Damien Broderick <damien@ariel.ucs.unimelb.edu.au> writes:
> At 01:23 PM 9/12/98 -0700, Max More wrote:
>
> >So, how about:
>
> > Practical Optimism
I think it sounds good.
> This comes down to personal reactions, so I'll offer a further comment in
> the knowledge that others (perhaps especially Americans) will have quite a
> different response. `Practical' as the front-end of a composite term
> strikes me as very 19th century, Victorian era can-do, and the kind of
> `dragging yourself up without formal education' route exemplified in
> magazines with titles such as `Practical Mechanics' or `Practical
> Experimenter'. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that; it was
> altogether admirable. But it makes the usage a tad... musty, neh?
Most people don't have your long memory :-)
But actually, this might be an interesting link to spin further on. When I showed the Aleph Handbook for the grandfather of a friend, he remarked that it was in some sense the descendant of these turn-of the century handbooks. This really makes sense: they were both aimed at helping people get started with better lives on their own, perhaps linking up with others with similar interests for mutual education and even priming for a formal education if possible. This is a good idea, and I think we can present it in a fresh way.
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