Date: Sat, 8 May 1999 15:10:39 -0400
From: Unka Bart <mendicant-AT-buddhist.com>
Subject: Re: Tornado and Littleton


><< Each of us has control over our own actions.  We may not have control over
> anything else in life, but we do have control over our own actions. >>

Russ wonders:

>THen what controls our level of thinking? Isn't it just a reflection on our
>past?

Before going off an a metaphysical romp with you, russ, old rutababa, tell
me what is the relevance of this question.

>Here's something that your might benefit from writing down and reviewing
>from time to time; the difference between an "excuse" and a "reason."
>
>Let us posit that you fucked up. Your significant other did something that
>pissed you off and you responded in a way that you now see was inappriate.
>
>When called on this to explain *your* actions.
>
>If you said "I fucked up, but she made me do it;" you have offered an
>"excuse."

And russ responds to that last statement with:

>I wouldn't say something like that, but that reson for revenge isn't quite
>what I was getting at.  I'm not saying that immediatly if someone bumped into
>you on the streets, and you punched them, that them pushing you is an
>immediate reason for your action.  What I was saying is that maybe if you
>lived in a tough town where nobody took shit from anyone else, you would be
>more prone to  strike out in such a fashion.  Thats not an excuse.  Thats a
>rationalization.

Excuse and rationalization are equivalent terms as you have used them.

Saying that someone acted in a particular way because of the circumstances
(as in the example you give), merely explains whay they acted or failed to
act in a particular way.  It does not *excuse* the action, it just puts it
into context.

No one made anyone else act in any particular way.  A person acts in the
manner that they choose, from the courses of action available to them, to
act in the manner they did.

><<No.  They "acted that way" because they *chose* to act that way.  If
>someone pissed them off first, then that was only explains that someone
>pissed them off.
>
>It does not explain why they acted in an anti-social manner in responding,
>and it does not necessarily excuse it.>>
>
>What creates choice in the human mind?  What do we base choice off of? Past
>experiences.

See above.

><<Other than politely observing that this is a non-sequitur, I sense that you
>are actually onto something here.  You would do well to look into Zen.
>
>Yer Kindly Ol' Unka Bart>>
>
>I've looked into it, but as of now I'm reading more modern philosiphers.  Ya
>know books that are only like 150 pages long but each page takes half an hour
>to understand.

Then, I reckon you're not ready for Zen yet, afterall.

Yer Kindly Ol' Unka Bart