Subject: Re: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Encyclopedia From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.net> Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2001 20:46:48 GMT Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Message-ID: <3214068424351186@naggum.net> * Daniel Lakeland | So by making a copy of a CD (for example) I deprive no-one of anything [...] It seems that some people consider property as "that which you can deprive other people of". This is commensurate with the "all property is theft" line of reasoning, but it is fundamentally silly and offers no way to reason about property. | The market value of the medium can't be what you're getting at though. No, you are quite right, it is not. | It's a complete false start. Then it is a really good idea not to think people begin with completely false starts. It make a conversion _so_ much more intelligent if people would not assume that the other party is an utter moron and believes easily refutable positions. It is fantastically annoying when people do believe in the easily refuable and do not stop doing so even after it has been refuted, repeatedly. | I think the whole thing comes down [economics]. The value system of any economy is founded on the ontology of the objects valued and people's willingness to prioritize their acquistion. Starting with economics is like studying language by watching how people react emotionally to each word or phrase. It may give you some information, but what you learn form it is not _meaning_. It is _not_ the economy. /// -- Norway is now run by a priest from the fundamentalist Christian People's Party, the fifth largest party representing one eighth of the electorate. -- Carrying a Swiss Army pocket knife in Oslo, Norway, is a criminal offense.