Trying to be a hero - which in its own way is selfish.
Everybody feels like that, some of you just wont admit what your true motives are, or that YOU get satusfaction from it, which brings us right back to what was stated above
Why does pool attract so many broken, crazy, Degenerate, mental type people.
- Thread starter trinacria
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Trying to be a hero - which in its own way is selfish.
Everybody feels like that, some of you just wont admit what your true motives are, or that YOU get satusfaction from it, which brings us right back to what was stated above
Nobody jumps on a grenade thinking that they will be a hero. They do it to save others with NO regard to themselves.
You dont understand the thinking - doubt you would ever jump on a grenade
I`m not sure that is true. The timlessness of chess seems to draw alot of people in.
Here in Norway Magnus Karlsen has a huge following, not sure of his world ranking status, but it`s top 10. His matches are shown on tv...
Of course I never meant to say that pool is only played by grumpy old men, but it`s quite alot of them and they are usually very loud and vocal about their game, other players game, equipment etc. My impression is that those types tend to drive others away.
The threshold for enetering a pool hall should be non existent and new players or people interested should be greeted in a friendly manner, and not seen as a new cash cow to be taken advantage of.
Great. Now we've got a thread that has degenerated into a bunch of Ayn Rand groupies promoting the virtue of selfishness. As I wrote in a paper during graduate school, "The only thing Ayn Rand proved is that women should never be allowed to be (or attempt to be) philosophers."
As for the original thread topic I agree with the view that there are way too many crazy degenerates. Its always been like that in my lifetime but it seems to be worse now. Since my health has gone down so much over the last 18 months I've rarely went out and played. On the last two occasions I had a lot of trouble. First, one low level "pro" player try to steal my stake money out of my case and my wallet out of my jacket. Second time the buddies of the guy ganged up on me for "attacking" the guy who tried to rob me. Thankfully I always carry my pistol so that fire was put out very quickly. I've pretty much decided I'll stay home and play on my Gold Crown with the kids from now on. Pool might not be dead but its dead to me.
As for the original thread topic I agree with the view that there are way too many crazy degenerates. Its always been like that in my lifetime but it seems to be worse now. Since my health has gone down so much over the last 18 months I've rarely went out and played. On the last two occasions I had a lot of trouble. First, one low level "pro" player try to steal my stake money out of my case and my wallet out of my jacket. Second time the buddies of the guy ganged up on me for "attacking" the guy who tried to rob me. Thankfully I always carry my pistol so that fire was put out very quickly. I've pretty much decided I'll stay home and play on my Gold Crown with the kids from now on. Pool might not be dead but its dead to me.
Once again, just like your original post where you're trying to make sure that everyone knows how much of a "giver" you are, here you go again.
I feel my position is one of realism, and yours is one of naivety. As you say though, as far as how that affects life I've no idea, but you seem to have that answer, but that seems to be more ego pumping presumption to me. If you want some real truth on how people actually behave in life, lock a few of them in a room with limited food and water and see what happens. Do the same sort of thing with a sum of money for grabs. This is how people are, this is how they behave, this is human nature. And that's my point in the thread. Lock a few pool players in one of these rooms and the result isn't going to be any better or any worse than a rich guy, or a politician or a bum in my estimation.
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Why would you feel sorry for anyone? Wouldn't it be just as easy for someone on the other side to say "I feel sorry for him because..." it's sort of a null statement you've made. Maybe I feel sorry for you, but I don't understand what my motivation would be to say that? Maybe to build up my ego and make myself feel better about my positions? Yep, something like that.
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First of all, there's no way anyone can know why they'd do that. Second, it is a split second decision. That makes it carry far less weight (not saying it's not admirable). If a persona actually had ample time to think about jumping onto a grenade, I think we could make more solid statements about it.
The last thing I'll say, is that there are a number of avenues that exist that can make jumping onto a grenade a purely selfish behavior. It's very sort of linear, obtuse thinking that assumes one can ONLY jump on a grenade as a purely selfless action. A little study and you'll find there could be many selfish motivations for this. If I had to guess though I'd say it's mostly learned behavior i.e. The world changing a person's default, genetic reaction to a situation.
You're a street corner philosopher Eko. One last thing for you to mull over, "Everything is like everything else, except not always!" There have been many recorded instances that would refute your claims above. You obviously don't know the history of the death camps in Germany in WWII. That is only one example of behavior contrary to what you are espousing. But hey, why bother with facts when fantasy serves you better.
Please spare me your pompous rebuttal. Your view of life is abhorrent to me!
Ha ha, what a joke! Do you have a college degree in anything? You act as if you have a PhD in Philosophy. Go ahead, tell a lie, be selfish. That's the real you, isn't it?
Underachiever
Registered
I guess I'm the only one who comes with a friend or two, or a lady, shoots, and leaves...?
9 times out of 10, I don't talk to anyone, and no one talks to me.
9 times out of 10, I don't talk to anyone, and no one talks to me.
I think there's more to what Ek is saying than you think. Doing things to make others feel better also makes "you" feel better, therein lies the selfishness when we look really deep down.
Nobody is saying doing for others is a bad thing, what is being said is that there is other motivation for it if we really look at it.
Btw, good on you for returning the bet in the action room(havent read it since you posted that).
Jason<------believes Jay is a standup guy. Also have been in with you on the Main event WSOP. Hope to see you there this year
Yes, he did.
That's exactly why he did it. He'd rather be dead than live with not doing it.
It's not difficult to understand, this inevitable selfish nature of conscious beings. Once a self, you MUST act for that self's satisfaction It can go no other way.
As far as your feeling sorry for those who have recognized that reality, why do that? It's a beautiful thing, this control function called consciousness. What a package of power!!!
Jeff Livingston
Value is a subjective thing, thus you have NO WAY of knowing why someone does such a thing.
Each Person must choose his own values, too, by nature. No different than choosing his own actions, either.
Selfs are like that and no one can change that nature. People attempt to diminish their self all the time with drugs, god, cults, etc, but it can't and won't go away so easily. Praying or drinking it away doesn't work for long. The self always comes back and says, 'hello, what are we doing today?'
Try doing something that is not for your self's satisfaction. Let us know how it went.
Jeff Livingston
Why the anger?
I don't get it. What's to be angry about? He's not advocating harm against others. He hasn't harmed others. He isn't asking you to harm others. He's just stating the facts about self. He might as well be saying what the color of his computer is...why does such an fact make people angry and so defensive?
I've never understood why so many people react this way to such a simple, human concept that EVERYONE is part of.
Jeff Livingston
For the record, I wrote my paper on Satisfaction before I ever read Rand.
Jeff Livingston
It's neighborhood bar culture, the "hang-out" factor of the pool room that collects people who prefer to be here. Is it really a basket of deplorables or something else?
What we see are people in life stages who might be looking for work, are between marriages, or just killing time pursuing an interest. If you look closely, there are people like that everywhere. The good but not great golfer playing the Monday skins game and sleeping in his car. The bodybuilder bartending at night, living with mom and spending every day at Gold's. The waiting room of a movie studio, filled with people auditioning for acting jobs that will never happen.
Maybe this may be what we see superficially but people are much more complicated than that. Life is not a disaster, it's a miracle that we are fortunate to experience.
What you and a few others are doing is breaking us down to basic animal instincts. By doing so, you omit what makes us different than animals. And, one of those things is love. Love is what enables one to do for others with no self satisfaction.
Slim Limpy
New member
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I highly recommend "Random Acts of Kindness" available at bookstores and online. You'll learn more from that then from some of the elaborate but misconceived spewings on this thread. I do like Slim Limpy's post above.