[MD] The other side of reified

[MarshaV]

On Jun 2, 2011, at 2:28 PM, david buchanan wrote:

> 
> Marsha asked dmb:
> ...I don't understand what you are talking about. ...On what basis do you believe you and James and Wallace are all in sync?  Your opinion based on "every intellectual standard"???    You and James and Wallace...   OMG!
> 
> 
> dmb says:
> Why is so hard to believe that I understand what Wallace is saying about James?

Marsha:
Wallace admires James.  Big deal!  


> dmb:
> My opinion is based on the research I did for my Master's thesis. The thesis committee members all signed off on it, which means that it meets the usual intellectual standards.

Marsha:
But you wrote "EVERY intellectual standard." Pray tell what are the "every intellectual standard" you say I failed.  Lay them out.  ---  I already have a Master's degree.  Big fucking deal!  


> dmb:
> This sort of thing happens routinely and nobody thinks it takes god-like powers. 

Marsha:
You accused my understanding of failing "every intellectual standard.  Go ahead Bubba, explain what they are so I can hold all your statement up to "every intellectual standard."  


> dmb:
> Wallace doesn't have to agree with James on every little point in order for them to be in fundamental agreement.

Marsha:
You've got that right, and he doesn't.  James was a blip in the 20th century;  Buddhism has a 2500-year history of studying the how the mind works.  You figure the math.   


> dmb:
> But if you want to know if there is anything like a genuine sympatico between them, just ask Wallace. You've already admitted that he's a huge fan of James.

Marsha:
I NEVER said James was a "huge fan of James."  I never used the exaggerated 'huge.'   That's an example of the blarney you suggest is truth.  


> dmb:
> Anyone could dig up a quote saying so in about one minute. So, what's the point of denying now except to make yourself look like a bullshitter? What kind of ridiculous straw man would say any two thinkers were alike in every respect? Everybody knows that nobody but straw men ever talk like that. 

Marsha:
Everybody know?  A statement like "everybody knows" is a fallacy.  


> dmb:
> And besides all that, there is nothing extraordinary about being on the same topic as Wallace and James. Knowing how James characterizes experience is not a magic trick. One just reads the primary and secondary sources, namely the works of William James and the work of James scholars - including people like Wallace.

Marsha:
How to do research was a part of my Master's program.   I know how to research.   


> dmb:
> That's how one joins the conversation, the one you're not following. If you haven't read James, (and nobody is stopping you) then you simply have no basis on which to understand, let alone evaluate the Wallace quote you posted.

Marsha:
I know enough to understand that you do not have the intellectual authority to correct Wallace's statements concerning James.  


> dmb:
> You just haven't done the work that would allow you to agree or disagree with Wallace's criticism of James.

Marsha:
I know between you and Wallace, who's statements I respect.  


> dmb:
> If I've done the homework and been tested and you haven't then how likely is it that you understand it and I don't?


Marsha:
Oooo, you are so full of yourself.  -  I can't wait to read your thesis...   


> dmb:
> You've launched an attack on James with a quote about James against a guy who just finished a 100 page paper on James - even though you don't know anything about James.

Marsha:
Wow!    -  I didn't launch an "attack" on anyone, not you, not James.  You broke into my exchange with John and were rather rude.   I have never attacked James.  It's that compared to Buddhism, I don't find him very interesting.  So shoot me for not following your inclination.  


> dmb:
> Then you question the basis of my opinion on the topic?!

Marsha:
You are mistaken.  I don't care much about your opinion on yourself, or James.


> dmb:
> What kind of upside down fruit cake are you selling here sister?

Marsha:
None, but I'm not buying the one with swollen nuts either...  


> dmb:
> This is not what a conversationalist does. That's what a bullshitter does.

Marsha:
And boy you would know about bullshitting.   

 
___