Moral arguments give permission to polarize—to create good and evil in a world of grey—which in turn gives permission to kill. Morality is not the means to any end, but rather the reverse; it is an adaptive fiction—the result of natural selection. Fundamentalists, particularly religious fundamentalists, have survived because they make the best warriors. They follow orders dutifully, kill willingly, believe they will be rewarded in the next life, and stay in line in the off-season. People who think in shades of grey, no matter how correct their reasoning, tend to lose wars. Morality is not ideology; it has everything to do with choosing sides. My god vs. your god. Washington and Al Queda are playing the same blind game.
Speaking of chirality and junk DNA, here’s the best trick of all:
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms at your sides, and close your eyes. Repeat the magic words “Saddam Osama WMD” several times. You will soon find it impossible to move to the left.
Here's another trick to fool the brain:
Ask a friend to close their eyes and cross their fingers on one hand. Slowly run a pencil up and down between the crossed tips of their fingers and ask them what they feel. Because their fingers are crossed, they feel the pencil on the outside of each finger, and think there are two pencils rather than one.
Isn't this how the White House press releases work?
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 5 |
Total: 5 comments. View all these comments on a single page.
The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by aha:
Show all comments by aha.