- #106
Evo
Staff Emeritus
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I just read a play adaptation of Medea. Took about 10 minutes. Talk about giving women a bad name.
x2791258 said:I'm reading "Stranger in a strange land", by Heinlein. Not the english version tho.
Pythagorean said:I know the lyrics from Iron Maiden's "stranger in a strange land" by heart. They like turning novels into metal.
arildno said:Right now, I'm reading Roger Collins' "The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710-797".
Curious3141 said:And poems. Don't forget "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".
The difference is that "Stranger" is lyrically unrelated to the Heinlein book, while "Mariner" is very much based on the Coleridge poem.
SW VandeCarr said:I've been reading the US Federal Code (all the Federal laws and regulations in force in the USA). I started in 1982 and I'm currently on page 214,988. I read it because I know everything I read in it is true (by definition).
AnTiFreeze3 said:That sounds like quite the project. How much of it do you think you have retained?
SW VandeCarr said:I don't know. I don't really care. It's a Zen thing. The knowledge that everything I read is absolutely, unconditionally true is all that matters. I started when I worked for Federal Government and I saw that it brought me great respect. Some worshiped me, but I told them I was a mere mortal seeking enlightenment. Some read the Bible, some read the Koran or Hindu scripture. I read the US Federal Code.
FreeMitya said:But there is both objective truth and subjective truth, in my view. To each his own, I guess.
P.S. I did the boldfacing.
SW VandeCarr said:I don't know. I don't really care. It's a Zen thing. The knowledge that everything I read is absolutely, unconditionally true is all that matters. I started when I worked for Federal Government and I saw that it brought me great respect. Some worshiped me, but I told them I was a mere mortal seeking enlightenment. Some read the Bible, some read the Koran or Hindu scripture. I read the US Federal Code.
uneasyrider said:I love it! How cool! It makes me want to do it too. I don't have the patients. The Bible and Moby Dick are on the outer edge of the envelope for me. I can't imagine taking on a project like that! Have fun! I totally understand the understand the reasoning behind this. I've read reference material for the same reasons but nothing that BIG. Cool! :) Think of it! This is actually shaping your mind! There's no way reading all of that can't. There's so much there even if you only hang onto a small fraction it will be a large mass of information. :D
SW VandeCarr said:I think a lot people actually took me seriously! Yes I did read the parts that pertained to the FDA when I worked there. And yes, it did give me a big edge because no one seem to know the "regs" like I did. The idea just came to me when I looked over this thread. The Zen thing is true. I don't have to try to read the some 55 volumes of the full Federal Code to know that reading it will clear the mind of all thought. This is precisely the object of Zen. Now you are ready for enlightenment. Think about one hand clapping. You can't. Read the Code for a while and your mind will become empty (not your memory, just all your stray thoughts). If it doesn't, better seek professional help.
SW VandeCarr said:I think a lot of people actually took me seriously! ...
AnTiFreeze3 said:Judging from the crowd that stops by here, having read the entirety of the Federal Code wouldn't actually seem that odd.
cobalt124 said:Plenty of people read an encycleopedia from cover to cover when they were eight years old, and frequently spent the odd hour or two reading dictionaries. Didn't they?
SW VandeCarr said:I've been reading the US Federal Code (all the Federal laws and regulations in force in the USA). I started in 1982 and I'm currently on page 214,988. I read it because I know everything I read in it is true (by definition).
SW VandeCarr said:I think a lot of people actually took me seriously! Yes I did read the parts that pertained to the FDA when I worked there. And yes, it did give me a big edge because no one seem to know the "regs" like I did. The idea just came to me when I looked over this thread. The Zen thing is true. I don't have to try to read the some 55 volumes of the full Federal Code to know that reading it will clear the mind of all thought. This is precisely the object of Zen. Now you are ready for enlightenment. Think about one hand clapping. You can't. Read the Code for a while and your mind will become empty (not your memory, just all your stray thoughts). If it doesn't, better seek professional help.
Actually I do read it once in a while. It puts me in trance-like state called sleep. Old army field manuals work too. Try reading 14 pages on how to make a tent peg.
Convert a chimp to christianityzoobyshoe said:Jennie by Douglas Preston. A novel exploring the phenomenon of people raising chimps in the home. Apparently Preston researched 4 real life cases in preparation for writing this. There's an interesting comic twist: the minister who lives across the street from the family that is raising Jennie is so impressed by the human-ness of the chimp child, he decides to convert it to Christianity.
zoobyshoe said:Jennie by Douglas Preston. A novel exploring the phenomenon of people raising chimps in the home. Apparently Preston researched 4 real life cases in preparation for writing this. There's an interesting comic twist: the minister who lives across the street from the family that is raising Jennie is so impressed by the human-ness of the chimp child, he decides to convert it to Christianity.