Gebruiker:Wordscape/biases

Beauty is its own justification; the poppy makes no excuses for itself. Was it born to "waste its sweetness on the desert air"? Not to another flower, or the grateful bee.

Others have done this: it's a good idea.

Theoretical biases

Political compass scores were -3.25 (economic, slightly left of center) / -3.13 (social, libertarian, left of center). That classes me overall as libertarian left, but not all that far from center. Most of the time I've taken the test I've been fairly close to the center. Remember the middle of the road is the only usable surface; both extremes are in the gutter. My scores were close to Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Arnold Schönberg, and Béla Bartók (however they think they know Bartók's score I don't know, but hey, it's just for fun anyway)

Worldview quizzes

A couple of those quizzes at quizfarm.com; I found the link on someone's user page. I found it to be rather uncommonly accurate.

I think it's funny that I scored so high as a "postmodernist" (something I occasionally claim to hate) and so low as a "modernist" (since I write "modern" music). But then I do have an enormous collection of medieval and Renaissance music, and listening to 500-year-old music in our chaotic, bizarre age may itself be a "postmodern" act.

And yet another one: this by Arocoun, and I thought quite a good quiz ("What philosophy do you follow?)

Once again, it told me, more or less: "Your life is guided by the concept of Existentialism; you choose the meaning and purpose in your life. 'Man is condemned to be free.'" (Jean Paul Sartre)

Quite pleased indeed to see my "apathy" and "nihilism" scores were below the lab detection limit for those contaminants. (Would someone apathetic and nihilistic have any reason to edit an open-source encyclopedia? Other than to vandalise, I mean. Really now.) And do I believe it is the individual's responsibility to find meaning for his/her own life? You betcha. You let someone else do it for you, and likely as not they'll put a gun in your hand and command you to kill someone who ain't never done you no wrong.

What, my hedonism bar is high? Well I do buy expensive wine, it's true.

A few other things: I despise cynicism. It's a form of cowardice. It is fashionable and forgiveable when you are 20, just like drinking to excess; but at twice that age, watch out: it's spiritual cancer. It blinds you from seeing nuance. The world is easy to see through the cynicism filter because everything becomes flat. Don't be seduced. It's more complicated than that, and facing those complications takes courage, just as it does to face down your cynical friends.

I love religions, though I think people get too caught up in the details. I am most interested in the threads that tie them all together; the mysterious little gleams of light that are common to different religious traditions, each hitting you from a slightly different angle, like reflections from the different facets on a diamond. There is much there worthy of respect, and careful study. The universe is bigger than our understanding of it.