[OSList] The OST Game

[Jenifer Toksvig]

Hey Daniel,

>> ... control of one's self / discipline <<

The conversation might be getting skewed, as is so easily the case in
threaded discussions like this. (And I had forgotten how much I love them!)

Harrison said: >> Goal seeking systems are purely a figment of our
imagination created in a desperate attempt to satisfy our unending (and
futile) need for control. <<

You said: >> Yes, and not every goal seeker is a control freak. Some of us
are quite the opposite... there is goal-seeking without a controlling
spirit. <<

And I say: self-discipline is a form of control. It¹s goal-seeking. I didn¹t
say it was good or bad :-) but just that it is. We try to control things,
including ourselves, in an existence that responds unpredictably.
Admittedly, the more information mankind figures out about the world, the
more we are able to control things. (I¹m not sure I entirely like that, to
be honest.)

Still, in this day and age, I can try to exert self-control over my health,
and achieve the goal of ­ what, a long life? A healthy life? And all kinds
of little goals in between. Still, life can screw with me.

I said: >> I don¹t think it¹s possible to be goal-oriented and try to exert
some kind of control over the process, unless your goal isŠ to have no goal.
<<

Very badly worded, but I meant that I don¹t think it¹s a rule in life that
you can use control and therefore achieve goals. It happens, but I¹m pretty
sure it¹s not a rule.

I also agree that it¹s human nature to try anyway. And in many ways foolish
not to try. The effects of trying is much of the stuff that ³whatever
happens² is made of.

Me: >> ... being prepared to be surprised is a goal. A sort of wonderfully
ridiculous one.

You: >> Yes, and the statement itself is: directive. Wait, whats that doing
in OST? <<

Being beautifully, and somewhat amusingly, observational. Like the rest of
OST.

J x

Jenifer Toksvig
www.acompletelossforwords.com

The Copenhagen Interpretation
www.thecopenhageninterpretation.co.uk


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20131030/c853abf8/attachment-0008.htm>