Comments on: Dreaming of clothed emperors http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2006/09/08/dreaming-of-clothed-emperors/ a blog about information Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:20:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: mind this - by Lars Plougmann http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2006/09/08/dreaming-of-clothed-emperors/comment-page-1/#comment-7163 mind this - by Lars Plougmann Sat, 09 Sep 2006 13:41:30 +0000 http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2006/09/08/dreaming-of-clothed-emperors/#comment-7163 <strong>Phones on planes and how to use a seat belt</strong> You probably think flight safety is important but find it difficult to concentrate on pre-flight safety announcements where much attention is given to how to operate the seat belt and the whole landing-on-water scenario. For a chuckle, read this week's Phones on planes and how to use a seat belt

You probably think flight safety is important but find it difficult to concentrate on pre-flight safety announcements where much attention is given to how to operate the seat belt and the whole landing-on-water scenario. For a chuckle, read this week’s

]]> By: Confused Of Calcutta » Blog Archive » To link or not to link? Chance would be a fine thing http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2006/09/08/dreaming-of-clothed-emperors/comment-page-1/#comment-7068 Confused Of Calcutta » Blog Archive » To link or not to link? Chance would be a fine thing Fri, 08 Sep 2006 22:59:02 +0000 http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2006/09/08/dreaming-of-clothed-emperors/#comment-7068 [...] Following my post on The Economist’s article on truthful inflight announcements, Peeter Marvet pointed me at this story in a Toronto blog. Fundamentally someone at the Economist wrote to a number of bloggers, inviting them to cover and “scoop” the story,  as a seeded experiment. [...] [...] Following my post on The Economist’s article on truthful inflight announcements, Peeter Marvet pointed me at this story in a Toronto blog. Fundamentally someone at the Economist wrote to a number of bloggers, inviting them to cover and “scoop” the story,  as a seeded experiment. [...]

]]> By: JP http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2006/09/08/dreaming-of-clothed-emperors/comment-page-1/#comment-7061 JP Fri, 08 Sep 2006 22:30:12 +0000 http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2006/09/08/dreaming-of-clothed-emperors/#comment-7061 Hey Peeter, thanks. I'm going to post your reply as a post by itself.... Hey Peeter, thanks. I’m going to post your reply as a post by itself….

]]> By: Peeter Marvet http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2006/09/08/dreaming-of-clothed-emperors/comment-page-1/#comment-7054 Peeter Marvet Fri, 08 Sep 2006 21:16:22 +0000 http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2006/09/08/dreaming-of-clothed-emperors/#comment-7054 hmm, see this: http://theclientside.blogspot.com/2006/09/economist-experiment.html I hope people at the Economist are reading this and will implement linkability at least to this article before I forget they ever had some kind of an experiment with blogosphere... hmm, see this: http://theclientside.blogspot.com/2006/09/economist-experiment.html

I hope people at the Economist are reading this and will implement linkability at least to this article before I forget they ever had some kind of an experiment with blogosphere…

]]> By: rama http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2006/09/08/dreaming-of-clothed-emperors/comment-page-1/#comment-7035 rama Fri, 08 Sep 2006 16:25:38 +0000 http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2006/09/08/dreaming-of-clothed-emperors/#comment-7035 Hi JP, I haven't received the latest Economist yet, so I wait to read the article. As I was reading your post - it struck me that this is the situation reg. government, non-profits, and then saw that you had written that as well. A whole concert of naked (and not at all pretty sight) emperors is going on in the world around us. This is indeed a time for incendiary actions, in the interest of good scenery, if nothing else! (I remember you saying that Fr Jores of SXC told you: Don't spoil my scenery!". Best, chutki Hi JP, I haven’t received the latest Economist yet, so I wait to read the article. As I was reading your post – it struck me that this is the situation reg. government, non-profits, and then saw that you had written that as well.

A whole concert of naked (and not at all pretty sight) emperors is going on in the world around us. This is indeed a time for incendiary actions, in the interest of good scenery, if nothing else! (I remember you saying that Fr Jores of SXC told you: Don’t spoil my scenery!”. Best, chutki

]]> By: Stephen Smoliar http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2006/09/08/dreaming-of-clothed-emperors/comment-page-1/#comment-7028 Stephen Smoliar Fri, 08 Sep 2006 15:26:32 +0000 http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2006/09/08/dreaming-of-clothed-emperors/#comment-7028 "There are emperors walking around clothes-free right now. Zillions of them. Everyone knows they have no clothes. Yet the pretence continues. Why? I’m confused. I don’t like the answers I come up with. " One answer can be found in THE QUEEN, a 1968 documentary about a transvestite beauty pageant: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0063477/ The way the narrator puts it, "It's like they're all in this fanatsy bag; but, then, who isn't?" Eugene O'Neill raised this question to epic proportions in THE ICEMAN COMETH, using down-and-out drunks instead of transvestites; but the message was the same. Every character lives in a "pipe dream;" but the impact of stripping away the dream is devastating. As one of the characters puts it, "The whiskey doesn't taste the same!" I subscribe to the social theory that reality is socially constructed. There is little more that I can do than acknowledge that my reality may or may not align with the reality of anyone I encounter. If I can recognize that, then I can prepare myself for Habermas-style strategies for bringing differing realities into alignment! “There are emperors walking around clothes-free right now. Zillions of them. Everyone knows they have no clothes.

Yet the pretence continues.

Why? I’m confused. I don’t like the answers I come up with. ”

One answer can be found in THE QUEEN, a 1968 documentary about a transvestite beauty pageant:

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0063477/

The way the narrator puts it, “It’s like they’re all in this fanatsy bag; but, then, who isn’t?”

Eugene O’Neill raised this question to epic proportions in THE ICEMAN COMETH, using down-and-out drunks instead of transvestites; but the message was the same. Every character lives in a “pipe dream;” but the impact of stripping away the dream is devastating. As one of the characters puts it, “The whiskey doesn’t taste the same!”

I subscribe to the social theory that reality is socially constructed. There is little more that I can do than acknowledge that my reality may or may not align with the reality of anyone I encounter. If I can recognize that, then I can prepare myself for Habermas-style strategies for bringing differing realities into alignment!

]]> By: Neil Bartlett http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2006/09/08/dreaming-of-clothed-emperors/comment-page-1/#comment-7024 Neil Bartlett Fri, 08 Sep 2006 15:02:58 +0000 http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2006/09/08/dreaming-of-clothed-emperors/#comment-7024 I'm sure that it's fair use if I quote my favourite passage as well: "In the event of a landing on water, an unprecedented miracle will have occurred, because in the history of aviation the number of wide-bodied aircraft that have made successful landings on water is zero. This aircraft is equipped with inflatable slides that detach to form life rafts, not that it makes any difference. Please remove high-heeled shoes before using the slides. We might as well add that space helmets and anti-gravity belts should also be removed, since even to mention the use of the slides as rafts is to enter the realm of science fiction." (Incidentally, if every commenter posts a section of the article, each section being small enough to constitute fair use, such that ultimately the whole article can be read by a visitor to this page, has JP committed a breach of copyright, or have we?) Regarding the above passage, it's clear that there has been significant investment in the infrastructure of detachable slides, lifejackets under seats, training crew to show passengers how to use a whistle (!)... all of it totally pointless. Why was that investment made? What return to the airlines get from it? It seems to be just for show... to paraphrase Bruce Schneier, it's the appearance of safety without the actual safety. I’m sure that it’s fair use if I quote my favourite passage as well:

“In the event of a landing on water, an unprecedented miracle will have occurred, because in the history of aviation the number of wide-bodied aircraft that have made successful landings on water is zero. This aircraft is equipped with inflatable slides that detach to form life rafts, not that it makes any difference. Please remove high-heeled shoes before using the slides. We might as well add that space helmets and anti-gravity belts should also be removed, since even to mention the use of the slides as rafts is to enter the realm of science fiction.”

(Incidentally, if every commenter posts a section of the article, each section being small enough to constitute fair use, such that ultimately the whole article can be read by a visitor to this page, has JP committed a breach of copyright, or have we?)

Regarding the above passage, it’s clear that there has been significant investment in the infrastructure of detachable slides, lifejackets under seats, training crew to show passengers how to use a whistle (!)… all of it totally pointless. Why was that investment made? What return to the airlines get from it? It seems to be just for show… to paraphrase Bruce Schneier, it’s the appearance of safety without the actual safety.

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