Aardvark

That was very brave of you, but also very sensible. All to offten the prevalent attitude to mental illness is to prescribe pills. Then if that doesn't work simply prescribe some more. Often these simply mask the problems rather than provide a real solution. If you are able to regain control of your circumstances by means other than pills then you have my respect. I can appreciate how difficult things can be and how easy it can be to look for a chemical answer. This is a problem unrelated to economic arguments, it seems to be a fact of life that a great many people think it is acceptable, even praiseworthy to behave in a brutal, bullying fashion to others. There seems to be something entrenched in human nature that revels in cruelty and petty tyranny. I don't think there are any simple answers. Just a matter of trying to be individually decent and not turning a blind eye.

I was being sarcastic, the idea that it is an intentional punishment seems both factually wrong and morally depraved.

If you work from that position then the fact that we do not have the skills to survive by hunter gathering comes to the same thing. If society were to collapse to the point where it could no longer produce such things as insulin it would likely have completely collapsed. That would be catastrophic as most people would be unable to survive by gathering their own sustenance. A person with diabetes is dependent on ociety to survive as they can't naturally manufacture insulin. But a person who can't trap animals and gather herbs with tools made from natural, local materials and build a shelter and preserve and store food and tan and and clothing out of animal skins is similairly dependent on society. If people can adapt society to solve problems such as diabetes then diabetes is no longer a genetic problem. People having it is no longer a problem needing to be weeded out by natural selection, it has become genetically moot.

Good point. Expect for the fact that it is factually completely wrong.

It still sounds like paranoid conspiracy theorising. That seems to be a completely irrelevant aside. So what if some people with Phds don't know algebra?

I'm finding that pretty disturbing on several levels.

Are you sure? Any links?

I'm now waiting on tenterhooks for a good anecdote.

You didn't feel just the tiniest bit of temptation to be the voice of howling insanity? It would have been interesting

Yes. How dare they not have enough money? It's all their fault that the economy is in the state it is.

Firstly you imply that i'm being unfair by 'trying to paint' you as a paranoid conspiracy theorist, then you state that culture is a kind of conspiracy. Well which is it? You come out with comments like 'The "smart" people want the "dumb" people to stay dumb because the smart people can figure out ways to make money of the desperation of the dumb.' As if intelligent people are deliberately working to keep stupid people stupid. That does sound like paranoid conspiracy theorising. You then talk about the car industry suppressing turbine engines. Again, another conspiracy? What is the point of your meandering anecdote? As for car depreciation not being mentioned in economics textbooks. That's pretty feeble. So what? Economics textbooks aren't there to give advice on household budgeting. My Physics textbooks don't explain the basis of English common law, is that a deliberate conspiracy to keep people ignorant? Yes, people are encouraged to consume, often this can lead to people making poor choices, getting into debt. But to extrapolate from that that there is any effort made toward deliberately keeping people ignorant or dumb is unsubstantiated by anything you have posted. People have free access to information, people can make and are responsible their own decisions. However much advertising there is, whatever the 'social pressures' people are still independent creatures wit the capacity to reason. You say my tone implies that you are a paranoid conspiracy theorist. Actually i believe you are over excitable, have identified some elements of human behaviour which are not completely rational and have decided to be extrapolate excessively to a series of foolish conclusions regarding deliberate intentions behind broad social trends. If you calmed down you might actually have some valid points to make about the superficiality of consumer culture. But at the moment your are not coming across as being overly rational.

Did you bother to read any of the preceding posts at all?

It's not any kind of secret that new cars depreciate in value as soon as you buy them. Everyone knows that. You seem to be implying that many people are being mislead into buying overpriced new cars by some sort of conspiracy. Good housekeeping isn't a secret either. Pretty much everyone has to balance income and outgoings. They don't need a self help book to tell them that. It sounds like you have read some self help books and taken them way too seriously. They tend to regugitate banalities as if they were exciting secrets. Why do you think accounting needs to be taught in schools? Do you really think people are so dumb that they can't work out how to live on a budget and spend their money sensibly without being told to in school?

The word 'Ultra' is pretty clearly used as a way of implying great and undesirable extremism. Its a deliberately biased use of language, trying to slip in subliminal meaning below the radar. Possibly not, i'd imagine it's hard not to be a conservative when your authority is derived from 2000 years of tradition and occasional drowning in blood of infidels.

It seems rather strange that you should characterise your Father and both your Grandfathers as being 'genetically decadent'. Perhaps you could consider the position that as medicine has make diabetes less of a life threatening condition it is no longer so genetically important. Therefore to characterise people as being 'genetically decadent' for having diabetes is to completely misunderstand the genetic/environmental dynamic.

Bit of a sweeping statement. What did the Roman culture depend on keeping people ignorant of? What does present Western culture depend on keeping people ignorant of? Why do you think that is important? Those don't sound like essentials to a well rounded education. We may live in a shameless consumer society which can be idiotically short sighted, but i still reckon the bacteria would have to get up pretty early in the morning to out smart me

1st century AD surely? It strikes me as odd that the Roman Catholic Church should be subject to such strong criticism for its 'reactionary' ideas when those same critics are completely silent when even more 'reactionary' ideas are put into action by other religions. Why is it that the Roman Catholic Church is fair game for criticism for not being Feminist, but when Muslim Imans publically order the murder of unmarried mothers there is a deafening silence?

You seem to be implying that there are only two options, either homosexuality is genetic or it is a matter of personal choice. That seems too restrictive, homosexuality could have other environmental vectors, possibily hormonal. Not all biological factors are directly related to genes.

Have you been reading Metatrons posts? Maybe he should go in for marketing.

Yes, it's most inconsiderate of them. They really need to work on the PR, they could as least have had a rally with lots of ballons, pumping music and some sort of laser show.

I found it interesting that the first comment made on BBC radio 4, Channel 4 News and Channel 5 News all used exactly the same phrase to describe the new Pope. The all called him an 'Ultra' Conservative. Bit of a coincidence? Definitely evidence of bias in the media. I wonder if the media would have refered to a 'Liberal' Pope as an 'Ultra' Liberal?

Any situation so bad that the liquor can't help is too scary for me to contemplate Perhaps a cadre of interpreters need to be trained to help engineering types and creative writing types communicate. I can just imagine the dialogue, Creative type: How are you? Interpreter: Tell me about your feelings. Engineering type: I feel hungry. On second thoughts, maybe not. Cyborg Bill? I get the feeling that that mans pyschology is in a whole unique catergory of its own. Possibly as unfair to Autistic people as to him. Isn't it a bit odd that a man can have every characteristic that we are supposed to admire, to have achieved what we are supposed to dream off, and when people think about him they just think 'he's a bit odd, bit of a geek, glad i'm not like him'. As i admire (well, feel spiteful envy really) all those men with mechanical aptitude and the ability to completely focus on the task at hand. Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy. The world is a lovely place and humans are just dandy.