> That is a repugnant and self-congratulatory statement. It is the
> thing that makes people shun "rational" thought.
That's an interesting issue--do such attitudes really dissuade
people from rationality? I do understand that it is somewhat
anti-social in our current culture, and that's something I hope
to change. Since I believe that the universe and everything in
it exists for no reason but to serve my selfish interests, I
consider it dishonest not to speak and act according to that
belief. I am as repulsed by unthinking politeness and displays
of unearned respect as you seem to be by my calculated arrogance.
But if it is really true that such arrogance causes people to
flee from ideas expressed that way, perhaps I am not effectively
serving my selfish interests by doing so. I don't believe that's
the case--evangelical religions are quite successful, for example.
Why shouldn't my pulpit pounding be just as successful? And even
if some large number of people are indeed turned off by it, is
there not room multiple messengers with different styles to
different people? Politeness may be effective in some contexts,
but it is clearly impotent in others. Diversity works well in
achieving success for living things, why not in communications
as well?
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html> "All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past, are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC
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