On the Nature of Things | Forum

Simple Minded wrote:Life is so full of irony!

individualist..... now there is a term that will never attain a commonly accepted definition.......

If any two people agree on a common definition, by definition, neither one of them can be an individualist. And since one of life's primary maxims is:

"It takes one to know one!"

An intellectual black hole gents........ stay back!

Parodite wrote:

Simple Minded wrote:Life is so full of irony!

individualist..... now there is a term that will never attain a commonly accepted definition.......

If any two people agree on a common definition, by definition, neither one of them can be an individualist. And since one of life's primary maxims is:

"It takes one to know one!"

An intellectual black hole gents........ stay back!

Indeed right on bro! I do think you are a wonderful rugged individualist.. no matter what others say!

manolo wrote:Nonc,

You don't know that I'm a Scot.

Alex.

Nonc Hilaire wrote:Picts or it didn't happen.

Simple Minded wrote:I think it means you can't be cloned, and, you have never submitted anything to Wikipedia, nor ever looked up anything on Wikipedia.

Am I right?

YMix wrote:

Simple Minded wrote:I think it means you can't be cloned, and, you have never submitted anything to Wikipedia, nor ever looked up anything on Wikipedia.

Am I right?

Maybe rugged individualists don't even mate and instead reproduce by fission.

Nonc Hilaire wrote: A Scot you say? I'm not sure I believe you. Picts or it didn't happen.

YMix wrote:Rugged individualists are the crazies in the environment. I doubt that Amazonian tribals see themselves as anything other than members of small communities. The idea of individualism has probably not occurred to them.

Nonc Hilaire wrote:

manolo wrote:Folks,

I'm a rugged individualist.

Alex.

Go for it. You can wear the same underwear for four days with proper rotation

NapLajoieonSteroids wrote:There's a long history of Americans viewing the US federal government with antagonism, almost like it were an occupying power; it manifests in a lot of ways- rugged individualism being one of them.

If you're looking for rugged individualists, you should start looking for places with similar federal government antagonisms.

Parodite wrote:Mr.P. coined the term (in the polygamy thread) rugged individualism. What is a rugged individualist?

I imagine a rugged individualist as somebody who wants everybody mind their own business. S/he doesn't want to be interfered with. Live and let live, to each his own. Small central gvt etc.

Which is why Mr.P. puzzles me. No doubt he considers himself a rugged individualist. Yet he bothers a lot with other people, especially democrats, liberals and Obama. Why do they bother him so much? He could easily choose to don't give a damn about all the crazies in the environment. And just attend to his private property, his family and gun collection. Remain entirely indifferent to his wider environment, and just take it as any wider environment where you go hunting.

Indians in the Amazon live like that. The forest is full of enemies, juicy fruits and prey to hunt. No need to get political about it, hysterical, let alone paranoid-psychotic. It is pointless to talk to snakes or plants explaining them that their politics sucks. You would become the village fool of the rain forest.

Nonc Hilaire wrote:Homeless people are rugged individualists.

Typhoon wrote:

NapLajoieonSteroids wrote:There's a long history of Americans viewing the US federal government with antagonism, almost like it were an occupying power; it manifests in a lot of ways- rugged individualism being one of them.

If you're looking for rugged individualists, you should start looking for places with similar federal government antagonisms.

That's an interesting observation.

Every country gets the government that they deserve.

In some countries, such as Japan and France, government service for the most highly educated is a traditional choice.

In the US, this seems to be the case in only the very highest levels of government.

Nonc Hilaire wrote:Pretty good metric, noddy.

Typhoon wrote:

Nonc Hilaire wrote:Homeless people are rugged individualists.

Indeed.

Parodite wrote:A true rugged individualist only has an ego.. not a "wego" alias group-ego. They only care about themselves.

However also groups - where people think almost alike and individual interests are aligned - can behave like one single rugged individualist. They only care about the group they belong to, mainly because their rugged personal interests are intertwined with those of others in that group. Labor unions are a good example of some very rugged individualist wego groups. Or any religious sekt, political parties.. or just a family..

For the recoerd, I don't think there is anything wrong with any form of rugged individualism. We all are rugged individualists.

So what does it mean to not be a rugged individualist? Is such a thing possible? I think it can be very dangerous to try and wanna be something else than a rugged individualist.

Endovelico wrote:

Parodite wrote:A true rugged individualist only has an ego.. not a "wego" alias group-ego. They only care about themselves.

However also groups - where people think almost alike and individual interests are aligned - can behave like one single rugged individualist. They only care about the group they belong to, mainly because their rugged personal interests are intertwined with those of others in that group. Labor unions are a good example of some very rugged individualist wego groups. Or any religious sekt, political parties.. or just a family..

For the recoerd, I don't think there is anything wrong with any form of rugged individualism. We all are rugged individualists.

So what does it mean to not be a rugged individualist? Is such a thing possible? I think it can be very dangerous to try and wanna be something else than a rugged individualist.

If we were all rugged individualists and behaved accordingly, we would all be dead... It's living in society and caring for each other that keeps us alive.