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                       Is Man the Measure?
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 Protagoras' famous and influential declaration that "Man is the
measure of all things" was based upon the idea that all judgments
and knowledge are  relative to the person doing the judging or
knowing. Some think that such a view of reality is manifestly
false and was discarded long ago.
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 But it was never actually "proved" to be false, and is still
widely discussed in contemporary philosophy. Indeed, the entire
history of philosophy can be seen as a kind of elaborate
commentary and expansion on what the ancient Greek philosopher
Protagoras observed 25 centuries ago.
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 Consider Descartes' famous outburst, "I think, therefore I am";
which could be more accurately stated as 'I am, therefore I
think'. It's just a matter of first principles: start with what
you know, and build from there.
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 Consider also the further example of time. The mundane empirical
mind supposes that time is made up of a sequence of discrete
units (seconds, minutes, hours, etc) such that time can be
objectively "measured" by simply adding up however many seconds
it took for something to happen.
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 But time is not really like a set of tiny bricks set forth in
neat and tidy rows and columns. In reality, time is much more
like a stream constantly flowing from the past to the future,
sometimes faster, sometimes slower, depending on the rate of
changes that occur. Thus we can be sure (even to the point of
certainty) that the ancient Egyptians (4X) experienced time in
a very different way from that of post-modern man with his fast-
paced world of 24/7.
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 All of this clearly demonstrates to us that man is indeed
"the measure of all things"!
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         - the almost measureless one - cybrwurrm ;>
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Philosophy of Batman!

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              On How to Spot an Outsider!
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Robin: I hate these two's-a-crowd moods of his.
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Alfred: He's always alone, Timothy, even in a crowd.
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[from Batman #487]
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On the Importance of Watching Your Guts!

"You must never ignore your intuitions.
Detective work is often made up of intangibles.
It's looking for the out-of-place, the unusual
... even the unthinkable." -- Alfred in Batman #467
 

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        On Being All in the Mind
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Bruce: It's "All in my mind"?
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Dr Gribbens: Not quite. I'm saying the EFFECTS may be
very physical indeed, even if the cause is not.
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B: But the cause IS all in my mind?
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G: The mind is very complex, Mr Wayne, not a simple
box of thoughts which can be separated from the body.
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[from Batman #487]
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On How to Solve Problems:

"There's little time for creative thinking when
you're constantly reacting to events. Sometimes
the best way to solve problems is to remove
yourself from them ... if only for a while."

-- Batman / in Batman #448, 1990
 

 

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               On Interogating Demons
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[Deadman, Chimu, and Batman are in the jungles of
South America, making their way to the Lost City]
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C: I will ask you only one more time.
C: Are you CERTAIN you are not a demon?
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B: I am.
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C: Certain? Or a Demon?
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B: CERTAIN!
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C: Very well.
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[... Later on ...]
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B: Thank you, Chimu. We can find our own way from here.
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D: So we climbed all the way up here for nothin'.
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B: No. For a view of those three peaks.
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C: Hey, Demon of the Night!
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[Batman turns to look at Chimu]
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C: Hah! Caught you!
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C: If you are not a demon, why did you turn?
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B: To see the demon you were calling, Chimu.
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C: Good answer, demon. I shall miss you.
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-- from Batman 531 / Moench & Jones
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                                     A CHOICE DEBATE!
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Batman: Unlike *you*, Etrigan - and unlike the Joker - I *am* capable
of choice, and I *made* my choice long ago: to oppose evil in its
every form.
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Etrigan: Then this belief you've held so long is sheer folly and fully
wrong. For, the moment your decision was given voice, you forever
surrendered any and all choice. You're just like me, fates blind tool;
and both of us are just like the Joker-fool.
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                                           [by D.Moench in Batman #546]
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Anarky [speaking to B]: "Irrationality cripples the conscious mind. For all recorded history, the elites have used that fact to blind, hypnotize and manipulate the common man. They feed him a diet of lies, hardship, and war, while they feast like leeches on the fruit of his labor. The only defense against them is honesty. Now the fetters of irrationality are smashed! Human creativity will soar. All the billions spent on causing death will be ploughed back into life. There's no stopping us, Yap. A new era has begun."  [by D.Moench in Anarky #4]
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textman

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