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GeneralRe: For the chess and javascript enthusiasts... Pin
Gary Wheeler17-May-16 9:40
Gary Wheeler17-May-16 9:40 
GeneralRe: For the chess and javascript enthusiasts... Pin
Eytukan16-May-16 21:23
Eytukan16-May-16 21:23 
GeneralRe: For the chess and javascript enthusiasts... Pin
Nish Nishant16-May-16 13:51
sitebuilderNish Nishant16-May-16 13:51 
GeneralRe: For the chess and javascript enthusiasts... Pin
Eytukan16-May-16 21:24
Eytukan16-May-16 21:24 
GeneralOld dreams in new containers: the ancient Greeks and our technoid modern reality ? Pin
BillWoodruff16-May-16 6:15
professionalBillWoodruff16-May-16 6:15 
GeneralRe: Old dreams in new containers: the ancient Greeks and our technoid modern reality ? Pin
Slacker00716-May-16 6:50
professionalSlacker00716-May-16 6:50 
GeneralRe: Old dreams in new containers: the ancient Greeks and our technoid modern reality ? Pin
W Balboos, GHB16-May-16 6:59
W Balboos, GHB16-May-16 6:59 
GeneralRe: Old dreams in new containers: the ancient Greeks and our technoid modern reality ? Pin
BillWoodruff16-May-16 8:59
professionalBillWoodruff16-May-16 8:59 
The authorship, and time of origin, of Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth) has been hotly disputed by scholars for a couple of centuries now, and, while I obviously can say nothing about that, there are very interesting parts of the book that do not sound "depressed" to me:
Ecc 11:9 Rejoice, young man, while you are young,and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes, but know that God will judge your motives and actions. 

Ecc 7:16 So do not be excessively righteous or excessively wise;otherwise you might be disappointed.

Ecc 8:15 So I recommend the enjoyment of life, for there is nothing better on earth for a person to do except to eat, drink, and enjoy life. So joy will accompany him in his toil during the days of his life which God gives him on earth.
And, the description of the paradox of how the "wise man" ends up like the "fool" ... 2:12~16 ... seems to me to have a comic aspect in its extreme bathos.

But, overall, yes, it is an old man's book, an end-of-story book, a seen-it-all been-there-done-that book. For me a lot of its "power" (mana) comes from its juxtaposition of extremes of perspective.

My apologies if anyone is offended in any way by my quoting (here on the Lounge) from a manuscript regarded as "sacred" by many, and also regarded as a work of sublime literary importance by many famous "atheists" (including George Orwell, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and others).
«There is a spectrum, from "clearly desirable behaviour," to "possibly dodgy behavior that still makes some sense," to "clearly undesirable behavior." We try to make the latter into warnings or, better, errors. But stuff that is in the middle category you don’t want to restrict unless there is a clear way to work around it.» Eric Lippert, May 14, 2008

GeneralRe: Old dreams in new containers: the ancient Greeks and our technoid modern reality ? Pin
Slacker00716-May-16 9:16
professionalSlacker00716-May-16 9:16 
GeneralRe: Old dreams in new containers: the ancient Greeks and our technoid modern reality ? Pin
Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter16-May-16 20:17
professionalKornfeld Eliyahu Peter16-May-16 20:17 
GeneralRe: Old dreams in new containers: the ancient Greeks and our technoid modern reality ? Pin
Eytukan16-May-16 21:29
Eytukan16-May-16 21:29 
GeneralThought of the day Pin
OriginalGriff16-May-16 5:44
mveOriginalGriff16-May-16 5:44 
GeneralRe: Thought of the day Pin
W Balboos, GHB16-May-16 5:48
W Balboos, GHB16-May-16 5:48 
GeneralRe: Thought of the day Pin
Slacker00716-May-16 5:53
professionalSlacker00716-May-16 5:53 
GeneralRe: Thought of the day Pin
jeron116-May-16 5:55
jeron116-May-16 5:55 
GeneralRe: Thought of the day Pin
W Balboos, GHB16-May-16 6:09
W Balboos, GHB16-May-16 6:09 
GeneralRe: Thought of the day Pin
Manfred Rudolf Bihy16-May-16 6:35
professionalManfred Rudolf Bihy16-May-16 6:35 
GeneralRe: Thought of the day Pin
jeron116-May-16 6:37
jeron116-May-16 6:37 
GeneralRe: Thought of the day Pin
megaadam16-May-16 8:16
professionalmegaadam16-May-16 8:16 
GeneralRe: Thought of the day Pin
Corporal Agarn16-May-16 9:42
professionalCorporal Agarn16-May-16 9:42 
GeneralAPOD Pin
R. Giskard Reventlov16-May-16 4:52
R. Giskard Reventlov16-May-16 4:52 
GeneralRe: APOD Pin
glennPattonWork316-May-16 5:59
professionalglennPattonWork316-May-16 5:59 
GeneralCoding thought for the day Pin
Duncan Edwards Jones16-May-16 3:26
professionalDuncan Edwards Jones16-May-16 3:26 
GeneralRe: Coding thought for the day Pin
OriginalGriff16-May-16 3:30
mveOriginalGriff16-May-16 3:30 
GeneralRe: Coding thought for the day Pin
Richard Deeming16-May-16 3:31
mveRichard Deeming16-May-16 3:31 

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