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lol, college

A person makes the world a better place by enriching the lives of those in his sphere of influence. By making his puppet show, Henson expanded his sphere of influence greatly, and many of us were enriched by it. He focused on education and got a lot of kids interested in learning. He didn't have a mean-spirited bone in his body. Anyone who brings that to the table is indeed making the world a better place -- not for every person in the world simultaneously, but for who he comes in contact with.

lol, college

Anyway, to get back to your original point, you accuse the people who want to "make a difference" as universally narcissistic, amoral attention junkies. Your premise seems to be that anyone who receives attention must have been looking for it, and didn't care how they got it. To follow that line of thinking, if someone receives a huge amount of attention, it doesn't matter if it's for something good or evil -- it reflects on the amount of attention the recipient wanted and vied for. That's just...dumb?

"...you accuse the people who want to "make a difference" as universally narcissistic, amoral attention junkies." Patently false. Rather, I'm saying that many people say that they "want to make a difference" without ever saying what it is they intend to do to achieve that goal. That IMNTHO comes off as a cheap attempt to appear more moral and thoughtful. I'm not even saying that was Henson's intent, but rather that it's not as impressive a thing to say as people seem to think it is.

wow, im still stuck on the part that "Getting kids "interested in learning" is not the same thing as educating them" part... good luck educating someone who does not want to learn. Inspiring kids to want to learn is for their developmental benefit, and you scoff at it... someone had some mommy-daddy issues when growing up. any 1 man who can inspire millions of kids to take the first steps in learning is a genius. wheres your millions?

"Twain also put EFFORT into his sarcasm and jibes." Which would surely be a damning indictment if I was comparing myself to him, rather than merely quoting him. But while we're on that subject, keep in mind that as you point your finger at me the other three are curling back to point at you. Just saying, Mr. Pot. :oD

"any 1 man who can inspire millions of kids to take the first steps in learning is a genius." Any child who needs a TV show to inspire him to take the first steps in learning has criminally negligent parents. Don't you realize how silly you sound asserting that education without Jim Henson is impossible? He contributed to some shows that feature lessons in counting and the alphabet. Don't get me wrong, that's nice, but hardly essential.

My "cynical jabs" aren't directed toward Jim Henson. They're directed toward a site that in my estimation seems calculated to garner a lot of 5's and glowing comments due to good feelings for a man who, while unquestionably a fine human being, has been dead for nearly 18 years. I'd be more understanding if his death was recent or if he wasn't already well-known and appreciated, but as it stands this site seems designed to tickle people's nostalgia centers so that they vote 5. Forgive me if I'm wrong, VIsra.

Fair enough, VIsraWratS. I delightedly withdraw my "cynical jabs", once again offer my apologies, and bid you good day. :o)

hahaha -- sorry, no Muppet fetish here. I'm just trying to find out why you take such pleasure in being caustic and cynical. It could have been anyone up in the "makingtheworldabetterplace" chair. The world is better because people determine to leave it in a better state than they found it. Jim Henson was one such guy. Whether or not he reached your standards of achievement in this is up for debate, but I guess if you have something better on your resume, now's the time to bring it up.

As for why I take "such pleasure in being caustic and cynical," chalk that up to a difference of opinion on what those words, too. I enjoy my life, and apparently in your opinion I do so cynically. YMMV, I guess. :o) If that answer doesn't satisfy you, I give you these lyrics: "how would I know the living if I didn't know the dying / how could I taste the honey if there was no pain in trying ... I'm sicker than the rest / and I love the bitterness" :oD

tv was a wide distribution for henson-muppets-seseme st (ect), was equally giving credit to the craptons of toys and books produced for the purpose of inspiring learning... i agree, tv can be evil and shouldn't be a baby sitter.

"Your first comment did seem directed towards Jim Henson." It was, admittedly, a pretty oblique comment. I'm sure my use of the "sacred cows" quote didn't do much to make anyone think otherwise, either. I had meant that more as a commentary on how rapidly and heatedly people responded to my initial comment; that is, people treating this ytmnd as if it were sacrosanct (a "sacred cow"), but I can see how someone could take it as aimed at Henson himself. Well, that's the internet for you.