Check out this poll (http://slashdot.org/pollBooth.pl?qid=1134&aid=-1) on slashdot about human nature. Maybe I'm just boored because I'm on training this week, but I find many of the posts to the poll insightful :idea: or amuseing :-D.
Maybe sometime we should have a similar (though quite off-topic) poll on this site and see if it gets some interesting response.
Any interesting comments from CAOS?
I think most people are irrational, but delude themselves into thinking they are rational.
8-)
QuoteDaleDoe wrote:
I think most people are irrational, but delude themselves into thinking they are rational.
8-)
Sooooo, what you're saying is that most people rationalize their irrationality?
Interesting poll.
BTW, I think most people are oblivious.
Yea. That's what I'm saying. Not exactly profound, is it? What's not just elementary psychology is that most people don't know the real reason why they do anything. Whatever reasoning they believe to be behind their actions is often either an attempt to create logic to rationalize a decision based on emotion, or if it was actually a rationally evaluated decision, they usually pick a (more or less) plausable motive that fits best with how they want to perceive themselves. For illustration, when dating, we sometimes convince ourselves that we date a person because of all of their (supposedly) attractive qualities, not any one in particular because we don't want to feel shallow.
Back to the off-topic topic, I think "oblivious" should've been a choice. I don't know how they could've not included that one.
I like the following answers:
Dead--24 out of 25 people who ever lived are dead.
Better than everyone else (they think so, anyway)
Mean--by mathematics, the average person is by definition a "mean" person
Replaceable by the following shell script:
while read STATE; do
if [ "$STATE" = "hungry" ]; then
echo I\'m hungry, let\'s go to McDonalds!
cat /dev/garbage > /dev/mouth
elif [ "$STATE" = "horny" ]; then
echo If you loved me, you\'d do it...
unzip; strip; touch; grep; finger; mount; fsck; more; yes; umount; sleep
elif [ "$STATE" = "sleepy" ]; then
echo Wow, isn\'t Leno the most hilarious talk show host ever?
apm -z
elif [ "$STATE" = "at work" ]; then
echo Go away, I\'m trying to get some work done!
mozilla http://slashdot.org/
else
emacs --eval "(psychoanalyze-pinhead)"
fi
done
That is a beautiful shell script.
QuoteDaleDoe wrote:
What's not just elementary psychology is that most people don't know the real reason why they do anything. Whatever reasoning they believe to be behind their actions is often either an attempt to create logic to rationalize a decision based on emotion, or if it was actually a rationally evaluated decision, they usually pick a (more or less) plausable motive that fits best with how they want to perceive themselves. For illustration, when dating, we sometimes convince ourselves that we date a person because of all of their (supposedly) attractive qualities, not any one in particular because we don't want to feel shallow.
Wow DaleDoe, what a cynical view on life. It took me nearly 40 years to get to where you are now.
QuoteWow DaleDoe, what a cynical view on life. It took me nearly 40 years to get to where you are now.
I guess I'm a quick learner.:smartass:
(Or maybe I just like to think of myself as such)
When I was a little kid I wanted wisdom and understanding of how the world works. I didn't know what I was getting myself into. :doh:
Some related quotes:
"Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand." --Josh Billings