what they have been told they can not do. The, I'll show you attitude so prevelent in todays society. Although this attitude being quite a small area of example, I think negativity plays some roll in advancing technological gains. Anyone else have any thoughts on negativity and the roll it plays??? cheers Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
