Posts by Lilith __
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Hard News: Living with the psychopath, in reply to Richard Aston,
Expecting the offender’s acceptance they need help is like that Light Bulb joke.
How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?
One. But only if the light bulb really wants to change.I think that’s a cope out by psychologists . Maybe a confrontational approach won’t work but we should at least be exploring the options.
Good lord, I was about to tell that same joke. You can physically constrain a person but you can't change their mind unless they co-operate in the process.
-
Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Kracklite,
Ok Kracklite, I begin to see what you're on about. Dawkins is passionate about his work, and some of the detail is hotly contested; I don't think that's a bad thing: hopefully out of the research and disputation will come new certainty.
But evolution itself is not what's in dispute here, only some of the finer points of its mechanics.
As a layperson I wouldn't dare take sides between Dawkins and Wilson. And obviously social conditions must intersect with biology, at some point. My problem with sociobiology is that it's almost always used in a facile way: so much supposed research takes some social norm and works backwards to try and justify it in evolutionary terms.
Opponents of gay marriage often do this: argue that monogamous heterosexual pair bonding is somehow essential to our survival. This sort of self-serving nonsense gives social science a bad name.
-
Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
I’d like folks like Professor Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens to stop characterizing religious faith as a mental illness – which is great for your media profile and book sales, I’m sure, but rather unedifying.
As far as Dawkins goes, we've had this conversation before, Craig. To me, he's attacking the belief not the believer, but I know you see it differently. And Why People Who Believe in a God are, In My Opinion, Mistaken was never going to be a book title, but I think that's a fair summary of his position.
-
Hard News: Living with the psychopath, in reply to Richard Aston,
And you think intensive and challenging psychological work is torture .
It did sound like it in your original post!
But if an offender refuses to participate in therapy, as this man has, what then? -
Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Kracklite,
And evolutionary biology is falsifiable
I’d like it to be true because it seems logical, but there’s been plenty of criticism of it as being determinist based in very scanty evidence of there being agreement on on how much biology affects human behaviour or the predominance of social organisation – er, “culture” – versus biology
What does evolutionary biology have to do with human behaviour? Except, aha, that it makes a lot of people very angry. :-)
-
Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Kracklite,
leave the personal abuse out
I wish he would too. Unfortunately he doesn’t, and I’m human enough to think that that matters.
You got quotes to back that up? I’ve never heard him be anything except well-mannered and a helluva lot more patient than I would be in his position.
-
Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Kracklite,
I want to put as much space as possible between myself and self-declared atheists such as Richard Dawkins because (A) he’s acting like a dick and I don’t want to be compared with him and (B) it’s unscientific to make definitive assertions based on information under Empirical strictures, can’t positively prove a negative and blah blah Popper blah blah.
I really wish people who disagree with Dawkins didn't feel the need to call him names. You disagree with him, fine, leave the personal abuse out.
As for (b), I really don't think he is doing that. And evolutionary biology is falsifiable. -
Capture: Spring is Like a Perhaps Hand, in reply to Jos,
Here’s a tui from this morning, outside my front door in my dressing gown…
Wish I had a dressing gown like that! ;-)
But seriously, lovely shot. And Sofie, I love yours too, with the tui almost flying backwards, just shows what a range of movement they have.
-
Hard News: Living with the psychopath, in reply to Richard Aston,
who really gives a shit if a sex offender doesn’t want to do the programme , why are we being so nice about it? Can’t we design programmes that challenge the offender’s denial, that put him through a psychological maelstrom that deconstructs him, opens him up and changes him. Hey while we are at there must be a few mind altering chemicals that could aid this process. If they end up completely insane – no worries we keep them in a secure psyche unit forever.
You want to torture the guy?? Not even the Sensible Sentencing Trust is asking for that!
-
Capture: Spring is Like a Perhaps Hand, in reply to JacksonP,
Ah yes, apparently I just fell into the ‘commonly misspelled as’ trap. Although I note I am not alone. ;-)
yeah, you and the design store! And the winery, and the florist....
Mm, I like the idea of having a pony to match the house.