@glupson, "Science just discovered in this century that all that exist is consciousness..." Tell that to the guy who is having a heart attack. "Hey, buddy, it is all in your head." Yes, you can debate and philosophise all you want but there's no getting away from the fact that there is not a lot more 'real' than pain. When Bertrand Russell was once asked whether he had any great thoughts as he desperately swam to escape a sinking ship (flying boat) the 76 year old philosopher said he was thinking about getting to the shore. |
@mahgister,
'Man is an eternal soul in a sea of happiness, but he forget it easily especially when he hurt himself with his bowl of soup...
I dont want to be your bowl of soup...'
Most of us are in someone's else's bowl of soup. At least some of the time.
It still doesn't get us any nearer to understanding this nebulous notion of truth and ethics.
Maybe the best we can do is to recall that old adage,
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".
It could even work, it might just, but we'd all have to follow it, not just some of us.
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kennyc,
’All we can do is plan and screen the best that we can then sometimes roll the dice. Most/all of us have been fooled /snookered at least sometime, and chances are it may happen again.’
You’re right, but I wish I still your faith in people (fellow audiophiles largely excepted).
One scam that I’ve fallen for on numerous occasions is buying something used which has replaceable batteries. Far too many times I’ve discovered that although the batteries had leaked and virtually destroyed their contacts, the seller has forgotten to mention this.
Another time I bought used Dell Optiplex 9020 where the seller had forgotten to mention the missing I/O shields. Easy enough to get some aftermarket replacements but as I’d paid a decent price for it, I kind of expected better.
Books and used smartphones have also been a problem area. I once had a graphic novel described as very good condition delivered which was only fit for the bin.
On the other hand there have been some brilliant sellers who went out of their way to be helpful as possible - all the way from their honest and factual adverts to the packaging of the items.
One bookseller, when I told her how pleasantly surprised I was by the condition of the hardback I bought off her, told me she tries to underplay the condition of her books to avoid customer disappointment.
As you say, planning and screening are all important. And as ever, be especially wary of chasing the ultimate bargain. I had a lifetime of watching my dad get regularly stung that way.
I'm not too sure whether he knows any better today! |
@tomcy6
'Unfortunately, honesty has been going out of style for a while.'
Either it is or we're just far better informed now as to what everyone else is doing.
I personally believe that the further we move from the shock and trauma of WW2 the further some forget values such as honour, respect, and honesty.
@millercarbon,
'Look around the world, its plain to see the places where people have the highest degree of trust are also the places with the greatest standards of living.
Unfortunately the guiding principle of today is nihilism. Its essential to the advance of Marxism that the people have no real standard of right and wrong. Among other things. So look around, we are surrounded by nihilists. Until this changes things will continue to go downhill.'
Yes, the advance of Marxism in the West is shocking.
I grew up bemused by the way American life and culture seemed paranoid about communism. Almost every facet of its culture was steeped in suspicion over the evils of communism. Anti- red hysteria was everywhere and covert surveillance seemed the norm. But then something changed.
The collapse of the Soviet Union seems to have given political correctness the green light to start enforcing edicts from above. Throw in the rise of the internet and social media and you suddenly get a generation full of huge resentment towards the existing powers in charge. This is today's version of the Rock and Roll rebellion.
I can't help but notice the way life in the UK has changed over the past few decades. Yet no one talks about the way that we have become a nation now steeped in increasing security measures, cameras in every home, id cards and passes required everywhere, mistrust of all and sundry, all the way to the very top - government and royalty.
The way that the rest of the world used to see the UK is no longer applicable. It's a totally different place, I don't see any 'Bobbies on bicycles'.
Today's UK is a far greater culturally, ethnically, and religiously diverse landscape. It is no longer united and a deep feeling of mistrust pervades amongst all the various conflicting tribes.
How and why did our leaders let this chasm of division happen is now academic. We just have to adapt to the new 'now' - whatever that may be. Life can still be wonderful - same as it ever was.
Just use your eyes and read very carefully when buying online - especially used. I would say around a half of my used purchases on eBay have been less than satisfactory.
Mostly it's down to not what the seller has written, but what they've decided to leave out. I could leave negative feedback but then so might they, and I don't want to lose my 100% rating.
So, yes, I'm quite wary of buying used now.
New stuff tends to be okay.
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@isochronism ,
’Some people are not happy unless they can haggle down, no matter how good of an initial bargain.’
Yes, but now we’re being advised by consumer groups to haggle down on all kinds of things ranging from vehicle insurance, energy provision to broadband contracts.
I personally don’t like it, and I don’t have the personality for it either, but some colleagues at work actually boast about how much they save this way.
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mijostyn, The Tekton idea of using multiple tweeters to cover the entire midrange (and up) seems great in theory because of the reduced mass for the equivalent surface area of a conventional midrange unit. Are they a box that sounds like an electrostatic, without the drawbacks? Apparently they’re not unique. A company in Germany (Concrete Audio acc to 6moons) has a model with 41 tweeters. Intriguingly, the original patent is held by the Fraunhofer Institute. So what’s going on here? What’s the drawback? What’s the truth? Why is it so difficult to establish? Is it simply a human construct relative to the time and location of its conception? Should we ask Bill Clinton? I’m also hoping that Mahgister doesn’t chip in to point out that we’re all nothing more than a collection of disparate atoms held vicariously in a magnetic space field. It might be true, but I can’t see how it helps. https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/tekton2/ |
mapman,
’Whatever happened to taking the high road?’
Whilst the ancient Greeks were taking the high road, the Romans took the short cuts - and we know what happened.
Still, it’s not entirely clear just who the eventual long term winners were.
Audiophiles I’m guessing, are likely to be more Greek than Roman. |
Times change and people have to adapt.
Unfortunately criminals also adapt.
20 years ago I regularly used to see broken glass as car theft was common and car stereos were easily interchangeable.
Nowadays, not so much. Car security has improved and stereos are no longer so easily interchangeable. The criminals have evolved and moved on to easier, possibly more fruitful pastures.
Nowadays, in the age of the Coronavirus we might see an increase in online crime, in telephone scams and no doubt in fraudulent buyers and sellers.
We know banks and financial institutions need to offset considerable sums to protect against fraud. The amounts written off annually are said to be easily in the millions.
Buyers and sellers usually don’t have those kind of safety margins, so both need to beware, and both need to adapt in order to avoid getting hurt or maybe even survive.
Things like PayPal and credit card protection are becoming increasingly necessary, but so is the need for extra vigilance.
The sharing of such knowledge may well be our best defence. |
Everything is in flux. Europe is changing fast under conditions of dissolving hegemony, and even Scandinavian countries are no longer exempt. Civilization needs a belief system, a set of morals and a code to live by. If religion no longer provides that, then what else is there? A slow inevitable stumbling return to war? Mistrust of aristocracy, politicians, the financial sector, and global elite corporations and their intentions is probably at an all time high. As is the world debt. https://www.usdebtclock.org/world-debt-clock.htmlDitto the Doomsday Clock. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_ClockSomething needs to be done - and soon. But just what? |
