[ExI] CRACKPOTS

[William Flynn Wallace]

On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 4:01 PM, Dan TheBookMan <danust2012 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> On Aug 20, 2018, at 9:22 AM, William Flynn Wallace <foozler83 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> John, if you want spiritualism and witchcraft explained, you need to read
> the first few chapters of The Golden Bough.  If the rain did not come after
> the rain god was invoked, the rain man was sacrificed and a new one
> selected.  The only evidence here was of the beliefs themselves.
>
>
> I’m not sure that particular explanation originated with Frazer, but I’m
> wondering how much of that classic is considered valid by experts today. (I
> know it’s still immensely popular, but think it was considered outdated and
> even retrograde soon after publication.)
>
> Regards,
>
> Dan
>

OK, then go with Joseph Campbell - much the same thing.  I don't think
Frazer claimed much originality - just synthesis - rather humble in fact
when you read him.

For truly gigantic works like Frazer's and Darwin's, I would disregard any
criticisms for a fairly long period of time before forming opinions.  If
you have any evidence of how and where The Golden Bough is wrong, I'd be
glad to receive such.  Faintly negative and vague statements like yours are
worthless, don't you think?

Everybody gets criticized by somebody, eh?  Did university people invent
schadenfreude?  If not, they certainly got advanced degrees in it.

At the very worst, works like Frazer's are full of hypotheses for us to
explore.

bill w

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>
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>
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