> And Bin Laden >could very well be rational. I haven't seen him do anything that hasn't >served *his* goals.
To be rational is not the same thing as following goals.
Mike, the dictionary is our friend. Words mean what they mean, not what we wish them to mean.
I quote to you from Webster's Dictionary:
"RATIONAL Agreeable to reason; not absurd, preposterous, extravagant, foolish, fanciful, or the like; wise; judicious; as, rational conduct; a rational man."
Neither Bin Laden nor Hitler fit that definition. Period.
I'm a writer, Mike...and I respect the fact that words mean what they mean. We can wish that rational meant the same thing as, say, "determined," or "sentient," but it doesn't.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com) (all message content (c) 2001 by synthetic worlds, ltd., permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine and don't send me story ideas) |
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