4 ms·

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as w

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or thine own were. Any man’s death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” - John Donne, Meditation XVII, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions (1624) It's important that we realize that theses people being affected by viral spread of Ebola are people just like you, me, our families and friends.

sal_paradise 12y ago
What are the odds that I see this quote twice on one day for the first time ever? http://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/comments/2i418w/every_person_sees_the_world_in_a_unique_way_when/ckyokj9 http://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/comments/2i418w/every...
- jMyles 12y ago
  I actually want to know the answer to this question. Mostly because I think the odds are remote, yet it happens more often than is reasonable to predict. Thus, I suppose I believe in a sort of synchronicity. I'm not sure if I realized that before.
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    > Mostly because I think the odds are remote, yet it happens more often than is reasonable to predict. It happens as often as you should be able to predict it. This usually indicates a limited access to relevant data rather than some kind of exotic mechanism.
    - startupfounder 12y ago
      It's at the bottom of the article we were discussing... http://stanfordlawyer.law.stanford.edu/2014/10/ebola-the-tolling-bell/ http://stanfordlawyer.law.stanford.edu/2014/10/ebola-the-tol...
- eCa 12y ago
  Sounds like the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baader-Meinhof_phenomenon#Frequency_illusion http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baader-Meinhof_phenomenon#Fre...
Ancorehraq 12y ago
Demonstrably untrue. The people affected are persistently, spectacularly unsuccessful. It's unclear why more investment into helping with Ebola would work where previous intervention in other crises has failed.
- lotsofmangos 12y ago
  The sickness you are suffering from is much worse than Ebola and much more difficult to treat.
  - Ancorehraq 12y ago
    Your sense of holiness will surely be a comfort while you are watching your family vomit blood, courtesy of repatriating volunteers.
    - lotsofmangos 12y ago
      No sense of holiness. I don't believe in it. However I think your outlook is that which enables the worst in us. We like to demonise leaders when we count up the corpses of history, but it is twisted little fuckers like you who oil the way for them, make no mistake about that.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
a3voices 12y ago
Well what about all the wildlife and rainforests that have been devastated by human population growth in Africa? The continent would be better off without so many people. After all, they're not doing anything to advance humanity technologically. They are just wrecking ecosystems and wasting resources.
- goldfeld 12y ago
  I wouldn't believe if someone told me they've seen "After all, they're not doing anything to advance humanity technologically" spouted out in plain-sight internet and it wasn't a parody, so I'll just assume you're using really dry (actually excellent) sarcasm. In any case, just to counter the argument that they're wrecking ecosystems, why do the US get to have wrecked their ecosystems in the name of White Man's progress many decades ago and Africans can't?
- lotsofmangos 12y ago
  Have we double booked the Ebola thread with the support group for "Arseholes Anonymous"? Anyone from Europe or America who likes to sit in sneering judgment over the wide variety of cultures in Africa either has no education in their own history or hasn't the strength of character to face up to it.
  - goldfeld 12y ago
    I'm unsure what's more terrifying going forward, Ebola or the fact that at least three users on this Hacker News story--as opposed to a mainstream newspaper's website comment section where bigotry and ignorant patriotism is the order of the day--have seen no issue in declaring their views unanomymously. Much like death tolls go, how many more wanted to have made similar comments but still had a minimum sense to restrain themselves?
    - newuser88273 12y ago
      Lemmesee. Catch Ebola... or have to read three interweb comments seriously lacking in sensitivity? Tough choice. Good luck, Ebola-Chan.
tomjen3 12y ago
I don't really care about what they are as long as they are a treat to my family, which they can are if they move out of Africa. I want a good counter argument to this feeling because it is morally wrong but seems logically sound: between terrorist threatening us at home (they just murdered another british aid worker), ugandas death penalty for homosexuality, out of control ebola in Africa (made a lot worse because these people are too uneducated to trust medical staff, but trust their local community witch) I don't see how we can let these people govern themselves any more. Like I said I don't want to feel this way, so good logical counter arguments are much appreciated.
- lotsofmangos 12y ago
  Not letting others govern themselves has largely been the problem. If my country had been fucked around by foreign empires for several hundred years rather than being the one doing the fucking, I'd probably trust my local witch more than outside doctors too. Also, the distance between the groups you are treating as some sort of homogeneous lump is 4000 miles, or about the same as Washington State to Northern Japan.
  - tomjen3 12y ago
    Thanks, that is a pretty good argument.
- goldfeld 12y ago
  You feel this way because you think there is a solution to human nature (there isn't) and that your developed country and society have a more admirable morality because their political crimes don't look like blue-collar crimes that directly threaten your safety, they're just white-collar crimes to impoverish, restrain, destabilize and control (at home and abroad.) Often they even work within the legal framework.
- RVuRnvbM2e 12y ago
  > I don't see how we can let these people govern themselves any more. Many thought the same of Germany in 1945. Be glad that they didn't get their way. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgenthau_Plan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgenthau_Plan

sal_paradise 12y ago

What are the odds that I see this quote twice on one day for the first time ever? http://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/comments/2i418w/every_person_sees_the_world_in_a_unique_way_when/ckyokj9 http://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/comments/2i418w/every...

jMyles 12y ago
I actually want to know the answer to this question. Mostly because I think the odds are remote, yet it happens more often than is reasonable to predict. Thus, I suppose I believe in a sort of synchronicity. I'm not sure if I realized that before.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  > Mostly because I think the odds are remote, yet it happens more often than is reasonable to predict. It happens as often as you should be able to predict it. This usually indicates a limited access to relevant data rather than some kind of exotic mechanism.
  - startupfounder 12y ago
    It's at the bottom of the article we were discussing... http://stanfordlawyer.law.stanford.edu/2014/10/ebola-the-tolling-bell/ http://stanfordlawyer.law.stanford.edu/2014/10/ebola-the-tol...
eCa 12y ago
Sounds like the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baader-Meinhof_phenomenon#Frequency_illusion http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baader-Meinhof_phenomenon#Fre...

Ancorehraq 12y ago

Demonstrably untrue. The people affected are persistently, spectacularly unsuccessful. It's unclear why more investment into helping with Ebola would work where previous intervention in other crises has failed.

lotsofmangos 12y ago
The sickness you are suffering from is much worse than Ebola and much more difficult to treat.
- Ancorehraq 12y ago
  Your sense of holiness will surely be a comfort while you are watching your family vomit blood, courtesy of repatriating volunteers.
  - lotsofmangos 12y ago
    No sense of holiness. I don't believe in it. However I think your outlook is that which enables the worst in us. We like to demonise leaders when we count up the corpses of history, but it is twisted little fuckers like you who oil the way for them, make no mistake about that.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

a3voices 12y ago

Well what about all the wildlife and rainforests that have been devastated by human population growth in Africa? The continent would be better off without so many people. After all, they're not doing anything to advance humanity technologically. They are just wrecking ecosystems and wasting resources.

goldfeld 12y ago
I wouldn't believe if someone told me they've seen "After all, they're not doing anything to advance humanity technologically" spouted out in plain-sight internet and it wasn't a parody, so I'll just assume you're using really dry (actually excellent) sarcasm. In any case, just to counter the argument that they're wrecking ecosystems, why do the US get to have wrecked their ecosystems in the name of White Man's progress many decades ago and Africans can't?
lotsofmangos 12y ago
Have we double booked the Ebola thread with the support group for "Arseholes Anonymous"? Anyone from Europe or America who likes to sit in sneering judgment over the wide variety of cultures in Africa either has no education in their own history or hasn't the strength of character to face up to it.
- goldfeld 12y ago
  I'm unsure what's more terrifying going forward, Ebola or the fact that at least three users on this Hacker News story--as opposed to a mainstream newspaper's website comment section where bigotry and ignorant patriotism is the order of the day--have seen no issue in declaring their views unanomymously. Much like death tolls go, how many more wanted to have made similar comments but still had a minimum sense to restrain themselves?
  - newuser88273 12y ago
    Lemmesee. Catch Ebola... or have to read three interweb comments seriously lacking in sensitivity? Tough choice. Good luck, Ebola-Chan.

tomjen3 12y ago

I don't really care about what they are as long as they are a treat to my family, which they can are if they move out of Africa. I want a good counter argument to this feeling because it is morally wrong but seems logically sound: between terrorist threatening us at home (they just murdered another british aid worker), ugandas death penalty for homosexuality, out of control ebola in Africa (made a lot worse because these people are too uneducated to trust medical staff, but trust their local community witch) I don't see how we can let these people govern themselves any more. Like I said I don't want to feel this way, so good logical counter arguments are much appreciated.

lotsofmangos 12y ago
Not letting others govern themselves has largely been the problem. If my country had been fucked around by foreign empires for several hundred years rather than being the one doing the fucking, I'd probably trust my local witch more than outside doctors too. Also, the distance between the groups you are treating as some sort of homogeneous lump is 4000 miles, or about the same as Washington State to Northern Japan.
- tomjen3 12y ago
  Thanks, that is a pretty good argument.
goldfeld 12y ago
You feel this way because you think there is a solution to human nature (there isn't) and that your developed country and society have a more admirable morality because their political crimes don't look like blue-collar crimes that directly threaten your safety, they're just white-collar crimes to impoverish, restrain, destabilize and control (at home and abroad.) Often they even work within the legal framework.
RVuRnvbM2e 12y ago
> I don't see how we can let these people govern themselves any more. Many thought the same of Germany in 1945. Be glad that they didn't get their way. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgenthau_Plan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgenthau_Plan