Thank you for your kind reply, Robin. I have been undone by your appreciation of me as person. I am now a warm puddle of chocolate drizzled on an eclair, served gloriously on a paper doily. I'm feeling totally scrumptious.
--- 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 > > > > RAUNCHY: O.K. Robin, enough lazy screwing around for RD. Out of respect for > your deep > reflection in writing this post, I'll answer as best I can. I'll admit a lot > of > my thinking is founded on a "Maharishi" says paradigm, so I don't know how any > of this is going to play out when the paradigm bumps up against my life > experience or how I feel about a particular question in the moment or even if > I'll fully understand the intention of your question. An aside to Barry, this > is > my OPINION. > > > 1. I seek a truth beyond merely my own subjective comfort. > > > > RAUNCHY: True. The big "T" Truth is *a* truth, an ideal aspiration at the > core of my > being. It's natural to want to know the Truth. It's the nature of a seeker. > Am I > always subjectively comfortable facing an ugly truth, the truth of violence > and > hatred in the world or finding out I've been lied to? No, but I'd rather know > than not know. > > ROBIN: Critic-proof answer. Meaningful to me. Thanks. > > > [2.] I like to know what is right, not just that I am right. > > > > RAUNCHY: True. Knowing what's right and doing what's right is a matter of > fairness to > others and to one's self. > > ROBIN: The thing that for me is remarkable about this answer is how true it > feels. This goes to my so-called theory: that there is presence of > objectivity within the subjectivity of raunchy when she wrote this. It is a > lived truth; it is not a sentimental idea. And that you have felt this, > embodied this, a discerning reader can sense this--or at the very least the > truth--intrinsically--of what you have said here influences the unconscious > of the reader. To make a moral conviction, an ethical aspiration, naturalized > within one's person--that for me in an ideal. And here it is. > > > 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. > > > > RAUNCHY: True. I wouldn't call it "forcing" I'd call it "necessary." There is > such a > variety of POV's in everyday relationships with family, friends, clients, > colleagues and on FFLife, that adjusting one's point of view to understand > where > someone is coming from is important for nourishing relationships. Flat out > disagreeing with someone *and* seeing their POV is often part of the process. > > ROBIN: As in the case of Ann, answers like this one overpower the > intelligence which went into the quiz. Again, the sincerity and truthfulness > you express here seems to be an integral part of your very existence. > Perspective that seeks to meet the demands of reality, and finds the wisdom > that is derived from such transactions. Again, the quiz is not quite up to > the performance of at least two persons who have taken it--and whose answers > demand something more from the quiz than it can provide. > > > 4. My conscience is a friendly personal faculty for me. I trust it. > > > > RAUNCHY: True. If I feel a twinge of guilt, it means I have to make amends > and that's a > good thing. A conscience is a self-correcting feedback loop. I try give it > adequate rest and relaxation so that it doesn't have to do a lot of heavy > lifting. > > ROBIN: Again, it's milk and honey here. As if you have given the impression > of an existential intention and understanding which becomes common sense. > Spontaneous, believable, matter-of-fact honesty. The absence of affection or > pretence or self-consciousness is striking. > > > 5. I have known what it means to have sacrificed myself in my love for > > another > person. > > > > RAUNCHY: True. I would do anything to protect, nourish, and ensure the > happiness and well being of the dearest and most cherished people in my life. > But I don't see it as > a sacrifice to give one's all to loved ones, it's a blessing. > > ROBIN: The answer exceeds and makes inadequate the question. Quiz-maker will > have to come up to this level next time--he did not anticipate the > possibility of a response like this one. Quiz-taker edifies quiz-maker. I > like this answer very much, especially the thought contained in those last > three words. > > > 6. It is meaningful for me, the connection between humility and a certain > > kind > of (secular) grace. > > > > RAUNCHY: True. I call it the attitude of gratitude from which all blessing > flow. > > ROBIN: Irresistibly drawn to the meaning that comes from this idea, > raunchy--an idea which would appear to be manifestly identical to your very > being. Even if you hated my theory, and disagreed vehemently with everything > I said along the lines of a philosophy, it would not change my experience of > reading your answers to the quiz. Nothing made-up here; everything structured > inside what is real. > > > 7. I think sometimes it is appropriate and desirable to contemplate the fact > that I must die someday. > > > > RAUNCHY: Can't Decide. I don't see a reason to assign a value of "appropriate > or > desirable" to the inevitability of death or the naturalness of wondering about > it, if it happens to pop into my head. It's not something I think about in the > contemplative sense. > > ROBIN: This seems a reasonable way of looking at it, raunchy. I suppose the > theory would go something like this: If there is a personal intelligence > which created us, does that personal intelligence deem it a natural thing to > contemplate one's death such that that personal intelligence somehow would > make such an act meritorious? Is it part of our existential > responsibility--to ourselves--to look at this inevitable and > ontologically-altering truth? I think it certainly once was; like everything > else, in the universe we find ourselves in this is a matter for each person > to decide. I have acquired some intuitions about death from looking at it > unflinchingly and trying to make sense of what it would be given the way I > have come to see my pre-death existence. > > > 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. > > > > RAUNCHY: False. I can't say that I've had such an experience, not that I can > recall > anyway. > > ROBIN: Well, I guess I was speaking for myself there, raunchy, because I > certainly *have* had--especially in the last twenty-fives years (when I > attempted to de-create and recreate myself)--many such experiences. With you, > it seems to make sense this would not happen. Or more significantly, one does > not get any sense of denial in your making this ascertainment. > > > 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. > > > > RAUNCHY: False. Sorry, I don't understand the question from my first person > perspective. > > ROBIN: I think I will just settle for saying that your first person > perspective is not problematic with respect to reality; therefore there is > not some metaphysical crisis set up inside your subjectivity because it is > radically disjunctive with what is real, what is true. The question is only > meaningful in a context where there is evidence of disagreement between a > first person perspective and reality. And therefore reality is > exercising--should it feel merciful--some pressure upon a person's first > person perspective--*to get that perspective adjusted in some way so as to > bring it more into conformity with reality*. > > > 10. When I post something on FFL, I believe that I am doing something that > > in > the end is positive. > > > > RAUNCHY: Can't Decide. The jury, (my first person perspective jury) is still > out on the > issue. All I can do is post what I believe to be true and let the hounds rip > it > apart it they care to. If I defend what I feel is right and the shit flies, > some > may see this as a negative result, but I see it as being fearless in defending > my truth. I guess that's a positive in the end, so maybe my answer should be > "True." > > ROBIN: I am going to go with your conclusion: that you are responding to this > with a True. The explanation of your motive and intention in posting seems > about as appropriate as I could conceive of anyone's motive and intention in > posting. We cannot doubt your sincerity--ever--raunchy. I consider this a > gift of a certain kind. Which was why I knew the Third Point of View was > essentially behind you in your argument with Steve and the other guy (the one > who is more forceful). You were defending yourself non-defensively. No > tricks. No gimmicks. No subterfuge. It was pretty good to watch if you have > an appreciation for someone who enacts just what you say in your answer here. > > > 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. > > > > RAUNCHY: True, for the honest person part, not sure about the judgment part, > depends of > the judge and why wait for the end of life? Seems to me truth is something one > answers to everyday of one's life. > > ROBIN: This is a good enough answer that comment is not really warranted. > This goes to my own intuition about what it will be like for me to die. What > does 'judgment' mean at that moment: the judgment that comes from the > intelligence which is omnisubjective [someone who can write not just your > biography but your autobiography--as Linda Zagzebski puts it]; therefore a > judgment--even conceived of metaphorically--which is more objective about > one's subjectively determined judgment of one's honesty. > > I like the last sentence especially. > > > 12. I like being the person that I am. > > > > RAUNCHY: I'll say true and also admit there's always room for improvement. > > ROBIN: Again, so refreshing and convincing. With you, Raunchy, there is a > one-to-one correspondence between what you assert about yourself and who you > really are. At least this is the distinct and ineffaceable impression your > answers here make upon me. > > > 13. I know the sensation of being sincere and innocent in my experience of > myself and in my actions. > > > > RAUNCHY: True. Innocence is playfulness. Sincerely, that's where all the fun > is. > > ROBIN: What a marvellous and intriguing answer. Any reader who took this in > has something to ponder: "Innocence is playfulness". I have a new way of > thinking about innocence. I would have said that innocence makes playfulness > of a certain kind *possible*, but I would not have thought of innocence *as > being* playfulness. Certainly your innocence made itself felt in this > comment. :-) > > > 14. It feels good to try to be fair and impartial in my judgments of an > > issue. > > > > RAUNCHY: True. When I can get past being pissed off at Libertarians, which is > never, it > feels good to be fair and impartial to Democrats. > > ROBIN: Well, Christopher Buckley certainly overcame whatever awe he once had > for his father--especially after his father died. (Although, admittedly > Christopher is no libertarian.) But I will allow you this one moment of > quasi-playfulness merged with implacable irony--without comment. I think your > politics is passionate and for keeps. Liberalism is a metaphysical > perception, in my view--even if it is not consciously understood in that way. > Conservatism is less of a perception than a nostalgia for a universe which > once was built on tradition and revelation. I'm going to stop right there, > raunchy. A good idea, I think. ;-) > > > 15. If I appeared in a novel as myself, I would like this character. > > > > RAUNCHY: True. Cheeky little wench. > > ROBIN: Best answer there could be. Even better than Barry's. Are there really > persons in the TMO who are still able to be as funny as you are, raunchy? > Maharishi always, when I knew him, had a perfect sense of humour (and, as I > have said before, a perfect ear for irony). Did he keep this right to the > end? That answer you gave, it came from you, not the benefits of TM, right? > :-) > > > 16. I think some persons are more objective and accurate in their approach > > to > interpersonal relationships than others. > > > > RAUNCHY: True. This is a question ripe for another quiz...on a scale from 1 > to 10 how > would you rate the objectivity of Barry, RD, Judy, etc. > > ROBIN: Oh, I have already made my calculations. Curtis is a 10.--At least he > has convinced me he is. Barry, a few points lower than that. I won't go any > further, raunchy, because then I would have to rate myself. No one who knows > you would put you lower than in the first class, though; I think we can > universally agree on that--especially after reading your answers here. > > > 17. I feel I could send myself up ironically if I had to. > > > > RAUNCHY: True, paragon of virtue that I am. > > ROBIN: Yes, certainly; I have become convinced of this. Where's the Unity, > then, raunchy? :-) > > > 18. I think I see my faults and my weaknesses as well as anyone else sees > > them > (in me). > > > > RAUNCHY: True. I'm the one working here, folks, and I'm fairly sure I know > what the > building site looks like. I'll weigh the value of constructive criticism but > I'm > not too keen to fit anyone's square pegs in to my round holes. > > ROBIN: I am just going to say: I love this answer. Period. You have your own > context, raunchy; and it justifies itself. > > > 19. I like thinking about the strongest way of presenting the argument of an > adversary of mine. > > > > RAUNCHY: True. Sometimes I'm just lazy about making a "strong" argument, so I > make jokes. That's the part of the creative process that I enjoy the most and > sometimes it's > more effective. > > ROBIN: You betcha. With me this is a formal and systematic procedure that I > attempt to apply at every turn when I am writing: I find myself--through this > disciplined focus--challenging myself as I write from the point of view of > the deepest critic out there. It doesn't mean I am right; but what usually > comes at me by way of surprise is the negative reactiveness to what I have > said--not the substantive counterpoint (which I will have more or less > anticipated). Perhaps I do this out of a sense of self-protection. But I like > to know about the contingency of perhaps being wrong in my point of view > about something. I probably learned this from Barry. > > > 20. I have suffered in my life, but some of that suffering has been very > meaningful to me. > > > > RAUNCHY: Very True. > > ROBIN: A beautiful answer which shuts me up with the resonance of its > truthfulness--and even the evidence of what determined and made real those > two words. First person ontological validity--as measured against what is > most real. Translation: sincere and real and compelling. > > > SCORING: 11+ means your subjectivity has a strong component of objectivity. > > A minus score would indicate something contrary to this. > > > > 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. >
