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What impresses you most?
May 13, 2015 at 9:18 am
I have a theory we're most impressed by what we can't do ourselves
I'm useless at everything, so I guess it doesn't take much to impress me, but the things I suck at most I admire in other people strongest, like vocal talent or math brains or comprehending chemistry or physics or sports or art... or literally anything else
So, what do yallses admire in other people and how does it relate to the things you're bad/good at?
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RE: What impresses you most?
May 13, 2015 at 9:25 am
There are so many things, I don't even know where to start... I'm impressed by brilliant musicians as well as by people who are so much better than me in my own field.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
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RE: What impresses you most?
May 13, 2015 at 9:31 am
(This post was last modified: May 13, 2015 at 9:33 am by abaris.)
Short example of what I really admire. Where I live, we have quite a number of homeless punks. Pretty much all of them have at least one dog. One day in winter, it was really cold and snowing, I saw one of them, sitting at the entrance of a subway station. He had taken off his coat and draped it around his dog.
Things along these lines fill me with real admiration.
I can be impressed by many things, but I think it's important to make a distinction between admiration and being impressed - or even envious of some talent for that matter.
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RE: What impresses you most?
May 13, 2015 at 9:43 am
Long ago a 'casual' boyfriend of mine made a point of including his paraplegic cousin in some of our (non-sexual) adventures. Donnie might have made some poor decisions in his life, but he had a heart of gold. If I'd hung around Donnie longer might have fallen for him. It would have been a disaster, but he was a special guy. Didn't really appreciate him fully at the time, it was easier to focus on some of his other problems than those glimmers of his real character. I anonymously sent him some money years ago, not a lot, he was never good in that area, but maybe it turned up at the right time to solve a problem.
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.
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RE: What impresses you most?
May 13, 2015 at 9:57 am
People in the medical field. I could never do that job - too squeamish. Thank goodness there are people who can.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
Albert Einstein
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RE: What impresses you most?
May 13, 2015 at 9:59 am
(May 13, 2015 at 9:57 am)AFTT47 Wrote: People in the medical field. I could never do that job - too squeamish. Thank goodness there are people who can.
You don't know squeamish until you know me
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RE: What impresses you most?
May 13, 2015 at 10:06 am
(This post was last modified: May 13, 2015 at 10:14 am by Pyrrho.)
I am impressed by the seemingly limitless stupidity of humanity. Oh, you meant favorably impressed. Like Alex K, I am impressed by brilliant (to use his word choice, not mine) musicians. The thing is, being an amazing musician does not make one special in any other way. In fact, spending the necessary time to become a great musician means one is not spending that time doing other things, and often that means that a great specialist is poor at most other things. I will give an example of what I mean: Louis Armstrong. When it comes to playing jazz trumpet, he was a god. He was famous for being able to play high notes, which, if you know nothing about the trumpet, may not mean much to you. However, in order to play increasingly high notes, it requires that one hold the trumpet tighter against one's lips, and requires higher air pressure. He could cleanly play notes higher than most people could play while straining. (As for the pressure, one can see the callouses on his lips in some pictures of him, that are in the round shape of a trumpet mouthpiece.) Of course, it is not just that he could play really high notes; he could play music beautifully. He made music. But he was not a well-rounded person, and was not overly bright. You see, he lived to play the trumpet. It is that kind of devotion (coupled with natural talent, of course) that made him the god he was. But that single-mindedness meant that he was basically good for one thing only. Please don't misunderstand this; I am not saying he was a bad guy at all. I am saying that he was not someone to go to in order to learn about physics or philosophy or to go to for pretty much anything other than for music. He was a truly great musician.
Of course, there are other things that are impressive, too. I could make up a list of great people who I admire in some way or other, though many of them have very significant flaws and shortcomings in one way or other. (Richard Wagner comes to mind with that description.) Epicurus came up with superb practical advice for how to live one's life, a very long time ago. His view of the world is also surprisingly modern, more modern than most people of Europe who lived 1500 years after him.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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RE: What impresses you most?
May 13, 2015 at 10:13 am
I honestly cannot think of a single thing for which I admire in others.
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
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RE: What impresses you most?
May 13, 2015 at 10:16 am
We give you kudos, you HAVE to admire our generosity !!!
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.
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RE: What impresses you most?
May 13, 2015 at 10:27 am
Humour and humanity. I'll elaborate later
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