Coleman Ridge
@colemanridge.bsky.social
Retired librarian. I read, train, practice, study, and take classes. Much-married. Somewhat given to getting drunk on words.
Profile picture: "Scribe," by Keith Thompson
Banner artist: Gustave Dore
Profile picture: "Scribe," by Keith Thompson
Banner artist: Gustave Dore
negation lacks content and instead must assert some alternative.
Problem is, all such affirmation/negation pairs are subject to change. The whole point of supposing them is to account for change. Why pessimism then?
Wildly oversimple, because ignoramus. Still maybe worth looking at.
Problem is, all such affirmation/negation pairs are subject to change. The whole point of supposing them is to account for change. Why pessimism then?
Wildly oversimple, because ignoramus. Still maybe worth looking at.
December 1, 2025 at 11:50 PM
negation lacks content and instead must assert some alternative.
Problem is, all such affirmation/negation pairs are subject to change. The whole point of supposing them is to account for change. Why pessimism then?
Wildly oversimple, because ignoramus. Still maybe worth looking at.
Problem is, all such affirmation/negation pairs are subject to change. The whole point of supposing them is to account for change. Why pessimism then?
Wildly oversimple, because ignoramus. Still maybe worth looking at.
Complete ignoramus here, posting in hope that someone will provide better information in the process of correcting me. The notion that the idea of Blackness is necessary to give content to the idea of humanity is very reminiscent of Hegel's notion of determinate negation, the notion that simple
December 1, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Complete ignoramus here, posting in hope that someone will provide better information in the process of correcting me. The notion that the idea of Blackness is necessary to give content to the idea of humanity is very reminiscent of Hegel's notion of determinate negation, the notion that simple
Little tiny slam dancers escaped from the mosh pit and able to run up trees.
December 1, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Little tiny slam dancers escaped from the mosh pit and able to run up trees.
When I knew of this doctrine but hadn't read Aquinas I used to imagine watching them persisting in their folly endlessly, like Sisyphus rolling his rock or Cuchulain fighting the sea, and thinking "Damn. Look at that. So wrong but so strong. Perfect of their kind." Maybe that. Too romantic, though.
December 1, 2025 at 7:47 PM
When I knew of this doctrine but hadn't read Aquinas I used to imagine watching them persisting in their folly endlessly, like Sisyphus rolling his rock or Cuchulain fighting the sea, and thinking "Damn. Look at that. So wrong but so strong. Perfect of their kind." Maybe that. Too romantic, though.
All too human, but nothing I want to imagine with me in my best, final state.
December 1, 2025 at 7:46 PM
All too human, but nothing I want to imagine with me in my best, final state.
I am entirely pleased to blame anything or everything bad about Christianity on Tertullian.
December 1, 2025 at 7:17 PM
I am entirely pleased to blame anything or everything bad about Christianity on Tertullian.
All of them inherit Hell from the Myth of Er in Plato.
December 1, 2025 at 6:42 PM
All of them inherit Hell from the Myth of Er in Plato.
Calvin goes beyond this and imagines looking at one's family in Hell and rejoicing "Woo-hoo! I made it! That was close." This is not the most attractive thing about Calvin.
December 1, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Calvin goes beyond this and imagines looking at one's family in Hell and rejoicing "Woo-hoo! I made it! That was close." This is not the most attractive thing about Calvin.
Aquinas says that the blessed are aware of the damned as part of their blessedness because they are in their best possible state, and their best possible state cannot possibly involve ignorance of anything they could know. Ignorance is by definition bad.
He's trapped. He's forced to the conclusion.
He's trapped. He's forced to the conclusion.
December 1, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Aquinas says that the blessed are aware of the damned as part of their blessedness because they are in their best possible state, and their best possible state cannot possibly involve ignorance of anything they could know. Ignorance is by definition bad.
He's trapped. He's forced to the conclusion.
He's trapped. He's forced to the conclusion.
With their lovely furry tails as their long hair.
December 1, 2025 at 6:00 PM
With their lovely furry tails as their long hair.
Working up spasms of hatred is more fun than indifference. I detest a perfectly innocuous pop song because back when we were teenagers my sister hated it so entertainingly that she made hatred more interesting.
Rats and squirrels move funny and have pointy faces. Maybe that makes them fun to hate.
Rats and squirrels move funny and have pointy faces. Maybe that makes them fun to hate.
December 1, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Working up spasms of hatred is more fun than indifference. I detest a perfectly innocuous pop song because back when we were teenagers my sister hated it so entertainingly that she made hatred more interesting.
Rats and squirrels move funny and have pointy faces. Maybe that makes them fun to hate.
Rats and squirrels move funny and have pointy faces. Maybe that makes them fun to hate.
"Rodents" is a good word to say loathingly. You can roll the r, wrinkle your nose on the o, and then spit the last part out. Maybe that's why.
The good part about liking squirrels is that then you can participate vicariously in their lives. They are having fun. Doing too much speed, but having fun.
The good part about liking squirrels is that then you can participate vicariously in their lives. They are having fun. Doing too much speed, but having fun.
December 1, 2025 at 5:25 PM
"Rodents" is a good word to say loathingly. You can roll the r, wrinkle your nose on the o, and then spit the last part out. Maybe that's why.
The good part about liking squirrels is that then you can participate vicariously in their lives. They are having fun. Doing too much speed, but having fun.
The good part about liking squirrels is that then you can participate vicariously in their lives. They are having fun. Doing too much speed, but having fun.
That is terrible. If it is at all common, that is sufficient reason for the law.
I saw a video of a squirrel playing with a dog indoors that was the loveliest thing, but have no idea whether such success is common or rare.
I saw a video of a squirrel playing with a dog indoors that was the loveliest thing, but have no idea whether such success is common or rare.
December 1, 2025 at 2:42 AM
That is terrible. If it is at all common, that is sufficient reason for the law.
I saw a video of a squirrel playing with a dog indoors that was the loveliest thing, but have no idea whether such success is common or rare.
I saw a video of a squirrel playing with a dog indoors that was the loveliest thing, but have no idea whether such success is common or rare.
I love "Adeste Fideles" for its taciturn, military command: "Over here, faithful." It is Roman Catholicism par excellence. Still, "Sing We the Virgin Mary" slips in a little ahead of it.
Charles Brown's "Merry Christmas, Baby" for best secular.
open.spotify.com/track/0rPhso...
Charles Brown's "Merry Christmas, Baby" for best secular.
open.spotify.com/track/0rPhso...
Sing We the Virgina Mary
open.spotify.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:22 AM
I love "Adeste Fideles" for its taciturn, military command: "Over here, faithful." It is Roman Catholicism par excellence. Still, "Sing We the Virgin Mary" slips in a little ahead of it.
Charles Brown's "Merry Christmas, Baby" for best secular.
open.spotify.com/track/0rPhso...
Charles Brown's "Merry Christmas, Baby" for best secular.
open.spotify.com/track/0rPhso...
I have a vague impression that more women than men will admit to being squicked by rats. Maybe what women evince as repulsion, men evince as hatred? Tiny data set, so very weak theory.
Does anyone not like squirrels? Is it possible to not like squirrels?
Does anyone not like squirrels? Is it possible to not like squirrels?
November 30, 2025 at 9:45 PM
I have a vague impression that more women than men will admit to being squicked by rats. Maybe what women evince as repulsion, men evince as hatred? Tiny data set, so very weak theory.
Does anyone not like squirrels? Is it possible to not like squirrels?
Does anyone not like squirrels? Is it possible to not like squirrels?
The real bad part is that if you knew the rule, you could tell them how to do it right every time, particularly since esl people often did learn grammar.
OTOH, it's fascinating that we can do this complicated, rule-driven thing well with no notion of what the rules are.
OTOH, it's fascinating that we can do this complicated, rule-driven thing well with no notion of what the rules are.
November 30, 2025 at 9:12 PM
The real bad part is that if you knew the rule, you could tell them how to do it right every time, particularly since esl people often did learn grammar.
OTOH, it's fascinating that we can do this complicated, rule-driven thing well with no notion of what the rules are.
OTOH, it's fascinating that we can do this complicated, rule-driven thing well with no notion of what the rules are.
English teachers taught me a little grammar and then forgot and wandered off. Elementary English teaching was in disarray there then. It may still be.
I feel the lack only when I have to explain to a non-native speaker why something is wrong. I open my mouth confidently and gibberish comes out.
I feel the lack only when I have to explain to a non-native speaker why something is wrong. I open my mouth confidently and gibberish comes out.
November 30, 2025 at 9:03 PM
English teachers taught me a little grammar and then forgot and wandered off. Elementary English teaching was in disarray there then. It may still be.
I feel the lack only when I have to explain to a non-native speaker why something is wrong. I open my mouth confidently and gibberish comes out.
I feel the lack only when I have to explain to a non-native speaker why something is wrong. I open my mouth confidently and gibberish comes out.
He had good luck after that.
That would be OK.
That would be OK.
November 30, 2025 at 5:01 PM
He had good luck after that.
That would be OK.
That would be OK.
OTOH, a guy going home drunk on a moonlit night hears passionate weeping from under a stone and sees a broken doll in the road. He sits down in the road in the moonlight and fixes the doll, puts it down in front of the stone and calls out "Eh, child, I fixed it for you" before going home.
November 30, 2025 at 4:54 PM
OTOH, a guy going home drunk on a moonlit night hears passionate weeping from under a stone and sees a broken doll in the road. He sits down in the road in the moonlight and fixes the doll, puts it down in front of the stone and calls out "Eh, child, I fixed it for you" before going home.
Little people are not always nice in the old stories. In one, someone gets ointment he is supposed to be putting onto a child's eyes in one of his own, and sees little people are everywhere stealing things. One sees him looking, and puts that eye out.
November 30, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Little people are not always nice in the old stories. In one, someone gets ointment he is supposed to be putting onto a child's eyes in one of his own, and sees little people are everywhere stealing things. One sees him looking, and puts that eye out.
I hope I live long enough to see the wave of drug abuse that synthesis of this compound will set off. It will be like hippies seeing God on acid, but seeing the Fair Folk instead.
November 30, 2025 at 4:39 PM
I hope I live long enough to see the wave of drug abuse that synthesis of this compound will set off. It will be like hippies seeing God on acid, but seeing the Fair Folk instead.
2. If the people you manage are in one, it makes your job easier. You learn the contract by heart, and then can say "Sorry, but it's in the contract. Talk to your shop steward about negotiating a better contract."
November 30, 2025 at 1:30 PM
2. If the people you manage are in one, it makes your job easier. You learn the contract by heart, and then can say "Sorry, but it's in the contract. Talk to your shop steward about negotiating a better contract."
1. If you are in one, you can't be fired on a whim. Your employer has to show cause, and, often, to warn you first. That saved my ass when I was quitting smoking and my production at a factory job dropped for a week. I could explain that I wasn't on drugs, I was getting off drugs.
November 30, 2025 at 1:28 PM
1. If you are in one, you can't be fired on a whim. Your employer has to show cause, and, often, to warn you first. That saved my ass when I was quitting smoking and my production at a factory job dropped for a week. I could explain that I wasn't on drugs, I was getting off drugs.