Penny's Poetry Blog's poem for Hallowe'en
Haunted Houses, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- All houses wherein men have lived and died
Are haunted houses. Through the open doors
The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,
With feet that make no sound upon the floors,
[...]
https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2022/10/ppb-haunted-houses-henry-wadsworth.html

On 2022-10-31 12:47 p.m., George J. Dance wrote:
> Penny's Poetry Blog's poem for Hallowe'en
> Haunted Houses, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
> -
> All houses wherein men have lived and died
>     Are haunted houses. Through the open doors
> The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,
>     With feet that make no sound upon the floors,
> [...]
> https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2022/10/ppb-haunted-houses-henry-wadsworth.html
>

On 2022-10-31 12:47 p.m., George J. Dance wrote:
> Penny's Poetry Blog's poem for Hallowe'en
> Haunted Houses, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
> -
> All houses wherein men have lived and died
> Are haunted houses. Through the open doors
> The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,
> With feet that make no sound upon the floors,
> [...]
>
https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2022/10/ppb-haunted-houses-henry-wadsworth.html
>
I saw an earlier request, on an earlier PPB post, that asked me to
include some original commentary with these poem. (That was made on
aapc, for the benefit of RAP readers). So let's do that here.

Does the past exist, other than subjectively (as individual memories)?
Obviously, past reality effects present reality. It's reality that I
live in a home that was built; it's reality that someone built it; and
it's a matter of fact (fact being a detail of reality) who those people
were, how they built it, what jobs each of them did, what they ate on
the job, who made their lunches, their \family statuses, their
religions, and on and on ... By the same token, those who lived in those
houses were similarly real.

However, those people's present reality is that they're not here, not
working on my home or living in it. So the easy answer is, no, these
other people living in my home do not exist. It's correct to say that
they did exist (in the past), but not that they do exist (in the present).

But that answer is not based simply on reality, but on how we normally
conceptualize reality, as divided into past (what we're aware of, but
can't alter), future (what we can alter, and are not aware of), and
present (the shifting boundary between the other two states).

On the other hand, there are some who do not accept that distinction,
and believe that past, present, and future exist simultaneously. For
those, it would follow that these past residents of the house are here now.

Will Dockery wrote:

> On Tuesday, November 1, 2022 at 12:45:30 PM UTC-4, michaelmalef...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Tuesday, November 1, 2022 at 12:31:25 PM UTC-4, Will Dockery wrote:
>> > > > > > On Monday, October 31, 2022 at 1:23:10 PM UTC-4, George J. Dance wrote:
>
>> > > > > > > > Penny's Poetry Blog's poem for Hallowe'en
>> > > > > > > > Haunted Houses, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
>> > > > > > > > -
>> > > > > > > > All houses wherein men have lived and died
>> > > > > > > > Are haunted houses. Through the open doors
>> > > > > > > > The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,
>> > > > > > > > With feet that make no sound upon the floors,
>> > > > > > > > [...]
>> > > > > > > > https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2022/10/ppb-haunted-houses-henry-wadsworth.html
>> > > > > > > >
>> > > > > > > On 2022-10-31 12:47 p.m., George J. Dance wrote:
>> > > > > > > > Penny's Poetry Blog's poem for Hallowe'en
>> > > > > > > > Haunted Houses, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
>> > > > > > > > -
>> > > > > > > > All houses wherein men have lived and died
>> > > > > > > > Are haunted houses. Through the open doors
>> > > > > > > > The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,
>> > > > > > > > With feet that make no sound upon the floors,
>> > > > > > > > [...]
>> > > > > > > >
>> > > > > > > https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2022/10/ppb-haunted-houses-henry-wadsworth.html
>> > > > > > > >
>> > > > > > > I saw an earlier request, on an earlier PPB post, that asked me to
>> > > > > > > include some original commentary with these poem. (That was made on
>> > > > > > > aapc, for the benefit of RAP readers). So let's do that here.
>> > > > > > >
>> > > > > > > Does the past exist, other than subjectively (as individual memories)?
>> > > > > > > Obviously, past reality effects present reality. It's reality that I
>> > > > > > > live in a home that was built; it's reality that someone built it; and
>> > > > > > > it's a matter of fact (fact being a detail of reality) who those people
>> > > > > > > were, how they built it, what jobs each of them did, what they ate on
>> > > > > > > the job, who made their lunches, their family statuses, their
>> > > > > > > religions, and on and on ... By the same token, those who lived in those
>> > > > > > > houses were similarly real.
>> > > > > > >
>> > > > > > > However, those people's present reality is that they're not here, not
>> > > > > > > working on my home or living in it. So the easy answer is, no, these
>> > > > > > > other people living in my home do not exist. It's correct to say that
>> > > > > > > they did exist (in the past), but not that they do exist (in the present).
>> > > > > > >
>> > > > > > > But that answer is not based simply on reality, but on how we normally
>> > > > > > > conceptualize reality, as divided into past (what we're aware of, but
>> > > > > > > can't alter), future (what we can alter, and are not aware of), and
>> > > > > > > present (the shifting boundary between the other two states).
>> > > > > > >
>> > > > > > > On the other hand, there are some who do not accept that distinction,
>> > > > > > > and believe that past, present, and future exist simultaneously. For
>> > > > > > > those, it would follow that these past residents of the house are here now.
>> > > > > > Outstanding read, G.D.
>> > > > > Shut up, Todd.
>> > > > Says Michael Pendragon, as he slings his monkey shit, as usual.
>> > > George Dance opened a discussion on the subjective nature of reality -- specifically citing my own beliefs regarding the illusion of time. I provided an equally in-depth response.
>> > >
>> > > If Todd had contributed anything of value to the discussion, his response would have been met with a different response.
>> > >
>> > > Generic slurpages, otoh, are not conducive to literary discussion, and are not welcome here (at least, not by me).
>> > >
>> > > Your trolling is equally unwelcome... and, unfortunately, expected.,
>> > As is your use of the stale "Todd" one-liner, little monkey
>> >
>> > HTH and HAND.
>> *PLONK*

> Good riddance to Michael Pendragon, shit spewing little monkey.

Yep, ///skip and ignore/// is a blessing for us all...!