The Interview Meme continues...
Jun. 23rd, 2003 10:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tcpipQuestions from darkstardeity
1) I don't really know you all that well. If you were to pick a handful of traits to give me a better idea of who you are (the "essential Lev", so to speak) what would they be?
2) Many Socialists believe that there is no such thing as "the private sphere", that all acts are intrinsically political. Even something as seemingly innocuous as buying a pair of joggers or deciding what to eat can have social and/or political reverberations. To what extent do you subscribe to this theory? Are all acts political or are there some acts that are (or can be) private acts? And is it possible to always act in a way that is politically "correct" or are there times when pragmatics dictate that one must sometimes act in a way that does not fit one's political convictions?
3) You've chosen a life of "doing" over a life of "being". Do you ever regret that choice? Knowing your own traits and predilections, could you have chosen otherwise?
4) If you could be remembered for just one thing, what would you most like that thing to be?
5) What do you most enjoy doing when you have some downtime away from your responsibilities?
1) In general, a rationalist in thought and an epicurean in sensuality; in public life, a political anarchist and a religous Unitarian (which is to say, I have no religion at all but rather a church); academically, a multidisciplinarian and philosopher, with interests in the sciences, social inquiry and the arts and the knowledge that holds it altogether. In my personal life I am very independent and take domestic and financial responsibilities with significant seriousness; likewise I prefer to associate with mentally secure, financially dependable and honest people. Apparently they are quite rare.
2) There is more than an element of truth in that socialist description. After all, almost every product that we purchase is the result of institutional social activity, which means political and economic relations. Nevertheless to attempt to politically control such activities on an individual level I think is an excersise in futility. Further, I think the distinction between public and private I think is a flawed one, rather one should be looking at 'social' and 'personal'. "Public" and "private" is invariably used relation to forms of property ownership, rather than the pragmatics of activity. Viewed in this manner, yes, there are personal acts which be utterly excluded from political debate.
3) Do I regret not being the sort of person who can just take long walks on the beach day after day without a care in the world? Well, matter of fact I do. Could I have chosen otherwise or even choose such a lifestyle now? Certainly. It would require me totally truncuating my interest in the social world, perhaps emphasizing the internal or objective worlds instead, oops that would be doing now wouldn't it? I would have to forget about the living conditions of the most people, or at the very least decide it was too great a problem for me to confront in any serious way.
I'm good at managing time. I would have the internal discipline to do something like this for a while. If I thought time navel-gazing, or just watching the world go by would be a useful or relevant I could do it. The difficulty is my ego security comes the profoundly insecure fact that I am one person among 4.5 billion or so, and my lifespan is somewhere around three score and ten years and the species has some tens of thousands in experience. Sure, I could just "be" and recognize that even the most Promethean efforts are merely a drop in the ocean. Or I can "do" and recognize that those drops are what makes up the ocean.
4) Making the institutional family, private property and the nation-state an irrelevancy? Contributing to ideas on global and universal ethics? A cure for cancer? (Yes, I have some ideas about that as well) Any of those would be nice. Hey, so I aim high.
5) That's a hard one, because downtime is such an unusual concept. Reading livejournal, the more sociable mailing lists and personal email makes up a fair bit of my social life these days. A favourite computer game depending on mood; FreeCiv has kept me going for a while, but I want something new now. I miss participating in role-playing games. I do enjoy the natural environment and walking along the beach in the evening is really pleasant if I still have the energy for it - or I'm not still working. I used to like cycling, but the current environment is poorly suited to such activity. Currently, I am planning a holiday that will take me through Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei. I like to travel.
1) I don't really know you all that well. If you were to pick a handful of traits to give me a better idea of who you are (the "essential Lev", so to speak) what would they be?
2) Many Socialists believe that there is no such thing as "the private sphere", that all acts are intrinsically political. Even something as seemingly innocuous as buying a pair of joggers or deciding what to eat can have social and/or political reverberations. To what extent do you subscribe to this theory? Are all acts political or are there some acts that are (or can be) private acts? And is it possible to always act in a way that is politically "correct" or are there times when pragmatics dictate that one must sometimes act in a way that does not fit one's political convictions?
3) You've chosen a life of "doing" over a life of "being". Do you ever regret that choice? Knowing your own traits and predilections, could you have chosen otherwise?
4) If you could be remembered for just one thing, what would you most like that thing to be?
5) What do you most enjoy doing when you have some downtime away from your responsibilities?
1) In general, a rationalist in thought and an epicurean in sensuality; in public life, a political anarchist and a religous Unitarian (which is to say, I have no religion at all but rather a church); academically, a multidisciplinarian and philosopher, with interests in the sciences, social inquiry and the arts and the knowledge that holds it altogether. In my personal life I am very independent and take domestic and financial responsibilities with significant seriousness; likewise I prefer to associate with mentally secure, financially dependable and honest people. Apparently they are quite rare.
2) There is more than an element of truth in that socialist description. After all, almost every product that we purchase is the result of institutional social activity, which means political and economic relations. Nevertheless to attempt to politically control such activities on an individual level I think is an excersise in futility. Further, I think the distinction between public and private I think is a flawed one, rather one should be looking at 'social' and 'personal'. "Public" and "private" is invariably used relation to forms of property ownership, rather than the pragmatics of activity. Viewed in this manner, yes, there are personal acts which be utterly excluded from political debate.
3) Do I regret not being the sort of person who can just take long walks on the beach day after day without a care in the world? Well, matter of fact I do. Could I have chosen otherwise or even choose such a lifestyle now? Certainly. It would require me totally truncuating my interest in the social world, perhaps emphasizing the internal or objective worlds instead, oops that would be doing now wouldn't it? I would have to forget about the living conditions of the most people, or at the very least decide it was too great a problem for me to confront in any serious way.
I'm good at managing time. I would have the internal discipline to do something like this for a while. If I thought time navel-gazing, or just watching the world go by would be a useful or relevant I could do it. The difficulty is my ego security comes the profoundly insecure fact that I am one person among 4.5 billion or so, and my lifespan is somewhere around three score and ten years and the species has some tens of thousands in experience. Sure, I could just "be" and recognize that even the most Promethean efforts are merely a drop in the ocean. Or I can "do" and recognize that those drops are what makes up the ocean.
4) Making the institutional family, private property and the nation-state an irrelevancy? Contributing to ideas on global and universal ethics? A cure for cancer? (Yes, I have some ideas about that as well) Any of those would be nice. Hey, so I aim high.
5) That's a hard one, because downtime is such an unusual concept. Reading livejournal, the more sociable mailing lists and personal email makes up a fair bit of my social life these days. A favourite computer game depending on mood; FreeCiv has kept me going for a while, but I want something new now. I miss participating in role-playing games. I do enjoy the natural environment and walking along the beach in the evening is really pleasant if I still have the energy for it - or I'm not still working. I used to like cycling, but the current environment is poorly suited to such activity. Currently, I am planning a holiday that will take me through Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei. I like to travel.
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no subject
Date: 2003-06-22 07:31 pm (UTC)this is the statement that touched me
i shan't be providing you with any questions like that, but i did enjoy reading your answers :)