h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Are they in any particular order? If not, then I'd propose putting bean counters above terrorists as they collectively, they cause more damage. It's interesting (or, at least, it is to my simplistic viewpoint) that of that list we feel we have to almost excuse many of those listed by putting them under the banner of bureaucracy.

Isn't prejudice against uglyness ugist or is that prejudice against our ancestors? (sorry to spoil the tone of this!) More seriously, it'd be interesting to see what proportion of the population is subjected to prejudice - deliberate or otherwise - resulting from, say, the fashion industry. They really should be held responsible for a great many things - eating disorders spring to mind. Often it's rediculously easy things to put right, too. Why, for instance, do so few shops sell trousers long enough for people my height?

Bean counters worse than terrorists? Yes, I suspect that any respectable terrorist organisation employs a few bean counters to do the really dirty work. I am going to post a guide entry on 'professionism'. I feel that identifying societies' true criminals is worthy of a separate discussion, even though I have an awful suspicion that my own profession will find its way onto the list sooner or later.

With regard to the fashion industry, I fear that we have only human nature (stupidity? ignorance?) to blame for that. In a way this comment links with the original question. The fashion and cosmetic industries are a concrete expression of discrimination against the pulchritudinally challenged.

It is fortunate that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This way all of us get discriminated against now and again.

An alien landing in Britian could be forgiven for thinking that most fashion journalists must be close relatives of newspaper proprietors, or newspapers must depend entirely on fashion advertising for their income. What else could explain the frequently appaling standard of photography and absolutely uncritical piss-poor writing, even in supposed 'quality' newspapers.

I wouldn't be surprised if the 'journalists' are as high on coke most of the time as the emaciated models, and are scared they won't get another free dress, party invite, (or cash-filled brown paper envelope) if they actually told the truth once in a while.

Either that, or they're so enormously overpaid and socially ignorant that they actually believe that normal women who really work for a living would consider wasting £500 on a shoes in order to look like a trophy wife or high-class prostitute.

I've just come from discovering that someone has posted a guide entry about my home town basically saying how s**t they think it is and now I've got someone going after my chosen subject of study, I kinda feel duty bound to spring to it's defence also. I agree with you in part about Sociology, it does seem to to be stuck to viewing the world through 'artifical lenses' like Marxism or Functionalism
( or even, to extend the anlogy, Post Modernism - which is the ecquivilent of throwing the glasses away and trying to re-interpret the blurry bits. )

Philosophy is about asking abstract questions that can seem to be quite downright silly or even obvious about the way the world is, What kind of things exist, how can we dscribe them ? ( Metaphysics ) Different theorys of knowledge, what say, is the differnce between knowing something and just really, truely believing it ? Can I say I know something to be true if I don't belive it to be true ?
( Epistemology. ) Or about the value of a thing, is it good or bad to have this attribute or to perform that action ? ( Ethics ).

Before I came to University I had never even heard of Jean Paul Sartre, but having to study his views on Existentialism, was very interesting, very enlightening and help me to see the world and myself differently and to hopefully start acting a better person
( For Sarte - everything I do, everything I am is the end product of my own conscious choice that I am free to make, and hold full responsibilty for. ) The number of times I avoided using the lift after dinner and instead took the stairs because I kept thinking about wanting to lose some weight and realising that it was MY responsibility and I had no excuses but my own laziness if i didn't act an consciously choose to be better.

It's probably a poor example of mine, open to ridicule,but philosophy often dismissed as indeed ' being irrelevant' and though I take your point that subjects such as philosophy or sociology or psychology, whatever are not ' pure forms' of objectivity like maths or logic I do not agree that it is irrelevant, nor can I accept yours and Percy Von Wurzel's view that this and other subjects are something best left to studying after one has experienced a little reality. I am glad I chose to do philosophy and can not picture mtself doing anything else and being happy. Maybe however that this accounts for the large numbers of mature students who frequent my lecture halls each week.


P.S I don't mean to sound ratty, but it too has been a *long* day.

Clive.

Philosophy is not on the list. Philosophy is not a social science. Chill out.
PS Calvin was right. One uses the stairs because of one's inherited characteristics, one's experiences and one's environment. Any 'choice' one makes is predetermined. Sorry Jean-Paul, uplifting but wrong.

You're right, sorry, I was feeling crabby. I promise I am now properly chiled.

I am intigued however, that you feel every choice we make is a labour under the weight of everything that has gone before. But before I go off and start denying determinism or causality and geting myself in the tauological maze of my own creation I would ask whether you would like to thrash this out in a separte forum, let me know what you think. I'll shoot for libertarian incompatablism ( we are free to choose and the free will we have is incompatable with a system of determinism. )

I'll be delighted to bat for determinism, pre-destination, call it what you will. Point me at the appropriate forum. I may even get round to reading some philosophy - I will have to discuss this with my drinking buddy and our Genevan theology weevil.

Fantastic! I'll go and start a new conversation in the " ask h2g2 forum "

See you later.

Clive.

It has started.....