[ExI] NYT ninny

[Michael LaTorra]

Damien, you've got to look for a ray of light wherever you can find it. Amid
the blather, Brooks shed one ray right here:

"That's bound to lead to new movements that emphasize self-transcendence but
put little stock in divine law or revelation."

A step in the right direction, wouldn't you say?

Regards,
Mike LaTorra

On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 1:37 AM, Damien Broderick <thespike at satx.rr.com>
wrote:

> The endless stupidity is breathtaking:
>
> <
> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/opinion/13brooks.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=login
> >
>
> <Genes are not merely selfish, it appears. Instead, people seem to
> have deep instincts for fairness, empathy and attachment.>
>
> What, like <bricks are not merely small and oblong. Instead, opera
> houses seem to be round and enormous.> ?
>
> <To these self-confident researchers, the idea that the spirit might
> exist apart from the body is just ridiculous. Instead, everything
> arises from atoms. Genes shape temperament. Brain chemicals shape
> behavior. Assemblies of neurons create consciousness. Free will is an
> illusion. Human beings are "hard-wired" to do this or that. Religion
> is an accident. >
>
> An accident. Keep the really dumb piece of bullshit for the end. Has
> this man never heard of "adaptation," or "exaptation," or
> repurposing, or, I don't know, natural selection by differential
> survival of phenotypic variants?
>
> <I'm not qualified to take sides, believe me. >
>
> Yeah, I believe you.
>
> <I'm just trying to anticipate which way the debate is headed. >
>
> And I fear he's right.
>
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