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| stephenthemay |
 Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 7:10 pm Post subject: Hello! I am new here... |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 7
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My name is Stephen, and I am a senior sociology student, but I'm particularly interested in all the sciences.
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Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so.
--Galileo Galilei
Last edited by stephenthemay on Mon Nov 17, 2008 7:37 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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| JaneBennet |
| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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Forum Ph.D.
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 902
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| milum |
| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:15 pm Post subject: |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 5
Location: Alabama
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Hi Stephen, you are a nice man but you are wrong.
You say that you wish to discover objective "reality" but yet you don't.
As of yet, you don't have the accumulated experince to discern a noun from a verb.
To wit: a noun is a fuzzy symbol for an arbitrary extraction drawn from our sensory conceptions, while lowlife verbs are merely a symbolic but fundametal instroment of environmental movement, and, therefore, they are harbingers of all things of change.
Don't you think? |
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| stephenthemay |
| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 12:59 am Post subject: |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 7
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milum,
I'm sorry, but I never meant to suggest that I "wish to discover objective 'reality.'"
In using 'reality,' I was referring to the totality of an individual's knowledge and experiences that the individual perceives as being reality. The 'reality' I was discussing is indeed subjective, existing only as a result of people's attempts to organize and interpret all of their experiences. I should have been more careful using the term, and I should have been more clear in exactly how I intended to use it. I will edit the original post to better communicate that, contrary to your accusation, I am instead interested in the ways in which social interaction influences the development of subjective 'realities,' or the subjective meanings people give to everyday life as they personally experience it.
I can understand how, due to the lack of clarity in the conceptualization of what I called 'reality,' you could have arrived at the conclusion that I was attempting to explain the objective world that exists independently of the ways we experience and perceive it. However, I still believe a careful reader could have understood me despite my sloppiness. When I defined 'reality' I described a reality limited by our knowledge and particular to our individual perspectives. And even though I did not directly state that the reality I discussed was subjective, I did indicate that people's subjective perceptions of reality are "treated as objective truth." I then concluded an example in suggesting that people "mistakenly" assume that their experiences reflect objective reality.
You incorrectly interpreted my post, in part because of my poor presentation but also because you apparently did not read it closely enough. Considering that the misunderstanding resulted from errors we both made, it would be silly for me to get angry. However, it appears to me, though I may be mistaken, that your post was (if even just slightly) unnecessarily rude, your tone somewhat condescending. I wrote that I would like to be challenged and humbled--not pompously blasted by someone who merely skimmed my post.
Bethatasitmay, I do appreciate your willingness to prompt discussion and that you pointed out that you thought I was wrong and why. Otherwise my post would have remained unclear.
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Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so.
--Galileo Galilei |
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| Pendragon |
| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 2:21 am Post subject: |
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Moderator
Joined: 07 Jan 2005
Posts: 1160
Location: Nederland
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Welcome Stephen, I see you already found a first interesting discussion (or the discussion found you  ).
I'm a human geography student, with a minor in Sociology (so I know the basics, but probably more about the 'classics' than the modern edge of research). About math, I have something somewhat similar. I used to be very poor at algebra, so in the end I didn't dare to choose any science-related courses. But now I finally start to get some confidence in it. I've done a course in Geology at the university, the rest will probably have to come from self study. But I think Sociology is an interesting background for starting with the natural sciences, could give some refreshing perspectives. |
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| 425 Chaotic Requisition |
| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 5:49 am Post subject: |
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The Doctor
Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Posts: 3443
Location: England, UK.
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Welcome to the forum fellow Stephen  . I'm not into sociology that much and only have ever studied Psychology so never really bordered the actual interactions of people and society. But would be glad to learn from you in some way.
Regards,
SVWillmer.
PS I too when I was a child wanted to be an Astronaut, for NASA. And akin am into physics and astronomy due to liking space as a child too. Its going to be interesting talking with you.
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"Victory is in trying. Defeat is in not". - SVRDW. |
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| SuperNatendo |
| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:43 am Post subject: |
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Forum Masters Degree
Joined: 10 Dec 2007
Posts: 518
Location: Nashville, TN USA
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Nice to have another Tennessean on board! (Whether or not you were born here doesn't matter, not to me anyway!)
I'm not very good at reading into people, at least not as good as you seem to be, but either way you seem very intelligent and I am sure all of us are looking forward to hearing what you have to say.
Welcome!
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“It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.” - Mark Twain |
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| Ophiolite |
| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:45 am Post subject: |
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Forum Radioactive Isotope
Joined: 25 Jul 2005
Posts: 4858
Location: Scotland
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Welcome to the forum and thank you for what I consider to be the best put-down of an emotionally charged criticism that I have seen for a while.
| stephenthemay wrote: |
| I wrote that I would like to be challenged and humbled--not pompously blasted by someone who merely skimmed my post. |
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The Universe is not only weirder than we imagine it is weirder than we can imagine. J.B.S.Haldane. |
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