Subject: [lojban] Re: [OT] God Syndrome (OR: The why of 'why')

From: Invent Yourself <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 17:54:12 -0400 (EDT)

On Tue, 22 Apr 2003, Jon MacLeod wrote:

> Please keep in mind that this is an off topic post, that has very
> little to do with Lojban in any way- although it does explain one of the
> reasons I decided to take up Lojban: My own language (and from what I
> can tell from talking to others, pretty much every other language in
> existence) does not have the words to describe the concept I am
> espousing below.

This is not off-topic if discussed in Lojban. (ganai la lojban. jai bau
casnu gi dei mapti) I'll translate those parts I feel like translating.

I think you mean the 'second derivative of action', or, the motivation's
motivation; the meta motivation. Why does Mark feel the urge to punch a
locker door when he's angry? Joe smokes because he enjoys it, but why does
he enjoy it? Does my trivial transaltion mean that I too don't get it? I
see no need to resort to vagueness that borders on Zen, or the device of
extra quote marks around "why" (except, possibly, a tick after why
("why'") denoting the derivative...) I think that Jorge's lojban
translation was sufficient and succinct.

(.i pe'i do sisku tu'a lo rinka be lo mukti .i paunai ma rinka le du'u le
lizyfengu cu mukti le mubdarxi la mark. i ru'a le du'u jy. ta'e
sigva'u mu'i le lizypluka kei zo'u ma mukti .i xu le du'u le
li'i mi fanva kei cu frili mi kei nibli le du'u mi mo'asi'e jimpe)

I have more to say but I'll wait until you respond.

-- 
In an opinion poll conducted in early March by Zogby, 97% of
Saudis said they had an unfavorable opinion of the US.

"I think that underestimates it," said Awardh Badhi, a political
scientist with the Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies.