Re: would you rather be happy and stupid or smart and miserable?

bukvich@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 <bukvich@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>:

> The dialog is
> about the question of "can virtue be taught?" Protagoras was trying to
> teach it in weekend seminars and Socrates makes quick work of pointing
> out the folly in that logic. But also he is a shorthand for cultural
> relativism and his quoted fragment of "man measure all things" is
> definitely in the same soup pot as optimism pays. So her point was
> actually OK although it goes across a lot better if your fellow
> conversationalist isn't a ticking time bomb moggin agonistes ready to
> lord it over your rhetorical goofs.

> So, to recapitulate, here is the evidence for all you empiricists. On
> the one side we have the Seligman et al experiments which show
> factually that it pays to be optimistic. On the other side is all the
> studies which show that people with low self-esteem and depression
> have a better grasp of reality. How to choose which way to go?

     Your retrospective optimism is already hard at work making
mistakes into rhetorical slip-ups, so I'd say that you've 
taken your choice, consistent with your affection for ideas you
can cash in.

-- Catawumpus