Seeing red

[emjay]

@Jörmungandr

But I would just hope that we could keep this friendly and productive on all sides, because that was what it was meant to be, but again that's just me.

I'm sorry for being a downer to your thread with my earlier outburst at bennyboy.  I'm not specifically accusing him here, but in conversations about these issues in the past with others, I've noticed that certain feints recur over and over again, and, it seems to me that when they do, it's usually people trying to retreat into comfortable talking points rather than engage the issues.  That gets frustrating and in some sense I'm burned out on such discussions.   I suppose if I bothered to respond substantially to those talking points instead of letting my frustration get the better of me it would be more profitable to the discussion.  It's a difficult situation and I don't mean to excuse myself or justify the incriminations I've made against bennyboy.  Just explaining my frustration.

That's okay   It's nice to meet you by the way 

I can't speak for Benny obviously, but I can say I've always admired him and Rhythm for their passion and what seems to me, quest for knowledge on these sorts of subjects. I don't usually get many takers if I write a post like the OP, but usually Benny or Rhythm are interested enough to respond. I kind of get what you mean, but where these guys are concerned I see guys willing to push the envelope. Lots of hypothetical's, lots of thought experiments, lots of logic, and lots of devil's advocate/accommodating other positions. I just don't get the impression of people who want to sit still but people who are driven by a need to answer these sorts of questions, like I am, and are willing to go outside their comfort zone to do it. Not too far out obviously... it's perfectly natural to be biased towards your own theories/world views, especially when they're hard-earned over a lifetime of learning, and therefore to sometimes fall into the trap of defending rather than expanding... but enough to be able to absorb things from other viewpoints and learn from them, even if only in baby steps. For instance, I got comp mind from Rhythm and now it's part of my world view, even if my understanding of it is nowhere near as refined as his is. In this particular thread though, I'm making a special effort to go and stay outside my comfort zone, because I really feel it's making a difference... I really feel like I'm making progress. It's taking me four or five hours just to respond to one post, so I can't really respond to more than one person a day, but it just feels like so much progress is being made with each one that it's so worth it. But it is really tiring me out so I don't know how long I can sustain it... I might have to have a break soon because at the moment I'm completely obsessed with this thread and like a zombie in real life