Mob Rule

Indeed. A Middle-ages crusader would be absolutely certain that they
were correct (morally and ethically) in slaughtering a camp of unarmed
women and children just becuase they were not christian. In modern
times - the people who flew the airliners into the WTC were equally
sure that morally and ethically they were doing what was right -
because that was what they were taught.

The human mind is wonderfully flexible and can believe any one of 6
impossible things before breakfast

Phil

 

Exactly. Children who have been raised by animals (of which there are a
couple of real documented cases) tend to act like their parent animals
because that was the behaviour that they learnt as a child. They can be
taught not to but tend to revert to that behaviour under stress.

Think of it as the difference between hardwired and microcode CPU
behaviour - some things are hardwired, some can be adjusted by changing
the microcode - which isn't as easy in a human as it is in a CPU.

I can't recall any cases of children brought up with no influence at
all. I'm sure there have been (children survivors of shipwrecks on
deserted islands for example) but I don't know of any.

Phil.

 

Doesn't seem so outrageous that there is a genetic component to compassionate
or empathetic behaviour - just look at male/female behavioural differences.

I strongly suspect that how children behave is picked up from interactions
with their peer group. Of course, the parents' circumstances, themselves
partly genetically determined, will dictate to a certain extent what sort of
peers their children mix with ...

 

thank you, Mr.Pinker.

BTW, I'm supposed to be going to somewhere called "New Malden"
tomorrow night, and I believe that it's somewhere in SW London -
what's it like, do you know?

 

That's Ms Harris to you

It's a ****-hole. What on earth for?

Actually, it's fairly harmless, though dull as hell, and weirdly home to a
huge Korean population.

Go to the Rock'n'Roe Fish Bar on the high street, near the Twin Towers. It's
run by Chesney Hawkes' dad.

 

Not Joanne, surely?

a collegue is having a bit of a soiree chez toi, and that's where he
lives.

the only thing I know about it is that is't not as quite as much of a
**** to get to Bush Hill Park from as a lot of other places in the
SWn.

I'm out in Wimbledon (the Greyhound track, can you believe it?) too.
Why am I cursed to know so many people who live in SWn and virtually
no-one in ENn?

 

You seem to be assuming that the word translated as 'love' and
'compassion' are the same - they are not.

What is translated as 'love' in English comes from (in the NT anyway)
from 3 Greek words:

Eros - erotic love (ie lust)
Philio - (love of a concept/idea/ideal - hence philosophy = 'love of
wisdom', philanthropy = 'love of (or care for) fellow humans'.
Agape - selfless love for others

Compassion is much more based on the 'agape' side of things - and is
quite rare. It can also be based on philio. Almost never is it based on
eros - simply because eros is by it's very definition mostly a selfish
love.

And the Bible makes it clear that the majority of humans are not
neccesarily nice - yet people (both believers and non-believers) are
capable of great love and compassion.

Phil

 

*DING* *DING* *DING*

After all - looking at it from a purely mechanistic viewpoint - it is
more likely that co-operative, socially acceptable people will survive.
Which is why birds flock together, fish form shoals and people form
societies.

Phil.

 

To get to mine, you go "round the north circular, then round the south
circular a bit" - it's not that bloody hard ;-)

That's quite a laugh, IME. About 75% of the people there are doing "ironic"
greyhound racing, while the bemused remaining 25% are your genuine sarf
laahndoners on a night aaaht.

You know sir.tony, right?

 

"chez lui"

 

Not literally. I suspect Simonk was thinking of "born with a silver
spoon in the mouth", or "the sins of the father ..."

An individual's life chances can be drastically influenced by the
financial and/or social standard of their parents (we must also be
careful to use this word in social rather than strictly biological
sense).

Fortunately many people are able to overcome the disadvantage that being
part of a particular family (be careful about meanings again) can bring.
Unfortunately some are unable to do so. Conversely, some, despite being
"born to greatness", end up in destitution.

Latest trends in genetic research do tend to suggest that a lot more of
basic personality traits could be inherited than was previously thought.
I find this more than a little depressing, yet, as I grow older, I do
seem to be turning in to my father, in ways that I would have rebelled
against when I was younger and theoretically being subconsciously
patterned by my parents behaviour (well according to SWMBO anyway).
Perhaps there is just a delayed reaction !

I would prefer to think that nurture is at least if not more important
than nature, otherwise the education system could be dismissed as
Dorothy Parker so eloquently did as, "casting sham pearls before real
swine".

Happily my son attends a junior school which reflects the mix of ethnic
origins of the area we live in. From the plays, fetes, open days and the
various religious calendar celebrations I have attended there I would
say they are making a pretty good job of fostering the correct
attitudes, and I hope I am doing my bit. Only time will tell.


--

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Moto Guzzi Mille GT/Squire RS3 Gilera Nordwest |
| Gilera GFR Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

You have my deepest sympathies. Worse than watching paint dry. I have
never been so bored on a works "do" in all my life.

 

Can't - yet, but see:
http://genome.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_WTD020868.html

I'll take that as a FRO shall I ?

Well me naturally. He could do worse IMHO.

--

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Moto Guzzi Mille GT/Squire RS3 Gilera Nordwest |
| Gilera GFR Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Well, if you assume that some of the characteristics that make people
succesful in life are heritable, like being clever or being good-looking,
statistically those people with those characteristics are going to be in a
better position to allow their kids to associate with the right sort of
people.

In other words, statistically, if your mum and dad were ugly thickoes, you're
statistically less likely to have gone to Eton.

 

I'm talking about using public transport after a night on the booze.

I'm sort of looking forward to it - I'm not much of a gambler, though.

well, I know where he lives...

 

I'm not going on an official works do, although everyone I'm going
with is a work colleague. But everyone that's going is someone I'm
used to going to the pub with anyway, so AFAICS, it's just like a
night out in the pub with a bit of dog racing and gambling (I won't
bet much) on the side.

 

yes, that's it - ta.

 

more like the Devil's temptation.

 

Simon Gates wrote

As with all things to do with the Social "Sciences", a piece of piss.
You set up the bias in the study properly in the first place and
manipulate the results to best fit your expectations/those of your
paymaster.

Snot fucking rocket science. It is mostly bollox though.

 

'Cos Marc and I moved...

--
Ivan Reid, Electronic & Computer Engineering, ___ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".