Quote:[W]hat I meant, of course, was that I consider the sort of thing you mention to be nonsense---fine for providing a weird story with atmosphere, but hardly to be taken seriously as a basis for action of any kind in the real world.
I am not altogether sure what you mean, here, but if I understand you correctly, then the view you express is the nonsensical one, to me, with its arbitrary and insupportable dualism.
As for the application and understanding of such ideas as the equivocal definition of "reality", have a look at the Danish philosopher Jurij Moskvitin's
Essay on the Origin of Thought, sometime. And please, since you seem to have it all figured out, by all means tell us what exactly the "real world" is. ;-)
This fact may shock you, but some of us really can and do consciously distance ourselves from consensus reality and maintain, at least for brief periods, the sort of perception that CAS espouses. That few are capable of doing so really doesn't concern me, since my world is as "real" as theirs.
Even if we follow your frame of reference, however, your assertion falls flat. Marcus Aurelius, for instance, obviously found it quite valuable to contemplate life from the cosmic perspective. When last I checked, he did not do so to create atmosphere for weird tales, but as a form of spiritual exercise that assisted him in ruling over the Roman Empire, which, I believe, would fit your definition of the "real world".
Quote:Perhaps then there is, after all, something to be said for academic scholarship?
That's right, there is. I am not the one who is anti-academic. Although I am far from being uncritical of academics, one finds them making the sorts of gaffes as Joshi does far less frequently. Joshi's work is often outstanding, within his limitations, and I am for the most part glad that he is around. It is silly, however, to pretend that his lack of formal academic affiliation does not leave him hamstrung, at times. When he makes such howlers as he did in the case of CAS, and then compounds the error with arrogance, he deserves to be called to account.
By the way, having graduate research assistants to check citations and the like, as academics often do, means that such errors as Joshi's should usually never even reach the peer review stage.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 7 Sep 09 | 09:30AM by Kyberean.