(November 1, 2015 at 9:45 pm)abaris Wrote: At some time, roughly when the Iraq madness started, I read about Americans naming their idols. Generals. Not people like Gore Vidal, Truman Capote or any other writer, artist or philosopher. Says a lot about people identifying with war. I'm pretty sure, a similar poill wouldn't turn out that different in France, Britain or Germany. Personally I find that pukeworthy, since every nations has brains. Identifying with brawns is declaring intellectual bankrupcy.
I'm not sure I would name anyone as my "Idol". One of the people I identify with is Everiste Galois, the French mathematician who proved that there is no formula with which to solve the quintic equation. Galois died in a duel, possibly related to his participation in the French Revolution, at the age of twenty. What do you think of people who would name as their "Idol" some pop star or dancer such as appears on the show "American Idol"? Are such people also intellectually bankrupt?
"You cannot ask us to take sides against arithmetic." --Winston Churchill
