Rather Polite of Him, Wouldn't You Say?
in [Cobol]
|
From: on 21 Nov 2006 05:19 In article <1164056885.578571.326160(a)f16g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>, Alistair <alistair(a)ld50macca.demon.co.uk> wrote: > >docdwarf(a)panix.com wrote: >> In article <1164045562.179587.56900(a)h54g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>, >> Alistair <alistair(a)ld50macca.demon.co.uk> wrote: >> > >> >docdwarf(a)panix.com wrote: >> >> [snip - I apologise to myself for the midsentence interruption] >> >> >> ... 'Cowards die a thousand deaths, the valiant taste of death >> >> but once'.) >> > >> >But in living longer, one would expect that the average number of a >> >cowards' offspring is greater than that of the average valiant man. >> >> Perhaps so, perhaps no... in addition to living longer there's a little >> matter of attracting mates... and then the process of mating... and then >> the viability of the offspring generated by such mating... it can be seen >> as moderately intricate, once one thinks along those lines... of course, >> the problem with that might be, for some, instead of relying on the dicta >> of fiction-authors they, themselves, might have to do something called >> 'thinking'... I think. > >Methinks that the law of large numbers is on my side. I can neither agree nor disagree, Mr Maclean... as with politesse, I'm not familiar with the quantification of the phenomena in question. >Also, >remember that it is written thus: the meek shall inherit the earth. Note the lack of mechanism posited, Mr Maclean... there might be lawyers involved. DD
From: Alistair on 21 Nov 2006 07:21 LX-i wrote: > docdwarf(a)panix.com wrote: > > > > I'm not sure... and I tried, earlier, to move the discussion away from > > murder and towards politesse. It becomes even more complex when one > > attempts a measure of 'being polite'... it might be that an act of good > > manners, in one place and time, is an insult or an admission of weakness > > in others. > > > > ('He let me go through the door first because he realises that I am > > superior to him.') > > This is a very good insight. Of course, we have this even in our own > society between men and women. A man opens the door for a woman - she's > either a) grateful for the show of respect, b) spoiled to the point > where she doesn't even recognize the gesture, or c) offended because she > was treated differently. Same problems if you let them get their own > door, but in reverse. > > (Of course, my answer to those who respond with "c" is usually something > like "I'm not treating you differently; I'm respectful to men and women > both!") > Just think how much more offended she would be if she discovered the origins of the gesture: Renaissance Italy, let the women through first so that if there is an assassin behind the door then the important male doesn't get killed. BTW, shaking hands was a gesture to show that your sword hand was empty (don't know how they catered for people who were left handed or carried daggers as well as swords).
From: Alistair on 21 Nov 2006 07:22 Pete Dashwood wrote: > "Alistair" <alistair(a)ld50macca.demon.co.uk> wrote in message > news:1164056885.578571.326160(a)f16g2000cwb.googlegroups.com... > > > > docdwarf(a)panix.com wrote: > >> In article <1164045562.179587.56900(a)h54g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>, > >> Alistair <alistair(a)ld50macca.demon.co.uk> wrote: > >> > > >> >docdwarf(a)panix.com wrote: > >> > >> [snip - I apologise to myself for the midsentence interruption] > >> > >> >> ... 'Cowards die a thousand deaths, the valiant taste of death > >> >> but once'.) > >> > > >> >But in living longer, one would expect that the average number of a > >> >cowards' offspring is greater than that of the average valiant man. > >> > >> Perhaps so, perhaps no... in addition to living longer there's a little > >> matter of attracting mates... and then the process of mating... and then > >> the viability of the offspring generated by such mating... it can be seen > >> as moderately intricate, once one thinks along those lines... of course, > >> the problem with that might be, for some, instead of relying on the dicta > >> of fiction-authors they, themselves, might have to do something called > >> 'thinking'... I think. > >> > >> DD > > > > Methinks that the law of large numbers is on my side. Also, > > remember that it is written thus: the meek shall inherit the earth. > > > > Only if the rest of us don't mind... > > Besides, it was the Greeks who will inherit the earth, wasn't it? > > Pete. Geeks, not Greeks, surely?
From: Howard Brazee on 21 Nov 2006 09:02 On Mon, 20 Nov 2006 18:32:22 -0600, LX-i <lxi0007(a)netscape.net> wrote: >This is a very good insight. Of course, we have this even in our own >society between men and women. A man opens the door for a woman - she's >either a) grateful for the show of respect, b) spoiled to the point >where she doesn't even recognize the gesture, or c) offended because she >was treated differently. Same problems if you let them get their own >door, but in reverse. This isn't a problem where we have double doors at a building. One person opens the first door - and the other person opens the 2nd door.
From: Michael Mattias on 21 Nov 2006 09:52
> This is a very good insight. Of course, we have this even in our own > society between men and women. A man opens the door for a woman - she's > either a) grateful for the show of respect, b) spoiled to the point where > she doesn't even recognize the gesture, or c) offended because she was > treated differently. Same problems if you let them get their own door, > but in reverse. Um, you weren't looking for a predictable outcome, were you? That would assume women are logical creatures. |