[lbo-talk] Just-so stories (was re: Language of Contempt)

Miles Jackson cqmv at pdx.edu
Wed Jun 7 10:53:51 PDT 2006


Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:


>
> Few people have practiced monogamy except when they have been forced
> to do so, and even then they have flouted the law or custom, even at
> the potential cost of grave penalties. It's human nature to be a bit
> nutty and a bit slutty, to use David Brock's infamous phrase against
> the grain. Lust doesn't last. It's monogamy that needs explaining,
> if anything.
>
Just as Doug has revolutionary fantasies about who he'd line up against the wall for summary execution, I have a dream that any sentence that begins with "it's human nature to" would disappear from every human language. This moratorium would massively improve the likelihood of understanding the interesting and complex ways in which genetics and environmental conditions interact to create psychological traits and patterns of behavior.

Miles



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