[MD] The Hero's journey

[MarshaV]

Greetings Matt, 

On Oct 27, 2011, at 2:18 PM, Matt Kundert wrote:

> 
> Greetings Marsha,
> 
>> Greetings Matt, 
>> 
>> On Oct 26, 2011, at 5:50 PM, Matt Kundert wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hello Marsha,
>>> 
>>> Sorry about my joke--I'd sent the response post before reading your 
>>> catch of the mistake.  (And it hardly needs apologizing for--we all 
>>> make trivial mistakes like that.)
>>> 


snip...    



>> 
>> I think you have misstated that a _couple of times_ recently I invoked, to 
>> you, an "Absolute"  And, of course, I did not capitalize the absolute.  
> 
> Matt:
> No, I don't think I did misstate that.  I'm counting our exchange 
> earlier this month in "Taking Words Seriously," which at one point 
> you said, "If you would like to present standards by which an 
> argument is ultimately judged good or bad and why RMP presented 
> a bad argument, please do so" (Oct. 17).  This is the same gesture 
> I find weird.
> 
> That is the only one I can directly evidence, though I feel like we've 
> crossed this terrain before, which is the explanation for my vague 
> "second or third."  And no, you did not capitalize "Absolute."  I did.

Marsha:
I don't see Ultimate and "Absolute" as the same, and I would never 
capitalize 'absolute.'  I probably should totally drop the word 'absolute,'
but habits are sometimes hard to break.  I understand from your 
point-of-view RMP has presented a bad argument and may seem a 
less then adequate scholar.  


>>> Matt:
>>> You wondered earlier about what it is I'm trying to grasp, and 
>>> whether I even know, but how about this as an answer: I'm trying to 
>>> grasp the inner workings of my own thought-processes while at the 
>>> same time trying to see how they fit other people's.  That's a way of 
>>> describing philosophical conversation.  What's mind-boggling to me 
>>> about conversing with you is that sometimes it seems like you're just 
>>> trying to flout being pinned down as thinking X or Y.  Like, every time 
>>> someone tries to approach your thinking in order to understand it, in 
>>> fact.  It's as if you interpret these communicative approaches as 
>>> attempts to dominate you, but sometimes that's just not what's 
>>> going on.
>> 
>> Since you have not asked a clear and concise question, but seem 
>> satisfied with your vague projections, I find no way to clearly respond.  
>> 
>> Thanks for writing.  
> 
> Matt:
> No, thank you for trying.  Part of my vague projecting is that your 
> philosophical identity is, to me, a vague mist, even after all these 
> years, and that every time I try and get a clear picture of what you 
> think, and show that picture to you, you snap at me.  So, all there is 
> to do is mistily describe a mist.  You can't capture a mist after all: it 
> disappears when you try.  But, I have to admit that part of the onus 
> must be on me at failing to develop a picture you won't snap at me 
> for.

Marsha:
Much of my understanding comes from practices that you dismiss:
mediation, mindfulness and three brief encounters of the unpatterned 
kind.  If you want an explanation, I might say philosophically I'm a radical 
skeptic and a negative empiricist, I mean just that: not this, not that.  Reality 
to me is Quality(Dynamic/static).  That seems very straight forward.  

I don't snap with anger, more with a strange sense of humor.  


> Matt:
> And that's a hell of a lot more than anyone else will admit to you, 
> even though the frustration of talking to you I think is wider felt 
> than just by me.  

Marsha:
I appreciate that you try, and your being honest.  My expression 
might be different but it is true to my experience.


> Matt:
> And yet, I'm never compensated by better 
> communicative channels by such "we're all in this together 
> sentiments."

Marsha:
I think maybe that mediation/mindfulness issue puts us in very 
different positions.  


> Matt:
> I feel these sentiments sincerely, that communication 
> is a boat every person _has_ to help steer.  But eventually we all 
> make that personal choice to ditch the boat we're on and seek other 
> ones.

Marsha:
Okay...  


Thanks Matt.   

Marsha 







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