[ExI] why so close? was: RE: Tim Wise on White Privilege

Jeff Davis jrd1415 at gmail.com
Tue Sep 16 23:25:12 UTC 2008


On Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 9:09 AM,  <fauxever at sprynet.com> wrote:

> ...The Republicans just couldn't seem to come up with a candidate without serious downsides.

For instance, being a Republican.

Thus the McCain "I'm a Maverick, not a Republican, really.  Next
question, please" strategy.

                         **********************************

In this essay

http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/haidt08/haidt08_index.html

I found this, the foundation of my own view of the matter:

"...when gut feelings are present, dispassionate reasoning is rare." ...

"... philosopher David Hume's dictum that reason is "the slave of the
passions, and can pretend to no other office than to serve and obey
them."...

"... feelings come first and tilt the mental playing field on which
reasons and arguments compete. If people want to reach a conclusion,
they can usually find a way to do so."...

[And finally:]

"The Democrats have historically failed to grasp this rule, choosing
uninspiring and aloof candidates who thought that policy arguments
were forms of persuasion."

Or the way I like to say it:

The US Presidential election campaign is little more than an
infotainment reality-tv gladiatorial mini-series;  part WWF Smackdown,
part Miss America pageant.

Best, Jeff Davis

I know it is a weakness of human nature to become emotionally invested
in inconsequential tribal spats, but people who want to be
transhumanists need to be able to get past that almost as a
prerequisite.  In fact, a good portion of the transhumanist ideals are
all about shedding this behavior.
                 j. andrew rogers



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