the most dangerous ideas in the world?

[egb_hibs]

sunday herald is perhaps getting a bit carried away with the title, but then, they are weegies. (they're also to blame for multi-url set up for one bloody article as it appears in printed version)

Intro

"hurt feelings are not a measure of the legitimacy of a scientific hypothesis"

Evil is in our nature

"all of us contain, within our large brains, adaptations whose functions are to commit despicable atrocities against our fellow humans – atrocities that most would label evil." - bit of a 'no shit, sherlock' this one, IMHO. still, it might surprise Pat Kane if he's still at the herald.

Parenting is a waste of time

"One developmental psychologist even admitted recently that researchers hadn’t yet found proof that “parents do shape their children”, but she was still convinced they would eventually find it if they searched long enough."

Nae luck for all those hot-housing super-parents. On a more serious note; if you follow it through, it's a bit of a one in the eye for all those social engineering experiments of the last 200 odd years. Although sorta explains the results.

Schools should be abolished

"Schools need to be replaced by safe places where children can go to learn how to do things they are interested in learning."

Bloody hippies.

Eugenics may not be bad

"I wonder whether, some 60 years after Hitler’s death, we might at least venture to ask what the moral difference is between breeding for musical ability and forcing a child to take music lessons."

Good ole Dawkins. No wonder the racial theorists worship the fella almost as much as the hampstead mafia.

Democracy is finished

"A small, well-educated technological elite is becoming the main owner of intellectual property, which is, by far, the most valuable economic asset, while the rest of the world drifts toward fanaticism of one kind or another. In sum, the unavoidable conclusion is that democracy, our least bad system of government, is on its way out."

I think this is Dixie Chicken writing under a nome de plume

[Bartok]

Originally Posted by egb_hibs

Democracy is finished

"A small, well-educated technological elite is becoming the main owner of intellectual property, which is, by far, the most valuable economic asset, while the rest of the world drifts toward fanaticism of one kind or another. In sum, the unavoidable conclusion is that democracy, our least bad system of government, is on its way out."

I think this is Dixie Chicken writing under a nome de plume

I may sue.

More or less my take on things, except for "...alternatively, open and honest thinking about this issue may lead either to a worldwide revolution in educating the poor masses, thus saving democracy, or to a careful search for a just (repeat, just), and better system."

For me the former option is a non-starter. Where is the driving force behind the "worldwide revolution in educating the poor masses" going to come from, and who is going to pay for it?

[Grant1875]

the most dangerous ideas in the world?

Me in Cancun, Mexico.. 2 weeks time