Hey, I was there. So what?

[Helen S]

Well, I promised a rant and there it is on the rarely used Umbrella 3. I could have put up pictures of people who told nonsensical lies about the places they had been to and who have been accepted as gurus but I have refrained. Not even a picture of little Mark Leonard, who is now known as an expert on China, on the basis of a few visits and the inevitable book.

View full article here

[SandyRham]

Nice rant
It leads to the crucial question in an age of almost infinite media choice, namely, whom do you believe and whom do you trust?
The ancient Greeks used the same word for both, but for us there is a more subtle distinction.
I suppose this is a bit like biological immune systems. As surfers get smarter at identifying taurocopric propaganda, those that spin will get smarter at palming it off as news.
Maybe Bob Hoskins was wrong, maybe it's not so good to talk since it just confuses people.

[THE DOC]

Helen , Can you do more " rants " of this nature , it is a fine piece of writing by a lady who truly understands the principles of existential phenomenology as applied to " I was there " experience . I noted that you also protect your sources , an admirable trait .

[Ian Reid posting as a guest]

"We all hope that the comments will be new, knowledgeable and written by people who know about full stops, commas and capital letters. But I know that the world is not perfect."

I was always taught that it was the "World" capital W. Does anyone have an opinion on this?

That aside one must always question the validity of what one is told. People, even if they don't lie, will always see what they want to see, or misinterpret, or just be lied to, and report those lies as fact. All things you have alluded to in your post. But being there does give some benefits, witness those who were there, remembering the arms shipments intercepted from Czechkoslavakia. Caveat emptor.

[therewaslight]

The part of the human brain that stores and retrieves long-term memories, of the concious sensory experience kind, is known as the hippocampus. The hippocampus is part of a wider linked network of brain regions called the limbic system, which is responsible for our emotions.

Both the process of sensory input and the storage and recollection of memory data (by the rational thinking prefrontal cortex) has zero chance of going through untainted by emotional subjectivism because it is done by our emotional brain centre. Our memories were chosen according to how we were feeling, not what we were thinking, and on retreival must pass again through the region which is responsible for how we feel.

That's why thought that is of any use requires thinking and probably research, some number crunching and comparison to shared experience. Personal recollection of experience of the "I was there" kind, even if that is an appeal to an authority as august as oneself, is never untainted with emotion.

Good piece of writing - I know because I read it!

[Bleepless]

Quite so. The following are interesting and useful: Sylvia R. Margulies,Pilgrimage to Russia: The Soviet Union and the Treatment of Foreigers, 1924-1937, Madison: U. of Wisconsin Press, 1968; Paul Hollander,Political Pilgrims: Travels of Western Intellectuals to the Soviet Union, China and Cuba, 1958-1978, NY and L: Oxford U. Press, 1981; Paul Hollander,Political Hospitality and Tourism: Cuba and Nicaragua, Washington: Cuban American National Foundation, 1986.
Keep up the good work.

[MM]

I was wrong. It wasn't interesting!

[Helen S]

I was wrong. It wasn't interesting!

I am devastated.

[SandyRham]

Well, MM you were there, you read it, but it didn't interest you, whereas most other commenters have been favourable. So although you've read it your report on it is unrepresentative, maybe even unreliable.
Isn't it interesting that that was the thesis of Helen's piece?

[comet]

How about people who've told nonsensical lies about places they haven't been to and been accepted as gurus?

The foremost example is T. Lobsang Rampa (Cyril Hoskin) who produced a series of popular books about Tibetan mysticism. It turned out that he'd never been to Tibet and was a plumber from Devon. A later book dealt with his trip to speak with the leader of the planet Venus.

http://skepdic.com/rampa.html

[MM]

Well, MM you were there, you read it, but it didn't interest you, whereas most other commenters have been favourable. So although you've read it your report on it is unrepresentative, maybe even unreliable.
Isn't it interesting that that was the thesis of Helen's piece?

I was where Shandy?

Moreover, how can my own personal opinion be unreliable?!! I simply stated that I was disappointed [as I was expecting a more incisive 'rant']. That is my opinion. Whether you wish to place any weight on it is another matter old chap!!

Regards,
MM

[The Shift Key Thief]

It wasn't me John. Honest. I've sold the business and gone straight. I'm a respectable clairvoyant now.

[John Archer]

Hey, I was there. So what?

Well, so was I. But they ran out of ts. So now I'm phcking stuck here.


I reckon it was the Shift-Key Thief.


"Clowns to the left of me
jokers to the right
here I am
stuck in the middle with YOU-OO."




NOTE: Thoughtlette not aimed at anyone in particular.

[Me]

I was there when that happened, so I was told.

I am amused, sadly.

[SandyRham]

Sad to be amused ,eh?
Lost a bet you wouldn't smile eh?
You need a course in Great British Grumpiness, and I can recommend the curmudgeon option.
You too can learn to part the tide of company!