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Friday, April 06, 2012

Puzzle time...

OK, all you wise ones, answer me this:

Do you like something because it's nice, or is it nice because you like it?

23 Comments:

Blogger Vest said...

Similar to being asked the Question,"Answer Yes or No"
"Have you stopped beating your wife yet".
However, I believe I would prefer liking something because it's nice.

April 06, 2012 5:37 PM  
Blogger Sue said...

Yes. And no. tee hee

Of course, 'nice' is in the eye of the beholder. I like some things that aren't very nice - sarcasm, for example, and grapefruit juice, which lots of people say is not nice at all. And just because I don't like beer doesn't mean it isn't nice, I suppose. Feasting on dead things is probably not nice, but I do like a nice roast chook.

I hope that has cleared things up. :-)

April 07, 2012 5:57 AM  
Blogger The Editor said...

Vest and Sue, What/who determines whether something is nice or not?

April 07, 2012 10:04 AM  
Blogger Vest said...

Experience.

April 07, 2012 12:41 PM  
Blogger Davoh said...

Define your concept of "nice".

April 10, 2012 3:46 AM  
Blogger John Myste said...

I like it because it speaks to me in myriad ways, Perhaps being nice is one of them.

On the other hand, fine leather couches do not appeal to me at all, though they are nice.

April 10, 2012 8:12 AM  
Blogger John Myste said...

Davoh, if a kangaroo has a pouch with three random abnormally large holes in it, and striations that go almost all the way through, that is not nice.

If, on the other hand, your kangaroo has a solid, durable pouch, level where it should be, and roomy enough to hold everyone, then it is nice.

Nice is easier to demonstrate than to define.

April 10, 2012 8:40 AM  
Blogger phil said...

I make the nice, and subsequently I like it.

I also exhibit delusions of grandeur.

Or possibly just delusions.

April 10, 2012 10:22 PM  
Blogger phil said...

Also I'm sick of blogger continually making me sign in and then claiming I've done it wrong, and making me do it again.

April 10, 2012 10:23 PM  
Blogger AndrewM said...

@phil: couldn't agree more, I have to do the now much harder captcha at least 3 times to get comments up.

April 11, 2012 8:39 AM  
Blogger Davoh said...

@Andrew & Phil. I agree, not nice. Mmm, "nice/not nice" seems to be something (or a concept) that 2 or more people agree with.

April 12, 2012 6:37 AM  
Blogger The Editor said...

@Davo: So, someone else has to agree with you before something is "nice"?

Interesting concept.

Who are these arbiters of "nice", and who appointed them?

April 12, 2012 8:03 AM  
Blogger John Myste said...

So, someone else has to agree with you before something is "nice"?

"Nice" is a vocabulary word. ALL vocabulary words are given meaning through consensus. It must be this way, because the primary value of a word is in its effectiveness for communication.

Vocabulary words with no consensus backing them up, cannot be used to communicate.

Therefore, someone else has to agree what that "nice" is nice for it to really be nice. It is not determined by arbitration, but per function.

Glad to help.

April 12, 2012 8:10 AM  
Blogger The Editor said...

Mr Myste, we're not discussing the dictionary meaning of the word "nice". We're discussing something entirely different. Can you guess what it is?

April 12, 2012 9:00 AM  
Blogger AndrewM said...

Well, using the 'pleasing' or 'delightful' meaning of 'nice', which I think is the one you intended: if I'm at a lookout and I say "What a nice view" and someone replies saying "Yup, sure is", my usage is reinforced. So the arbiters of 'nice' are all of us; it's group-think.

According to Dictionary.com, 'nice' comes from Middle English, meaning foolish or stupid. You gotta love that!

April 12, 2012 9:00 AM  
Blogger John Myste said...

What makes something "nice," which is a concept regulated by common consensus, which speaks to Davoh's point, though he may or may not have intended it, and answers the question who is the arbiter. Real-world function is the arbiter and the dictionary, coincidentally happens to agree.

P.S. To indicate a misunderstanding as a means of rebuttal is fallacious by definition, and moreover, unnecessary.

April 12, 2012 1:52 PM  
Blogger The Editor said...

Mr Myste:
[1] If I think something is nice and there is no concensus, then it is not nice?
[2] Please excuse my ignorance, but where did I utter a "rebuttal"?

April 12, 2012 6:22 PM  
Blogger John Myste said...

1. If one person thinks something is nice, but no one else does, then his definition of nice is unique to him, and his concept only makes sense in the sanctity of his own thoughts. Vocabulary is used to communicate. "Nice" is a term that communicates. One man's unique definition of nice, does not communicate, so the test of niceness fails.

2. Mr Myste, we're not discussing the dictionary meaning of the word "nice". We're discussing something entirely different. Can you guess what it is?

That last sentence you uttered was intended to divert attention from the argument I made with a gesture of arrogance. It is a classic fallacious rebuttal.

April 13, 2012 1:08 PM  
Blogger The Editor said...

Mr Myste:
[1] You said "Nice" is a term that communicates. One man's unique definition of nice, does not communicate, so the test of niceness fails.

When I say what I think is nice, I am communicating.

[2] You are presuming to know what my intention was. You label it a gesture of arrogance. You have constructed a nice straw man. But it is on fire. Look, out in the field, it burns brightly. :-)

April 14, 2012 12:03 AM  
Blogger Vest said...

Puzzle time had a long run for such a short post.
Now take a stab at my Puzzle I am certain a person of your intellect would find it dead easy.

April 17, 2012 9:28 AM  
Blogger The Editor said...

@Vest: What puzzle is that? (Why do I think I've just walked into a trap? :-)

April 17, 2012 10:00 AM  
Blogger Vest said...

Trying to Wriggle out are you?evend
Go to daily gaggle.

April 17, 2012 3:01 PM  
Blogger The Editor said...

@Vest: Had a look at the quiz. Not my thing. Sorry.

April 17, 2012 5:52 PM  

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