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SlrubensteinHi. I used to believe I had nothing to say about myself beyond what I contribute to articles, which I hope reflects my knowledge and interests but not my biases, and to talk pages, in which I try to be honest about my biases, especially if someone asks. I still think that as a Wikipedian I am best judged by User:Slrubenstein#Some_of_my_favorite_pages, although those who now care to, may judge me by User:Slrubenstein#Some_of_my_favorite_books and User:Slrubenstein#Thirty_of_my_favorite_movies. Of course, I am always willing to answer a question if you User talk:Slrubenstein. Anyway, I now believe I can do what so many other Wikipedians have done on their user pages: introduce myself:
Everyone has one question. For The Little Prince, the question is whether his drawing #1 frightened them. If they answer "Why should I be frightened of a hat?" he knew that they understand nothing.
Here is my question:
:Do you believe that ...
::(''CHOOSE ONE'': Michaelangelo ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or statue of David, the Dome of the Rock, ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', the ''Iliad'', William Shakespeare ''Hamlet'', Denis Diderot ''Jacques the Fatalist'', John Keats "Ode on a Grecian Urn", Herman Melville ''Moby-Dick'', Rainer Maria Rilke ''Sonnets to Orpheus'', E.M. Forster ''A Passage to India'', William Somerset Maugham The Razor's Edge, Graham Greene The End of the Affair, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ''The Little Prince'', John Fowles ''The Magus'', Ursula K. Le Guin Earthsea (see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Wizard_of_Earthsea], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tombs_of_Atuan], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farthest_Shore]), J. M. Coetzee ''Waiting for the Barbarians'', Ray Bradbury ''The Martian Chronicles'', Ludwig van Beethoven ''Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)'' or ''Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)'', Duke Ellington and John Coltrane ''Duke Ellington & John Coltrane'', and for the truly well-educated, Bruce Springsteen "Darkness on the Edge of Town", and Elvis Costello "Alison")
:...expresses some great truth?'''
If the person answers yes, I know they will understand why the fact that I think Tanakh was written by human beings and that many parts of it are not historically accurate does not mean that I think it a fraud or an anachronism, nor does it mean that I am a blaspheming heretic, but on the contrary that I believe it to be a divinely profound and truthful work. And if the person answers yes, they will understand why as a Science I think that research with living people, whose aim it is to understand how they make meaning of their lives and their world — something that cannot be measured and subject to statistical analysis, and research that is not reproducible — is nevertheless among the most significant and valuable research one can conduct and learn from.
If the person answers "no," I know that they understand nothing.
I think of my question whenever I read this passage from Umberto Eco Foucault's Pendulum (book):
:'''Idiot. Above her head was the only stable place in the cosmos, the only refuge from the damnation of the panta rei, and she guessed it was the Pendulum's business, not hers. A moment later the couple went off — he, trained on some textbook that had blunted his capacity for wonder, she, inert and insensitive to the thrill of the infinite, both oblivious of the awesomeness of their encounter — their first and last encounter — with the One, the Ein-Sof, the Ineffable. How could you fail to kneel down before this altar of certitude?'''
== Comments or Questions for me ==
Since I have been here people have posted questions and comments to my user page and talk page indisriminately. I have archived all of this material on this page. But if you wish to make a comment, please do so User talk:Slrubenstein
''The rest of this page is somewhat self-indulgent''
== Some of my favorite pages ==
Since I started contributing to Wikipedia I have edited a number of pages. However, there are a few where I am especially proud of the research I did in order to contribute to the article:
Anthropology
Biblical canon
Cultural anthropology
Cultural evolution
Cultural and historical background of Jesus
Cultural relativism
Franz Boas
Karl Marx
Pharisees
Race
Shuar
== Some of my favorite books ==
(''this is, of course, in addition to books mentioned in the context of my question'')
===Jewish===
Daniel Boyarin
*''A Radical Jew: Paul and the Politics of Identity'' (1997) The University of California Press ISBN 0520212142
Abraham Joshua Heschel
*''God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism'' (1976) Farrar, Straus and Giroux ISBN 0374513317
*''The Prophets'' (2001) Perennial Classics ISBN 0060936991
Max Kadushin
*''The Rabbinic Mind'' (2001) Global Publications at SUNY Binghampton University ISBN 1586840940
Yechezkel Kaufmann,
*''The Religion of Israel: From Its Beginnings to the Babylonian Exile'' (1972) Schocken ISBN 0805203648
Franz Rosenzwig
*''The Star of Redemption'' (2005) University of Wisconsin Press ISBN 0299207242
Leo W. Schwarz, editor
*''Great Ages and Ideas of the Jewish People'' (1977) Modern Library ISBN 039460413X
===Anthropology===
====For the Neophyte====
Ruth Benedict
*''Patterns of Culture'' (1989) Mariner Books ISBN 0395500885
Marvin Harris
*''Our Kind: Who We Are, Where We Came From, Where We Are Going'' (1990) Perennial ISBN 0060919906
Eric Wolf
*''Europe and the People Without History'' (1997) University of California Press ISBN 0520048989
====For the Veteran====
Franz Boas
*''Race, Language, Culture'' (1940) The University of Chicago Press ISBN 0226062414
James Ferguson
*''The Anti-Politics Machine: "Development," Depoliticization, and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho'' (1994) University of Minnesota Press ISBN 0816624372
William H. Fisher
*''Rain Forest Exchanges: Industry and Community on an Amazonian Frontier'' (200) Smithsonian Books ISBN 1560989831
Ronald Frankenberg
*''Village on the Border: A Social Study of Religion, Politics and Football in a North Wales Community'' (1989) Waveland Press ISBN 0881334855
Morton H. Fried
*''The Evolution of Political Society: An Essay in Political Anthropology'' (1967) Random House
*''The Notion of Tribe'' (1975), Cummings ISBN 0846515482
Judith Friedlander
*''Being Indian in Hueyapan: A Study of Forced Identity in Contemporary Mexico'' (1975) Bedford/St Martins ISBN 0312073151
Thomas Gregor
*''The Mehinaku: The Dream of Daily Life in a Brazilian Indian Village" (1980), University Of Chicago Press ISBN 0226307468
Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar
*''Laboratory Life'' (1986), Princeton University Press ISBN 069102832X
Claude Lévi-Strauss
*''Tristes Tropiques'' (1992) Penguin Books ISBN 0140165622
Robert F. Murphy
*''The Dialectics of Social Life'' (1971) George Allen and Unwin ISBN 0043010490
Yolanda and Rober F. Murphy
*''Women of the Forest'' (1985) Columbia University Press ISBN 0231060890
Gerald M. Sider
*''Lumbee Indian Histories: Race, Ethnicity, and Indian Identity in the Southern United States'' (1994) Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521466695
Michael T. Taussig
*''Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America'' (1983), University of North Carolina Press ISBN 0807841064
*''Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man: A Study in Terror and Healing'' (1991) University Of Chicago Press ISBN 0226790134
D. Lawrence Wieder
*''Language and social reality: The case of telling the convict code'' (1974) Mouton ASIN B0006C9O5E
Paul Willis
*''Learning to Labor'' (1981) Columbia University Press ISBN 0231053576
===Social Science and the Humanities===
John Berger
*''Ways of Seeing'' (1995) Penguin Books ISBN 0140135154
Marshall Berman
*''All That Is Solid Melts into Air: The Experience of Modernity'' (1988) Penguin Books ISBN 0140109625
Martin Buber
*''I and Thou'' (1971) Free Press ISBN 0684717255
Nicholas Cook
*''Music: A Very Short Introduction'' (2000) Oxford University Press ISBN 0192853821
Jonathan Culler
*''On Deconstruction: Theory and Criticism After Structuralism'' (1983) Cornell University Press ISBN 0801492017
Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari
*''Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia'' (1983) University of Minnesota Press ISBN 0816612250
Jacques Derrida
*''Of Grammatology'' (1998) Johns Hopkins University Press ISBN 0801858305
*''Dissemination'' (1983) University of Chicago Press ISBN 0226143341
Isaac Deutscher
*''The Prophet Armed: Trotsky 1879-1921'' (2003) Verso ISBN 1859844413
*''The Prophet Unarmed: Trotsky 1921-1929'' (2003) Verso ISBN 1859844464
*''The Prophet Outcast: Trotsky 1929-1940'' (2003) Verso ISBN 1859844510
Frantz Fanon
*''The Wretched of the Earth'' (1965) Grove Press ISBN 0802150837
Michel Foucault
*''Discipline & Punish : The Birth of the Prison'' (1995) Vintage ISBN 0679752552
*''The History of Sexuality : An Introduction (History of Sexuality)'' (1990) Vintage ISBN 0679724699
Paulo Freire
*''Pedagogy of the Oppressed'' (2000) Continuum International Publishing Group ISBN 0826412769
Sigmund Freud
*''Dora: An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria'' (1997) Touchstone ISBN ISBN 0684829460
*''Three Case Histories'' (1996) Touchstone ISBN 0684829452
*''The Interpretation of Dreams'' (1980) Avon ISBN 0380010003
*''Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality'' (2000) Basic Books ISBN 0465097081
David Halberstam
*''The Best and the Brightest'' (1993) Ballentine Books ISBN 0449908704
William Hinton
*''Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village'' (1997) University of California Press ISBN 0520210409
Bruno Latour
*''We Have Never Been Modern'' (1993) Harvard University Press ISBN 0674948394
Jonathan Lee
*''Jacques Lacan'' (1991) University of Massachusetts Press ISBN 0870237373
Karl Marx
*''Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte'' (1963) International Publishers ISBN 0717800563
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
*''The German Ideology: Including Thesis on Feuerbach'' (1998) ISBN 1573922587
Louis Menand
*''The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America'' (2002) Farrar, Straus and Giroux ISBN 0374528497
James Miller
*''The Passion of Michel Foucault'' (2000) Harvard University Press ISBN 0674001575
Juliet Mitchell
*''Psychoanalysis and Feminism: A Radical Reassessment of Freudian Psychoanalysis'' (2000) Basic Books ISBN 0465046088
Ray Monk
*''Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius'' (1991) Penguin Books ISBN 0140159959
Fridrich Nietzsche
*''Beyond Good and Evil'' (1989) Vintage ISBN 0679724656
*''The Genealogy of Morals'' (2003) Dover ISBN 0486426912
== Thirty-three of my favorite movies ==
*The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (Terry Gilliam)
*Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola)
*The Big Country (William Wyler)
*Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks)
*Blue Velvet (David Lynch)
*The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean)
*''The Burmese Harp'' (''Biruma no Tategoto'') (Kon Ichikawa)
*Cabaret (movie) (Bob Fosse)
*Children of Paradise (''Les Enfants du Paradis'') (Marcel Carne)
*City Lights (Charlie Chaplin)
*Cop Land (James Mangold)
*Cradle Will Rock (Tim Robbins)
*Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick)
*Dr. Zhivago (David Lean)
*La Dolce Vita (''The Sweet Life'') (Federico Fellini)
*8½ (Federico Fellini)
*The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola)
*The Graduate (Mike Nichols)
*Ikiru (''To Live'') (Akira Kurosawa)
*Mary Poppins (Robert Stevenson)
*Moonstruck (Norman Jewison)
*North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock)
*Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone)
*Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'') (Jacques Demy)
*Pecker (John Waters (filmmaker))
*Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock)
*Salvador (movie) (Oliver Stone)
*To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan)
*Twelve Angry Men (Sidney Lumet)
*2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick)
*''I Vitelloni'' (''The Yearlings'') (Federico Fellini)
*Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks)
*Z (movie) (Costa-Gavras)
== The answers to two common questions ==
*James T. Kirk
*Ringo Starr
== Archives ==
User:SlRubenstein (archive 1)
User:SlRubenstein (archive 2)
User:Slrubenstein (archive 3)
User:Slrubenstein (archive 4)
== Special Pages ==
User:Slrubenstein/Case Against CheeseDreams
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I agree to Wikipedia:Multi-licensing all my contributions, with the exception of my user pages, as described below:
Slrubenstein''Please place any questions or comments for me at the bottom of this page. Thanks.'' Talk:User:SlRubenstein (archive 1) Talk:User:SlRubenstein (archive 2) Talk:User:SlRubenstein (archive 3) Talk:User:SlRubenstein (archive 4) Talk:User:SlRubenstein (archive 5) Talk:User:SlRubenstein (archive 6) Talk:User:SlRubenstein (archive 7) Talk:User:SlRubenstein (archive 8) ==BCE/CE vs BC/AD as regards to existing articles== Hi, I have a question for you and your thoughts on this would be appreciated. I had recently planned on slowly going about converting the primary articles concerning Iranian history to BCE/CE, starting with the List of kings of Persia last night. I feel that I am justified in doing this since BCE/CE is standard in academia and there is no strong connection between Christianity (I am strongly opposed to BC/AD due to the Christian connotations) and Iranian history, and more and more articles have begun to adhere to BCE/CE. However, my changes were reverted by another who opposed this move, stating that this change was unnecessary and would confuse people. I strongly disagree with this user. Should I avoid any attempt at converting existing articles (of the ancient Iranian history variety) due to potential conflict (with users who strongly adhere to BC/AD)? Your input would be much appreciated. User:SouthernComfort 03:30, 20 May 2005 (UTC) :Thank you very much for your messages. I greatly appreciate your comments, as well as Sunray's. You have both been very helpful in clearing some things up for me. At the time I made the changes I had not ''fully'' read through the debate, nor was I completely aware that the Manual of Style was absolutely inclusive of both terminologies. My general idea of the debate was that it was centred around the issue of POV/NPOV and I wasn't sure what my thoughts on that were at the time votes were being taken, which is why I didn't vote. I had thought that this would simply be an initial poll and that there would be more votes being taken in the near future once it had entered the 'policy proposal' stage. I'm not exactly clear on how Wikipedia operates as far as these technical details are concerned, and I figured that in the meantime I might as well learn how the whole system works so that I would be able to make proper arguments without the risk of being attacked as someone who isn't clear on these things. Perhaps, considering my background and where I'm coming from in all this, I should have simply jumped in. I don't understand why you have been attacked, and why this debate that you have initiated has been attacked, and why they all seem to be so eager to shut it down. I strongly disagree with ending this proposal before it has even begun. :At any rate, none of the ancient Elamite kings and Iranian Shah's were Christian, and Iranian history (which includes Elamite history), as with Jewish, Indian, and Chinese history, long predates Christianity. To impose the 'BC/AD' terminology on the history of these civilisations which have no connection to Christianity I find to be very chauvinistic in this day and age. Perhaps 'chauvinistic' is a strong word, but how else can I describe it as? I have absolutely no desire to impose 'BCE/CE' on Christian-related articles or even upon the histories of Christian European civilisations. That is an entirely different issue, and I don't understand why User:Jguk is unable to see this. That's another reason I didn't directly get involved with the debate. I had been planning on making these changes for quite awhile, since as User:Mel Etitis has also articulated, 'BCE/CE' is well accepted in academia (I have no idea whether this is true in the U.K., but I know that here in the States as well as Canada it is) and 'BC/AD' just looks archaic (aside from all the other POV problems). So, in addition to the other reasons I have listed, I figured that by keeping a distance and concentrating only on Iranian history related articles, no one could accuse me of trying to do anything 'POV.' And yet despite keeping this distance, I have been accused. :Honestly, I would like to go ahead and revert Jguk's revert, but if he is strongly behind his POV (and it seems to me that he is), it will get nowhere very fast. And if not him, there might be someone else. I was taken aback somewhat when he reverted in the first place as I could not understand what his objections could possibly be. This is why I think it is vital that this issue be taken into the proposal stage eventually, or at the very least it should become Wikipedia policy not to impose 'BC/AD' on articles which have literally absolutely nothing to do with Christianity. My apologies for this very long message, but I felt I had to fully explain where I am coming from (though I think you understood this from the very start) and why I did not become involved in the debate, and I truly hope that this issue does not become closed down or shut away in some dark corner to be forgotten, and that your efforts are very much appreciated. Again, thank you. User:SouthernComfort 01:06, 21 May 2005 (UTC) ::Well, I went ahead with the revert (twice), and sure enough it was reverted (twice), by not only Jguk, but another U.K./Australian user. Check out the absurdity over at Talk:List of kings of Persia and the history. You know, it's one thing for them to do that if it were a Christian chronology, but this is too much. I won't be backing down on this one. I've also added my comments in support of the continued discussion to the BCE/CE debate ('Move to close' section). Hopefully this will all lead somewhere positive eventually, as the implications resulting from continued imposition of BC/AD are far too great. User:SouthernComfort 11:20, 21 May 2005 (UTC) ::This User:Jguk (please see his talk page and his responses on mine) is something else. What course of action do you recommend now that he is threatening me? User:SouthernComfort 14:56, 21 May 2005 (UTC) ::: I just want to add that I am currently engaged in several disputes with Southern Comfort, and that I am subject to the same sort of aggressive reverting, refusal to compromise, and insulting remarks about which SC complains when such tactics are directed at him by others. I wish that SC would treat me with the same consideration he demands for himself. That said, I'm writing all my articles with BCE/CE, as being the scholarly standard. User:Zora 21:49, 21 May 2005 (UTC) ::::The situation is not just between myself and Zora (other users are involved and compromises have been reached which she refuses to recognize) and anyone who is so inclined may take a look at Talk:Khuzestan and Talk:Ahvaz (as well as article histories for evidence of the POV revisionism and denial of factual history, in addition to blatant vandalism, that she has insisted on imposing upon these articles) for the frustratingly gory details. She is currently the only one disputing Ahvaz. This is not unlike my situation with User:Jguk. User:SouthernComfort 22:17, 21 May 2005 (UTC) :::I very much appreciate the advice, and Sunray has been very helpful in this area. Though it seems the current proposal has 'failed,' so to speak, this shouldn't be the end of it, and I certainly hope you continue in your efforts despite whatever you have had to go through with your opponents. I hope you don't give up on this as I think your involvement is warranted considering your initial proposal has had results in proving that current policy is flawed. At any rate, I hope all of this will lead somewhere, whether a compromise or policy solution. User:SouthernComfort 22:17, 21 May 2005 (UTC) ::::Not at all, your advice is perfectly 100% valid and appreciated (I just wish things could be so readily resolved through communication.) I don't want to get you inadvertently involved in this situation (what can I say, she left the comments ;) so I will not say anything further about that. I understand and respect your position, which seems to be the most logical route to take. I will definitely take a look at the Bible article and discussion, as I would seem to require a great deal of catching up to do on all of this, as usual. User:SouthernComfort 22:35, 21 May 2005 (UTC) == Okay, == Okay, I'm sorry if I misunderstood your BC/BCE proposal, I thought it was for a hard-and-fast policy and that it was getting a bit out of hand. Yours, User:Radiant!User_talk:Radiant!meta:mergist 07:37, May 20, 2005 (UTC) *In unrelated point, you said that ''"There are policy proposals at Category:Wikipedia_policy_thinktank (of which this is a part) that have been around since 2003."''. Which ones would those be? I believe this cat should only hold current proposals (and it's currently on WP:CFD for renaming as such) so I'd like to archive out some old ones. User:Radiant!User_talk:Radiant!meta:mergist 12:37, May 20, 2005 (UTC) **We have :Category:Wikipedia historical pages. There should be a clear distinction between which proposals are currently under discussion, and which aren't - because it influences the way people work on the wiki. That's also why we have pages like WP:W and Wikipedia:Recent changes, to alert people on ''what is presently going on''. That, obviously, doesn't apply to Encyclopedia pages. People are welcome to add comments to historical pages, of course, but they should not do so under the impression that they are actively being listened to. If people want to revive an old idea, they should realize that they need to do some effort, e.g. putting it up at the village pump. User:Radiant!User_talk:Radiant!meta:mergist 14:59, May 20, 2005 (UTC) ***What do you mean by 'none of them are dated'? All of them have dates on them, of course. And those that are no longer active are in :Category:Wikipedia historical pages, or maybe :Category:Wikipedia guidelines if accepted. User:Radiant!User_talk:Radiant!meta:mergist 15:06, May 20, 2005 (UTC) == Your user page == Ok, the 1st thing you need to do is get rid of anything from the page that is conversations with others that should have been on the talk page. Just make another archive of them or something. At the top of the page should be an introduction, saying who you are etc. Maybe just below that put things that relate to you and wikipedia i.e major articles contributions you've made. Also photos are quite good. Then if you want to put interesting bits of information not relating to you, put them underneath, with their own headings. Don't go overboard and make a 300k article which you seem to love doing! That's my advice for now. Making it look pretty comes after fixing the content. --User:Silversmith 15:24, 20 May 2005 (UTC) == Change of Username == thanks for your comments. i was persuaded by those on my talk page to make the change to avoid offense, and also make it easier to communicate with me. but i did keep the user/talk pages so that my pov is clearly outlined. User:Abeo Paliurus POV: User talk:Abeo Paliurus 16:48, 20 May 2005 (UTC) ==Bible== Hi...I appreciate your comments on your user page about the Bible. I am a Christian (ordained clergy, in fact) who believes quite firmly in Scriptural truth and authority and inspiration, but I also maintain that it has a powerful culturally-influenced human element, and this does not in any way demean the Bible. I actually look at it as traditional (Nicene) Christianity has viewed Jesus...fully divine yet also fully human. I am comfortable living with paradox, but understand that many are not. I hope that the sometimes unkind words thrown your way don't wound too deeply; they are not representative of Christianity in general or Christians. User:KHM03 18:01, 20 May 2005 (UTC) == Jguk == I would obviously like to get involved, but I'm not exactly clear on how this works, i.e. where do I add my statement and is there anything in particular I need to know before I add my edits? Thanks. User:SouthernComfort 15:22, 22 May 2005 (UTC) BTW, see Parthia (originally BCE/CE to begin with - Jguk changed to BC/AD), Hormozgan (original author User:Zereshk agrees with BCE/CE as evidenced on Talk:List of kings of Persia) - there are a lot of changes (from original BCE/CE to BC/AD as opposed to my changing from BC/AD to BCE/CE) as evidenced through his user contributions. User:SouthernComfort 15:32, 22 May 2005 (UTC) Slrubenstein, I've added myself to the RFAR as an involved party; after delving into Jguk's contributions, I discovered he's been on this POV crusade for quite some time. --M See other meanings of words starting from letter: SSB | SC | SD | SE | SF | SG | SH | SI | SJ | SK | SL | SM | SN | SO | SP | SR | SS | ST | SU | SW | SX | SY | SZ |Words begining with Slrubenstein: Slrubenstein Slrubenstein Slrubenstein/Case_Against_CheeseDreams Slrubenstein/old SlRubenstein_(archive_1) SlRubenstein_(archive_2) Slrubenstein_(archive_3) Slrubenstein_(archive_4) Slrubenstein_proposal_re_BCE-CE_Debate |
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