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Torrere · 04-10-2006, 12:51 AM

The account may be worthless to you when it comes to buying food, but it still exists, it still involves dollars, and you still have to pay it off.

We're still arguing about what mijsnomis meant when he used the word "validity".

There's a few possible meanings

a person has a point of view
that point of view has some basis in reality
every person's point of view has value to someone
it is beneficial to a person to have a point of view
it's worth my time to hear someone else's point of view

The first is almost always true. The second, according to wolf earlier in this thread, is almost always true. I assume the fourth is true. The third is implied by the fourth.

The fifth is up for debate.

I think that, according to the purely subjective view, it is always valuable to learn someone else's point of view.

According to the objective view espoused by smoothmoniker and wolf, it's not always worth your time to learn someone else's point of view. The other person could be a complete dumbass, and learning their point of view would not only be difficult, it would have negligible value. They could be a psychopath, in which case absorbing their outlook on life could be damaging to you -- negative value.

Or, they could be an entrepreneur or a scientist, and learning their point of view is valuable. They could be a teacher or a tutor, and their knowledge is not only valuable, but they strive to make it easy for you to learn it.

Deciding which people are most worth learning from depends upon having some outside measure of value.

(Edit: added / to close the link)

04-10-2006, 12:51 AM	#64
Torrere a real smartass Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Kirkland, WA Posts: 1,121	The account may be worthless to you when it comes to buying food, but it still exists, it still involves dollars, and you still have to pay it off. We're still arguing about what mijsnomis meant when he used the word "validity". There's a few possible meanings a person has a point of view that point of view has some basis in reality every person's point of view has value to someone it is beneficial to a person to have a point of view it's worth my time to hear someone else's point of view The first is almost always true. The second, according to wolf earlier in this thread, is almost always true. I assume the fourth is true. The third is implied by the fourth. The fifth is up for debate. I think that, according to the purely subjective view, it is always valuable to learn someone else's point of view. According to the objective view espoused by smoothmoniker and wolf, it's not always worth your time to learn someone else's point of view. The other person could be a complete dumbass, and learning their point of view would not only be difficult, it would have negligible value. They could be a psychopath, in which case absorbing their outlook on life could be damaging to you -- negative value. Or, they could be an entrepreneur or a scientist, and learning their point of view is valuable. They could be a teacher or a tutor, and their knowledge is not only valuable, but they strive to make it easy for you to learn it. Deciding which people are most worth learning from depends upon having some outside measure of value. (Edit: added / to close the link) Last edited by Torrere; 04-10-2006 at 01:59 AM.