extremes

a few days back, I heard someone make the following comment. he was describing different reactions to the advent of some new technology (I don't recall exactly what), saying that different people felt very differently. the two poles of reactions were described as follows: "it was the best thing since sliced bread, or the worst thing since the guillotine." wow. since it was during a formal research talk, I had to exert a massive effort not to laugh out loud. "the worst thing since the guillotine"? is that a common adage, or did the guy just make that up?

self-reference and a koan

two great quotes I heard recently. the first one is your oxymoron for the day:

The only thing I cannot tolerate is intolerance.

this is somewhat akin to fearing fear itself, except that it doesn't make the speaker appear brave and insightful, but rather self-important and unreflective.

and quote number two:

Social interaction is simply more than one person doing things together.

I really like this one. if you just read it, nothing seems awry, but as soon as you actually try to parse it, the sentence sort of falls apart. a bit Zen, I'd say.