Re: Re[6]: [tied] From here to eternity [was: *y-n,W- "subordinate"?

From: Arnaud Fournet
Message: 61798
Date: 2008-11-22

----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian M. Scott" <BMScott@...>
>
> On average they lived shorter lives than we do, even after
> allowing for their much greater infant mortality, but the
> maximum lifespan wasn't much different.
>
> But the details really don't matter, because 'short life' is
> meaningless except by comparison with some longer span of
> time; their average lifespan may look short to us, but it
> was the only one that they knew. And if the comparison is
> with those who do not die at all, then their actual lifespan
> is irrelevant: the same argument would apply equally to
> creatures whose average lifespan was a century or two.

======

In other words,
whatever reality is,
it does not matter as regards your conclusions
which are to be accepted as exact and right.

A.

=======

>
>> for that reason the word "life" could not become
>> "eternity" because "eternity" is precisely an attribute of
>> the gods, who they were not.
>
>> Is that clearer this way ?
>
> It was clear all along; the problem is that it's also
> clearly at odds with the evidence, which plainly shows that
> just such a development is not only possible but apparently
> not even particularly unusual. You are letting a foregone
> (or if you prefer, a priori) conclusion blind you to the
> evidence.
>
> Brian
>
=========

Quite incredibly,
you are reversing the position of the one who has foregone conclusions.
I'm the one who is sceptical !

A.