[KLUG Advocacy] Re:Very cool article about using open source in the home!!!

Adam Tauno Williams adam at morrison-ind.com
Fri Oct 1 14:00:53 EDT 2004


> Are you a pessimist? 

Pessimism : "a vague general opinion that pain and evil predominate in human
affairs".

Absolutely.

> If so, I am too, and I've been thinking about starting a club.
> Wanna join?  We could call it the "Pessimist's Club".  
> Optimists have their own club, so why not?
> On second though, even though there are a lot of pessimists, we'll never
> get enough people to join.  And it'll be a pain to organize.  And we'll
> never get people to volunteer to do any of the work.  And scheduling
> meetings at a time good for everyone will be a hassle.  And finding a
> meeting location will be next to impossible.  And people will be too
> cheap to pay dues.  And then we have to decide on something to be
> pessimistic about at the meetings.  And there is all the legal hassle of
> becoming a legal organization.  And lawyer fees.  And our lawyers won't
> like us being pessimistic about the legal system.  And, ah, screw it.
> Forget I mentioned the idea.  It'll never work!!!   ;->

Nah, thats apathy, not pessimism.

"The thinker who sees man confronted by the infinite non-moral forces presumed
by natural pantheism inevitably predominating over the finite powers of men may
appear to the modern Christian theologian or to the evolutionist as a hopeless
pessimist, and yet may himself have concluded that, though the future holds out
no prospect save that of annihilation, man may yet by prudence and care enjoy a
considerable measure of happiness. Pessimism, therefore, depends upon the
individual point of view, and the term is frequently used merely in a
condemnatory sense by hostile critics."


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