Posts by henchan

Houyhnhnm

In my last post I used your counter-point to illustrate my ad hominem point. That was probably undeserved because actually I have been and continue to oppose LaeMing's too easy de-humanisation of people he/she disagrees with. One could even take a conspiratorial view of that post to suggest that LaeMing was trolling for the other team. No doubt Rush Limbaugh and his active followers understand that there are none so committed to the cause as the demonised. And they are not averse to some self-generated demonisation as means to an end. LaeMing's actual intent is irrelevant. My point remains that demonisation is counter-productive to achieving peace.

To one of your points, segregation is not an option. This idea reminds me of the fourth book in Gulliver's Travels in which the animalistic Yahoo are separated from the intellectual Houyhnhnm. If you read it keep in mind that it's a parody of utopian thinking in the Enlightenment.

In the real, messy world classifications are made and re-made all the time. There's effectively an infinite number of usable dimensions. Through billions of years of evolution animals' brains (including all humans' (including your definition of rational humans')) have become very effective at identifying useful dimensions for problems in their particular domain. I agree with you that rational thinking can sometimes be a useful dimension to categorise actors in our domain, but it's not not the one and only. We are all much richer, more complex and subtle than that. Acknowledging where an individual's strengths lie is a more reliable path to peace than to castigate them for their failure to meet your target on a single dimension.

ad hominem

Those in the midst of a culture war seeem least able to countenance peace sans complete victory. Those on its periphery are more apt to wonder what it is all for. Wars are invariably provoked by the other side, whilst our side is just defending basic freedoms. You indicate that you are fighting for intellectual pursuits and I don't doubt your sincerity nor do I question the actual endeavour. Where we disagree is the means. It seems to me that putting people into pigeon holes ("these people") is rarely productive. I don't believe there are any racists in the world, but that everyone: yourself and myself included is capable of racism unfortunately. Let's not go for the ad hominem. Though it may feel good, it is invariably counter-productive to the goal.

putting out fire with gasoline

What kind of external stimulus do you think conditions such a reflex ? Inflamatory attitudes like that do not help.

If the tone of this radio figurehead is anti-intellectual it is partly because pseudo-intellects frequently denigrate his listeners. Those people are to some extent seeking solace. Not that I support the show - I have never heard it as I don't live in the US - merely to shift part of the blame for the show's popularity to critics like LaeMing.