Jerry Seinfeld, Meryl Strep, and Intellectual Sophistication
The Jerry Seinfeld Show is perhaps the most popular rerun comic show on TV. I suspect that I have seen every episode of that show at least twice. The four characters Jerry, George, Crammer, and Elaine work together marvelously.
I have seen each of these individuals play other parts in other shows and I must say I have been disappointed each time. Together they are great but apart, in other roles, they just do no work nearly as well.
Many decades ago I decided I wanted to learn to act. I took a late evening course in acting at a local College; upon completion I auditioned for parts in plays being produced by our city production group that put on plays in our local “In the Round Play House. This was, of course, just amateur productions for local audiences.
I did get a few acting parts and served as an understudy a few times and had a great time performing and going to various performances. One particular actor in one play I saw just “blew me away with his great performance. I was especially impressed upon learning that he was playing his very first part in a play. I thought to myself that this guy is a natural in that he was able to do such a great job with such little preparation.
I later met the guy, his name was Jimmy, and quickly realize that Jimmy was not performing in the play that I saw but was just being his natural self. In the flesh this guy was just as he appeared in the play that I saw him perform.
Jerry, George, Crammer, and Elaine in the “Seinfeld Show and Jimmy in his first play were all just doing pretty much what they can do naturally. Each could play one type of role very well but could not often play any other role.
Whereas you take someone like Meryl Strep and she can play any role in any kind of situation. Therein we can see what sophistication is all about. Meryl was a very sophisticated actress.
There are many definitions and synonyms of the word “sophistication but my choice for synonym here is “cultivation, which means “to improve by labor, care, or study. Depending upon the unique natural talents that we each have, we can, through the cultivation of those talents become intellectually sophisticated; thereby we can become more Meryl-like in all of our actions throughout our entire life.
Do not allow the anti-intellectualism that is pervasive across our culture deter you in your quest for intellectual sophistication. Many who make policy decisions in our (USA) nation wish us to remain unsophisticated and docile so that they can better realize their selfish goals by manipulating our behavior. Our present economic Waterloo is an ‘eye opening’ example of what can happen to us as a result of these selfish goals, which we, through our lack of sophistication, have allowed to happen.
Our problems are not due to lousy politicians and CEOs but our problems are due to our lack of intellectual sophistication.
“We have met the enemy and it is us. Pogo
“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Edison
“Intellectual sophistication is 1% inspiration and 99% the study of the books written by great minds. coberst
Jerry Seinfeld, Meryl Strep, and Intellectual Sophistication
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Jerry Seinfeld, Meryl Strep, and Intellectual Sophistication
Not everyone has the capacity for intellectual sophistication, as this quality is a talent or a gift.
I agree. Meryl Streep is very talented. She mesmerizes me on film.
I agree. Meryl Streep is very talented. She mesmerizes me on film.
Life is a Highway. Let's share the Commute.
Jerry Seinfeld, Meryl Strep, and Intellectual Sophistication
And who determines which books are written by great minds?
Jerry Seinfeld, Meryl Strep, and Intellectual Sophistication
I wonder sometimes Coberst, that if I asked you the time, would you reply with just the time or explain to me why it is the time it is.
Jerry Seinfeld, Meryl Strep, and Intellectual Sophistication
SEINFELD was the best!
still watch the repeats.
still watch the repeats.
Life is just to short for drama.
Jerry Seinfeld, Meryl Strep, and Intellectual Sophistication
Devonin;1069987 wrote: And who determines which books are written by great minds?
It is a matter of judment that we all must be prepared to do throughout our life. That is why it is so important for us to make the effort to learn CT (Critical Thinking).
The first step toward solving our problems is to learn CT (Critical Thinking).
CT is an acronym for Critical Thinking. Everybody considers themselves to be a critical thinker. That is why we need to differentiate among different levels of critical thinking.
Most people fall in the category that I call Reagan thinkers—trust but verify. Then there are those who have taken the basic college course taught by the philosophy dept that I call Logic 101. This is a credit course that teaches the basic principles of reasoning. Of course, a person need not take the college course and can learn the matter on their own effort, but I suspect few do that.
The third level I call CT (Critical Thinking). CT includes the knowledge of Logic 101 and also the knowledge that focuses upon the intellectual character and attitude of critical thinking. It includes knowledge regarding the ego and social centric forces that impede rational thinking.
Most decisions we have to make are judgment calls. A judgment call is made when we must make a decision when there is no “true or “false answers. When we make a judgment call our decision is bad, good, or better.
Many factors are involved: there are the available facts, assumptions, skills, knowledge, and especially personal experience and attitude. I think that the two most important elements in the mix are personal experience and attitude.
When we study math we learn how to use various algorithms to facilitate our skill in dealing with quantities. If we never studied math we could deal with quantity on a primary level but our quantifying ability would be minimal. Likewise with making judgments; if we study the art and science of good judgment we can make better decisions and if we never study the art and science of judgment our decision ability will remain minimal.
I am convinced that a fundamental problem we have in this country (USA) is that our citizens have never learned the art and science of good judgment. Before the recent introduction of CT into our schools and colleges our young people have been taught primarily what to think and not how to think. All of us graduated with insufficient comprehension of the knowledge, skills, and attitude necessary for the formulation of good judgment. The result of this inability to make good judgment is evident and is dangerous.
I am primarily interested in the judgment that adults exercise in regard to public issues. Of course, any improvement in judgment generally will affect both personal and community matters.
To put the matter into a nut shell:
1. Normal men and women can significantly improve their ability to make judgments.
2. CT is the domain of knowledge that delineates the knowledge, skills, and intellectual character demanded for good judgment.
3. CT has been introduced into our schools and colleges slowly in the last two or three decades.
4. Few of today’s adults were ever taught CT.
5. I suspect that at least another two generations will pass before our society reaps significant rewards resulting from teaching CT to our children.
6. Can our democracy survive that long?
7. I think that every effort must be made to convince today’s adults that they need to study and learn CT on their own. I am not suggesting that adults find a teacher but I am suggesting that adults become self-actualizing learners.
8. I am convinced that learning the art and science of Critical Thinking is an important step toward becoming a better citizen in today’s democratic society.
It is a matter of judment that we all must be prepared to do throughout our life. That is why it is so important for us to make the effort to learn CT (Critical Thinking).
The first step toward solving our problems is to learn CT (Critical Thinking).
CT is an acronym for Critical Thinking. Everybody considers themselves to be a critical thinker. That is why we need to differentiate among different levels of critical thinking.
Most people fall in the category that I call Reagan thinkers—trust but verify. Then there are those who have taken the basic college course taught by the philosophy dept that I call Logic 101. This is a credit course that teaches the basic principles of reasoning. Of course, a person need not take the college course and can learn the matter on their own effort, but I suspect few do that.
The third level I call CT (Critical Thinking). CT includes the knowledge of Logic 101 and also the knowledge that focuses upon the intellectual character and attitude of critical thinking. It includes knowledge regarding the ego and social centric forces that impede rational thinking.
Most decisions we have to make are judgment calls. A judgment call is made when we must make a decision when there is no “true or “false answers. When we make a judgment call our decision is bad, good, or better.
Many factors are involved: there are the available facts, assumptions, skills, knowledge, and especially personal experience and attitude. I think that the two most important elements in the mix are personal experience and attitude.
When we study math we learn how to use various algorithms to facilitate our skill in dealing with quantities. If we never studied math we could deal with quantity on a primary level but our quantifying ability would be minimal. Likewise with making judgments; if we study the art and science of good judgment we can make better decisions and if we never study the art and science of judgment our decision ability will remain minimal.
I am convinced that a fundamental problem we have in this country (USA) is that our citizens have never learned the art and science of good judgment. Before the recent introduction of CT into our schools and colleges our young people have been taught primarily what to think and not how to think. All of us graduated with insufficient comprehension of the knowledge, skills, and attitude necessary for the formulation of good judgment. The result of this inability to make good judgment is evident and is dangerous.
I am primarily interested in the judgment that adults exercise in regard to public issues. Of course, any improvement in judgment generally will affect both personal and community matters.
To put the matter into a nut shell:
1. Normal men and women can significantly improve their ability to make judgments.
2. CT is the domain of knowledge that delineates the knowledge, skills, and intellectual character demanded for good judgment.
3. CT has been introduced into our schools and colleges slowly in the last two or three decades.
4. Few of today’s adults were ever taught CT.
5. I suspect that at least another two generations will pass before our society reaps significant rewards resulting from teaching CT to our children.
6. Can our democracy survive that long?
7. I think that every effort must be made to convince today’s adults that they need to study and learn CT on their own. I am not suggesting that adults find a teacher but I am suggesting that adults become self-actualizing learners.
8. I am convinced that learning the art and science of Critical Thinking is an important step toward becoming a better citizen in today’s democratic society.
Jerry Seinfeld, Meryl Strep, and Intellectual Sophistication
Lon;1070003 wrote: I wonder sometimes Coberst, that if I asked you the time, would you reply with just the time or explain to me why it is the time it is.
Time, motion, and change are such basic philosophical concepts that we see them being considered by all philosophers throughout Western philosophical thinking. These are fundamental concepts about which philosophers theorize and they are fundamental concepts about which every DickandJane deal with constantly in their ever-day actions and thoughts.
All of these concepts are abstract ideas that are constructed of multiple metaphors resulting from literal ever-day experiences. Our society thinks of metaphors as being the venue of poets; however, metaphors are not arbitrary or culturally and historically specific. “Rather, they tend to be normal, conventional, relatively fixed and stable, non arbitrary, and widespread throughout the cultures, and languages of the world
Most importantly we must recognize these metaphors as being abstract but also that they are grounded in specific experiences.
Philosophers have theorized as to whether time really is; is it bounded, is it continuous or divided, does it flow like a river, is time the same to everyone, and is it long or short. These are common questions for DickandJane but philosophy seems to discount most of these human quizzes as being irrelevant. Often philosophers point out paradoxes embodied within these questions.
We have a rich and diverse notion of what time is. Time is not a thing-in-itself that we conceptualize as being independent. “All of our understandings of time are relative to other concepts such as motion, space, and events ¦We define time by metonymy: successive iterations of a type of event stand for intervals of “time. Consequentially, the basic literal properties of our concept of time are consequences of properties of events: Time is directional, irreversible, segmentable, continuous, and measurable.
We do have an experience of time but that experience is always in conjunction with our real experiences of events. “It also means that our experience of time is dependent on our embodied conceptualization of time in terms of events¦Experience does not always come prior to conceptualization, because conceptualization is itself embodied. Further, it means that our experience of time is grounded in other experiences, the experiences of events.
It is virtually impossible for us to conceptualize time as a stand alone concept without metaphor. Physics defines motion, i.e. velocity, in terms of distance and time, thereby indicating motion is secondary to time and distance. However, metaphorically we appear to place time as dependent upon the primitive sense of motion. “There is an area of our visual system of our brain that is dedicated to the processing of motion.
MOVING TIME METAPHOR
“There is a lone, stationary observer facing in a fixed direction. There is an indefinite long sequence of objects moving past the observer from front to back. The moving objects are conceptualized as having fronts in their direction of motion.
The time has long past for that answer. The time has come. Time flies by. Summer is almost past. I can see the face of trouble. I cannot face the future. The following days will tell the story.
In this metaphor I conceptualize time as an object moving toward me. The times that are in front of me are conceptualized as the future and the times that have passed me are the past. The present time is that time that is now beside me. This is why we speak of the here and now. My position is a reference point, thus tomorrow is before me and yesterday is past me. I can see the future and the past is gone forever.
MOVING OBSERVER or TIME’S LANDSCAPE
The second major metaphor for time represents a moving observer wherein the present is the position on the path in which the observer is positioned.
In this metaphor the observer is moving through time. Time is a path that I move through. Time, i.e. the path can be long or short, time can be bounded.
There is trouble ahead. Let’s spread this project over several days. We reached summer already.
In this metaphor we construct temporal correlates with distance measurements: long, short, pass, through, over, down the road, etc.
Quotes from "Philosophy in the Flesh"
Time, motion, and change are such basic philosophical concepts that we see them being considered by all philosophers throughout Western philosophical thinking. These are fundamental concepts about which philosophers theorize and they are fundamental concepts about which every DickandJane deal with constantly in their ever-day actions and thoughts.
All of these concepts are abstract ideas that are constructed of multiple metaphors resulting from literal ever-day experiences. Our society thinks of metaphors as being the venue of poets; however, metaphors are not arbitrary or culturally and historically specific. “Rather, they tend to be normal, conventional, relatively fixed and stable, non arbitrary, and widespread throughout the cultures, and languages of the world
Most importantly we must recognize these metaphors as being abstract but also that they are grounded in specific experiences.
Philosophers have theorized as to whether time really is; is it bounded, is it continuous or divided, does it flow like a river, is time the same to everyone, and is it long or short. These are common questions for DickandJane but philosophy seems to discount most of these human quizzes as being irrelevant. Often philosophers point out paradoxes embodied within these questions.
We have a rich and diverse notion of what time is. Time is not a thing-in-itself that we conceptualize as being independent. “All of our understandings of time are relative to other concepts such as motion, space, and events ¦We define time by metonymy: successive iterations of a type of event stand for intervals of “time. Consequentially, the basic literal properties of our concept of time are consequences of properties of events: Time is directional, irreversible, segmentable, continuous, and measurable.
We do have an experience of time but that experience is always in conjunction with our real experiences of events. “It also means that our experience of time is dependent on our embodied conceptualization of time in terms of events¦Experience does not always come prior to conceptualization, because conceptualization is itself embodied. Further, it means that our experience of time is grounded in other experiences, the experiences of events.
It is virtually impossible for us to conceptualize time as a stand alone concept without metaphor. Physics defines motion, i.e. velocity, in terms of distance and time, thereby indicating motion is secondary to time and distance. However, metaphorically we appear to place time as dependent upon the primitive sense of motion. “There is an area of our visual system of our brain that is dedicated to the processing of motion.
MOVING TIME METAPHOR
“There is a lone, stationary observer facing in a fixed direction. There is an indefinite long sequence of objects moving past the observer from front to back. The moving objects are conceptualized as having fronts in their direction of motion.
The time has long past for that answer. The time has come. Time flies by. Summer is almost past. I can see the face of trouble. I cannot face the future. The following days will tell the story.
In this metaphor I conceptualize time as an object moving toward me. The times that are in front of me are conceptualized as the future and the times that have passed me are the past. The present time is that time that is now beside me. This is why we speak of the here and now. My position is a reference point, thus tomorrow is before me and yesterday is past me. I can see the future and the past is gone forever.
MOVING OBSERVER or TIME’S LANDSCAPE
The second major metaphor for time represents a moving observer wherein the present is the position on the path in which the observer is positioned.
In this metaphor the observer is moving through time. Time is a path that I move through. Time, i.e. the path can be long or short, time can be bounded.
There is trouble ahead. Let’s spread this project over several days. We reached summer already.
In this metaphor we construct temporal correlates with distance measurements: long, short, pass, through, over, down the road, etc.
Quotes from "Philosophy in the Flesh"
Jerry Seinfeld, Meryl Strep, and Intellectual Sophistication
I'll note that he didn't even include what time it was, even if just to be amusing.
Also his first response is a copy/paste from his earlier thread "CT: The art and science of good judgment"
There's my question for Coberst: Do you just have this massive database of pre-written posts sorted by subject, and any time a suitable discussion gets going, just crack out a relevant pre-saved passage? Or do you actually go back through your previous threads looking to see if you've already said what you're wanting to say now instead of writing it out fresh?
Also his first response is a copy/paste from his earlier thread "CT: The art and science of good judgment"
There's my question for Coberst: Do you just have this massive database of pre-written posts sorted by subject, and any time a suitable discussion gets going, just crack out a relevant pre-saved passage? Or do you actually go back through your previous threads looking to see if you've already said what you're wanting to say now instead of writing it out fresh?
Jerry Seinfeld, Meryl Strep, and Intellectual Sophistication
Devonin;1070974 wrote: I'll note that he didn't even include what time it was, even if just to be amusing.
Also his first response is a copy/paste from his earlier thread "CT: The art and science of good judgment"
There's my question for Coberst: Do you just have this massive database of pre-written posts sorted by subject, and any time a suitable discussion gets going, just crack out a relevant pre-saved passage? Or do you actually go back through your previous threads looking to see if you've already said what you're wanting to say now instead of writing it out fresh?
I work hard at preparing an "essay" on something that I think is fundamental and important. I keep these essays on my computer so that when the occasion arises I post the best that I have to offer. Sometimes I must modify an old essay based upon more knowledge and sometimes I have nothing to add.
From what I have observed in these last 5 years posting on the Internet most people grab whatever is flying by in their head at the time. That is why I advise that one does not depend upon the Internet to learn anything significant; however, the Internet is a good place to encounter new ideas worthy of exploration.
Also his first response is a copy/paste from his earlier thread "CT: The art and science of good judgment"
There's my question for Coberst: Do you just have this massive database of pre-written posts sorted by subject, and any time a suitable discussion gets going, just crack out a relevant pre-saved passage? Or do you actually go back through your previous threads looking to see if you've already said what you're wanting to say now instead of writing it out fresh?
I work hard at preparing an "essay" on something that I think is fundamental and important. I keep these essays on my computer so that when the occasion arises I post the best that I have to offer. Sometimes I must modify an old essay based upon more knowledge and sometimes I have nothing to add.
From what I have observed in these last 5 years posting on the Internet most people grab whatever is flying by in their head at the time. That is why I advise that one does not depend upon the Internet to learn anything significant; however, the Internet is a good place to encounter new ideas worthy of exploration.
Jerry Seinfeld, Meryl Strep, and Intellectual Sophistication
Wow........... typing CT 7 times in three sentences makes one a CT eh?
Quote coberst:
"It is a matter of judment that we all must be prepared to do throughout our life. That is why it is so important for us to make the effort to learn CT (Critical Thinking).
The first step toward solving our problems is to learn CT (Critical Thinking).
CT is an acronym for Critical Thinking. Everybody considers themselves to be a critical thinker. That is why we need to differentiate among different levels of critical thinking."
Quote coberst:
"It is a matter of judment that we all must be prepared to do throughout our life. That is why it is so important for us to make the effort to learn CT (Critical Thinking).
The first step toward solving our problems is to learn CT (Critical Thinking).
CT is an acronym for Critical Thinking. Everybody considers themselves to be a critical thinker. That is why we need to differentiate among different levels of critical thinking."
"If America Was A Tree, The Left Would Root For The Termites...Greg Gutfeld."
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Jerry Seinfeld, Meryl Strep, and Intellectual Sophistication
Yes, I agree Seinfeild was good. But, Scrubs and reno 911 are also good.