RE: LIMITS TO BRAINS

On Tue, 24 Aug 1999, Jay Hanson wrote:

> I really like this.  More examples on point.  Real world facts are altered
> to preserve existing dogma. (I did not, in fact, say what Boris is claiming
> I said).  This then is the human animal: reject the real world in favor of
> social fantasies.  You are in good company Boris, we have a long history of
> it:

[snipped pedantic quotes]

> We can see now that Galileo didn't have it quite right.  It's not knowledge
> itself that people hate (e.g., people are dying to find out whether George
> Jr. snorted coke), it's physical world knowledge that threatens social
> constructions of reality that people really hate.  People are born that way:

[snipped boring rant]

Well, it's all there:  the flat denial (without reference), the
counterposition of sinful ("social fantasies") vs. righteous ("physical
world knowledge") mentality, the sprinkling of pious citations, and the
concluding soteriological sermon.  Folks, there's no doubt about it:  Jay
has been sent from heaven to deliver us the good news, and to warn us
about the upcoming apocalypse.

Seriously, Jay, I have enjoyed your little sermons, because they've
brought the denizens of this network out of their summer slumber.  If
you want to be taken seriously, however, I suggest that instead of
trying to bash people over the head with your crucifix, you try to find
out what it is we discuss here, try to make your contributions relevant to
the topic (large-scale, long-term SOCIAL change), and be respectful.  I
know you think you've got a handle on the Truth and the rest of us have
yet to evolve, but, despite all the problems with this list, there are
some pretty smart people here, and they will simply write you off if you
keep carrying on like this.  If you take my suggestions to heart, you may
even find that there are people who are in substantial agreement with you
about impending disaster, though probably not for the reasons you've
outlined (but if civilization is coming to an end, does it really matter
if we disagree as to the reasons?)

-- 
Boris Stremlin
bc70219@binghamton.edu