Re: One step nearer to cloning a human being, etc

From: Tedd Hadley (hadley@reliant.yxi.com)
Date: Wed Mar 08 2000 - 17:09:44 EST

  • Next message: Bertvan@aol.com: "If we can cure homophobia, maybe we can cure materialism"

    MikeBGene@aol.com writes
      in message <4b.1bc6cb9.25f826e6@aol.com>:
    > In a message dated 3/8/00 5:21:50 AM Dateline Standard Time,
    >
    > Actually, most people who are victims of racism don't think
    > there has been a significant decline. Instead, they argue that
    > racism has simply been driven underground and expresses itself
    > in many other ways aside from overt and violent ways. After all,
    > for such a decline, racial issues still make for very powerful
    > political ploys.
       
       If you really don't believe racism has declined in the
       US, I would be interested in hearing your argument.
       Otherwise, I see the above as nitpicking.

    > I don't agree at all. Education is typically impotent when
    > dealing with phobias. Pick your phobia. For example, someone
    > with a fear of flying can be shown all the facts and statistics
    > to show that flying is quite safe. But such education is
    > useless. To really cure a phobia, the phobic must first *want*
    > to be cured. They don't get cured by passively absorbing
    > information.

       If you believe education has no role to play in treating or
       curing phobias, I'd be interested to hear your argument.
       Otherwise, I see the above as more nitpicking.

    > Besides, You may have the horse before the cart. Ungrounded
    > fears may not be the cause of homophobia; they may be merely
    > expressions of this innate state.
       
       Of course. See my analogy to "anger" in another post. Education
       does not erase a biological trait, it provides a means of
       controlling it.

     <snip>



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