Rank: Elder Joined: 10/18/2008 Posts: 3,434 Location: Kerugoya
|
newfarer wrote:Agreed Wazuans are intelligent enough to tell who the pig is here. newfarer wrote:Agreed Wazuans are intelligent enough to tell who the pig is here. Are we now? Fighting With Pigs
“I know (what) you are but what am I?”"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it."
George Bernard Shaw
Like many insightful quotes, this one nails an important idea, but really just one side of it.
If you step back, you will recognize the other side and then you will have cornered yourself with a fundamental tough judgment call, a tension that needs to be balanced and rebalanced in changing situations.
First, let us set aside one simple problem with the quote. Not all pigs can be escaped.
Sometimes we are forced to wrestle with pigs because they have power over us.
The problem I want to focus on here is the complexity of deciding who is a pig.
If there were an objective test to determine who is a pig and who is not, we would know whom to avoid.
However, there isn't one.
There are many ways to be a pig, including refusing to engage in debate.
For example the dictator who oppresses his citizens, is completely inaccessible to dialogue, and accuses anyone who disagrees with him of being a pig.
He is a pig, right?"
By: Jeremy E Sherman Ph.D. Link to the unflattering blog article here
|