Definition of cynic: one who believes that human conduct is motivated wholly
by self-interest
From: turquoiseb <no_re...@yahoogroups.com>
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2012 9:09 AM
Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: How Objective Is Your Subjectivity? A Quiz
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Robin Carlsen" <maskedzebra@...> wrote:
>
> Directions: Answer True or False or Can't Decide (CD). 1
> point for T; -1 point for F; 0 for CD
I decided, just to be "fair and balanced," to take a test
today that I knew in advance was not. Perhaps I decided
to take it *because* it was not. Anyway, here are my
answers, with comments, done just for the fun of it.
> 1. I seek a truth beyond merely my own subjective comfort.
F: -1 (I do not even believe in the concept of "a truth,"
much less seek it. Therefore the question is irrelevant,
and nonsensical.)
> 2 . I like to know what is right, not just that I am right.
F: -1 (Ditto the above comment, re "right.")
> 3. I force myself to look at different points of view other
> than my own, in order to test out the truth of my own point
> of view.
F: -1 (I *seek* different points of view than my own, *not*
because I want to "test" either mine or theirs, but because
they're different. To "test the truth" of one's own point
of view means that one would have to believe in "truth,"
and I do not. Another nonsensical question.)
> 4. My conscience is a friendly personal faculty for me. I
> trust it.
F: -1 (Consciences aren't sentient, and thus do not possess
the attribute of being either friendly or unfriendly. How
does one "trust" or "not trust" an entity that has no
sentience of its own?)
> 5. I have known what it means to have sacrificed myself
> in my love for another person.
F: -1 (In my view, if there is enough self left to feel
that it's "sacrificing itself," there is not enough love
to qualify as love.)
> 6. It is meaningful for me, the connection between humility
> and a certain kind of (secular) grace.
F: -1 (Nonsensical. The two concepts have nothing to do
with each other, and the latter -- "grace" -- does not
even in all likelihood exist.)
> 7. I think sometimes it is appropriate and desirable to
> contemplate the fact that I must die someday.
F: -1 (Someone's having a Duh! moment. Why would it be
either appropriate or desirable to "contemplate" that
which is inevitable? It's gonna happen...nothing *to*
contemplate. The only thing worth contemplating -- just
for fun, you understand -- is What Happens Next. That
can be an amusing way to pass the time until it Happens.)
> 8. I have known that it can be liberating to discover I
> was wrong about something--something which went directly
> to my sense of how confident I was that I was right.
F: -1 (What is there to be "liberated" from unless you
were attached to being "right?")
> 9. I find that my first person perspective is not rigidly
> fixed, that life, experience, persons, can bring about
> adjustment and adaptation and even change in my first
> person perspective.
F: -1 (To imagine one's "first person perspective" important
enough to be either fixed or changing implies an attachment
to it that may be a tad...uh...unhealthy.)
> 10. When I post something on FFL, I believe that I am
> doing something that in the end is positive.
F: -1 (Nonsensical, even in a MMY context. To believe that
what one does is "positive" is as delusional as believing
that it is otherwise. I post because it's fun to post. End
of story. If others have agendas they are attached to,
that's their business.)
> 11. I judge myself to be an honest person, and I am
> confident if there is some kind of judgment at the end
> of my life, this estimation of myself will hold true.
F: -1 (The second clause of the question nullifies the
first clause, and has no relation to it. Feeling oneself
to be honest -- or actually being honest -- has nothing
whatsoever to do with any kind of "judgment" or external
assessment of that. To believe otherwise is to imply
that this external POV that "judges" overrides your own
sense of what constitutes "honesty.")
> 12. I like being the person that I am.
F: -1 (You should have stopped at the word "being." Every-
thing after that implies that you are either a "person,"
or that you -- as a distinct entity -- "are." I'm not
convinced either is true.)
> 13. I know the sensation of being sincere and innocent in
> my experience of myself and in my actions.
F: -1 (Nonsensical. Neither "sincere" nor "innocent" have
anything to do with the results of actions, let alone one's
experience of a self that is performing them.)
> 14. It feels good to try to be fair and impartial in my
> judgments of an issue.
F: -1 (It feels no more "good" than any other time one
is foolish enough to make judgments. The person is still
being judgmental...WTF cares if he or she considers him-
or herself "fair and balanced" while making them. FOX
News considers itself "fair and balanced," ferchrissakes.)
> 15. If I appeared in a novel as myself, I would like this
> character.
F: -1 (I would *love* this character.)
> 16. I think some persons are more objective and accurate
> in their approach to interpersonal relationships than others.
F: -1 (Nonsensical, since no one knows for sure which is
which. Why bother "thinking" what can never be proven.)
> 17. I feel I could send myself up ironically if I had to.
F: -1 (The whole question is nonsensical...why would
anyone want to?)
> 18. I think I see my faults and my weaknesses as well as
> anyone else sees them (in me).
F: -1 (I suspect that I see them better.)
> 19. I like thinking about the strongest way of presenting
> the argument of an adversary of mine.
F: -1 (Nonsensical. Who would bother, or even bother
believing that one has "adversaries?")
> 20. I have suffered in my life, but some of that suffering
> has been very meaningful to me.
F: -1 ("I" have never suffered a whit in my life; "I" can't.
Only illusory selves can suffer. And then whine about whether
it had "meaning" or not.)
> SCORING: 11+ means your subjectivity has a strong component
> of objectivity. A minus score would indicate something
> contrary to this.
My score is -20. This is the first "T" answer you've gotten
so far. :-)
> NOTE: This quiz obviously reflects the subjective bias of
> its maker. If you can design a quiz which you believe removes
> such a bias, please post it.
Gawd. Another dick size contest. :-)
