Subject:
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Re: Goodness of Man? (was: Re: Merry Christmas from the Libertarian Party
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Sun, 2 Jan 2000 01:42:34 GMT
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Viewed:
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1705 times
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On Sat, 1 Jan 2000 20:49:39 GMT, "John DiRienzo"
<ig88888888@stlnet.com> wrote:
> Jasper Janssen wrote in message <388409e2.919377893@lugnet.com>...
> Their (most inventors, I think) concept of living is far removed from the
> concept held by truly lazy people. They believe in making life easier, so
> as to continue doing so, not so that at some point we can all not work. So
Actually, I believe most inventors (the ones who I've seen
documentaries telling about themselves, which is really all that can
really tell you what they feel) are in it not so much to make life
easier for themselves, but to make big bucks, or to make life easier
for everyone. If they were just in it to make life easier for
themselves, they wouldn't market their inventions (at great trouble
and cost, usually), now would they?
> life easier to live (but not to be lazy). Larry chose Edison as an example,
> and Edison invented the light bulb because:
As a rather bad example, IMHO.
Edison wasn't constructively lazy, he was plain lazy. If he'd wanted
to improve life for everyone, he wouldn't have pushed DC over
what's-his-names' AC for so long, in a battle so hardfought.
He said to the prison administrators the electric chair was to provide
a more painless way of executing people (a properly executed hanging
is much more humane..), and he then turned around and used it as an
example of how dangerous AC was (in reality, DC current is much more
dangerous than AC, because the muscles tend to contract and glue you
to the contact, much more so than AC - I've had 220V AC shocks more
than once (fairly much more than once, actually), but they were never
more than instaneous. If we were all using DC now like Edison wanted
(because that was his patent and thus brought him the bucks), I'd be
dead now. Though some would say that would be a good thing, I
respectfully disagree.
Then there are the occasions where he swiped other people's ideas and
not only marketed them under his own name, but published them as such
as well. I've heard most people say that aside from the lightbulb (and
even that is claimed by some to be mostly the work of his junior lab
assistant), he's never invented anything else, despite what old
encyclopediae might say.
In essence, my view of Edison is mostly that he's a major fraud,
morally bankrupt, the works. Which was part of the reason i went
against Larry there ;)
> 3) it would make his life easier; (in a way) he was lazy, and didn't enjoy
> the tediousness of using oil lamps, when he had better things he could
> devote his time to. Much like I hate to cook bacon in a pan when I can do
> it far more easily and quickly (and just as well) in a microwave.
Bacon doesn't cook in a microwave. Well, cook it does, but it doesn't
fry.
> I don't doubt that. I like reading your arguments; you argue well. Your
> wrong sometimes, but I have agreed with you, too.
Thanks.
Jasper
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