Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84 exptools; site whuts.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!lll-crg!dual!qantel!ihnp4!houxm!whuxl!whuts!amc From: amc@whuts.UUCP (Andy Cohill) Newsgroups: net.singles Subject: Re: Emotions and choice Message-ID: <223@whuts.UUCP> Date: Fri, 9-Aug-85 07:23:33 EDT Article-I.D.: whuts.223 Posted: Fri Aug 9 07:23:33 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 13-Aug-85 01:40:55 EDT References: <5557@cbscc.UUCP><591@unc.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 35 *** *** I am growing weary of this semantic nonsense about choosing our emotions, and being/not being responsible for others. I understand the concept, and its attractiveness, very well. Ayn Rand started writing about it way back in the Dark Ages. Not only that, she articulated it better than most of the "self-actualization" wahoos that are making mincemeat out of poor old Abe Maslow's ideas. When I was seventeen, I stumbed across Ayn Rand, and for the next two or three years I went through all of her fiction, and much of her non-fiction. I read "Atlas Shrugged" three times. Anyway, it took me years to undo the damage. You can't just take these theories and embrace them whole, throwing out everything you have learned before. Aside from making you a bore to all the people that you try to convert--you might wish to read Eric Hoffer for a dose of reality about "true believers"--it turns you into a hard, cold person as you relentlessly apply your "logic" to essentially non-logical situations. Let's face it; if you are on the net, the chances are good that you love the gleaming logic of computers, that you love the splendid isolation of writing code, that you love controlling the million billion silicon electrons in the LSI interiors of our machines. Don't let it into your relationships with other human beings!!!!! It just don't work. The simple things work best; respect, love, and laughter, without any expectations. Best regards, Andy Cohill {ihnp4|allegra}houxm!whuxl!whuts!amc