Dr. Sanity

Superb post.

The Palestinians (and much of the Arab world) insist on such dysfunctional behavior, because in their eyes, it makes their existence relevant. Take away the dysfunction, and they become invisible- and that is something they cannot live with.

They know themselves only too well- that they aren't really the superior beings their religious leaders say they are. They insist on ever escalating tantrum like behavior, because they demand attention they know they do not deserve. They are not a part of the world that progresses and moves forward. They have been left behind by their own 'leaders' to wallow in their own filth and failure.

They know themselves- and all the camouflage of the phony and selfish tantrums can't hide that.
Sigmund, Carl and Alfred | Email | Homepage | 01.12.09 - 8:30 am | #

You must have a self to know you have one.

You must have an awareness of other before you can have awareness of self.

You must accept reality is what it is before you can know either self or other.

You must experience the full impact of your choices and actions before you can accept reality is what it is.

Without that experience, all the rest follows.

See the present situation nearly ANYWHERE for instructive detail.
A. Rational Human | Email | Homepage | 01.12.09 - 8:43 am | #

Well, Doctor, the rest seems to have served you quite well. And thereby us. It is bracing to have you back.
grampa guy | Email | Homepage | 01.12.09 - 9:24 am | #

"Don't look for answers, because we are dealing with madness. And any attempt to find some logic is doomed to failure."

From: http://www.solomonia.com/blog/ ar...ndex.shtml#more

Only when we have clearly identified the problem can we begin to consider its solution.

Ideas matter. Fundamental ideas matter most. Get the fundamentals right, the results follow. Get the fundamental wrong, the results still follow. However, the results are as different as the difference between life and death.
A. Rational Human | Email | Homepage | 01.12.09 - 11:08 am | #

Where's "moveon.org" for the Palestinians? Hah. Soros' moveon was only the mask he created to be able to "move on" from reality. And he took the so-called "reality-based" community right along with him. Right on, Doc.
Katy | Email | Homepage | 01.12.09 - 11:37 am | #

I think there must be something in the nature of Islam that prevents in-sight, since they never developed the idea that man is in the image of the Creator. Instead, it is only for man to memorize the Koran and conform to it. Self-knowledge doesn't come into play at all.
Gagdad Bob | Email | Homepage | 01.12.09 - 11:46 am | #

Christianity has a process and a name for the pursuit of reality and the subsequent knowledge of self; Repentance. It's painful emotionally, but ultimately cleansing and leads to a higher awareness of one's succeptibility to the bad things in life, so they can be avoided.
Good religion is also good psychology.
BackwardsBoy | Email | Homepage | 01.12.09 - 1:30 pm | #

The Grand Delusion: that we were created by an anthropomorphic entity and that said creator gives a damn about what we do or what happens to us.

We are on our own. If we mess up, its our fault. If we are to succeed, its our responsibility to make it happen. We have no choice in the matter except to take responsibility or evade its necessity. Ultimately, we cannot escape the consequences of that choice.
A. Rational Human | Email | Homepage | 01.12.09 - 1:34 pm | #

Fantastic post.

I think I have to agree with Gagdad Bob that there must be something in Islam that prevents or does not trigger the role of insight.

I suspect that major religions continue to prevail in the world in general because practices in at least some religions trigger the growth of insight, or as psychologists call it, metacognition--the ability to think about one's own thinking. Religions that promote metacognition survive because with the growth of metacognition, people learn to reason and the use of reason promotes survival--a good evolutionary strategy.

If we look at the Western age of enlightenment, we see that in the hundred or two hundred years before it, certain religious practices in the West arose or increased, such as pietism, which included self-reflection on one's sins and thoughts, private confession of sins, private reading (especially of the Bible) which permits self-reflection. Much of this was due to the Protestant Reformation and the invention of the printing press and the resultant cheap books that even ordinary people could buy.

Similarly in China, the rise of Buddhism and the printing of Buddhist texts--for example, two million copies of one Buddhist Sutra alone were available in China in the 12th century--led to private reading and, therefore, self-reflection and critical self-thought.

Both Christian and Buddhist texts began to be printed in the vernacular languages, so that ordinary people could read them and UNDERSTAND what they were reading. When you understand a text, it can change you when it enters your mind. In contrast, the Koran is never translated for its believers--it remains in the old Classical Arabic, which is not the dialect of any modern Arab or other Islamic country, so it is not really comprehensible to the believers reciting it or hearing it recited. (It is against the principles of Islam to translate the Koran into any other languages.) So we have a text that is incomprehensible and therefore it cannot promote insight in those who recite it or hear it--they really cannot and do not "read" it. The Koran ends up being just a bunch of slogans in their minds. From an evolutionary viewpoint, Islam is no longer functioning the way an effective, useful religion functions. It no longer promotes survival among its adherents.
Gloria | Email | Homepage | 01.12.09 - 2:52 pm | #

"Good religion is also good psychology.
BackwardsBoy | Email | Homepage | 01.12.09 - 1:30 pm | # "

Well, before the world had psychologists, psychiatrists, and sociologists, it was the job of the priests of the various religions to do such tasks.
The problem may be that the Muslims added "politician" to that list, and made it the dominant role.
Count to 10 | Email | Homepage | 01.12.09 - 4:33 pm | #

Great post! Very insightful. Every far-left liberal should read this.
Dan | Email | Homepage | 01.12.09 - 5:37 pm | #

It's not just their hatred of Israel, but their hatred for the West, and their dreams of Islamic world domination that make it impossible for them to ever be peaceful. They are the LAST people in the world one would ever want to see attain "self determination."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2....wordpress.com/
yonason | Email | Homepage | 01.12.09 - 7:36 pm | #

What David Gelernter is addressing can be summed up in just four letters: Envy. Making a virtue out of a deadly sin should have horrible results, and we can see that it does.
njcommuter | Email | Homepage | 01.12.09 - 9:54 pm | #

> Nice little G7 advanced western democracy you got here. Shame if anything were to happen to it.

'E nailed our 'eads to the floor...

Well 'e had to, didn't 'e?

I mean there was nothing else 'e could do, be fair.

We have transgressed the unwritten law, makin' Islam look stupid an' all that.
O Bloody Hell | Email | Homepage | 01.12.09 - 10:35 pm | #

The western leftist employs a form of displayed hyper morality as a form of self defense against his loss of concern for his fellow man in general.

The exclusively leftist community concern over peanut allergies you mentioned the other day is a wonderful example. Here on full display we see them imagining repentance involving a mathematical formula of direct proportionality to how tiny the minority they can invent to support is.

Of course if the peanut afflicted victim smokes a cigarette or votes republican then all bets of support are off.
SteveH | Email | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 8:46 am | #

LOL@OBH!
Sigmund, Carl and Alfred | Email | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 10:12 am | #

.
Great, well said! Hitler meant well, so did Stalin, Mao, Castro, Pol Pot, and even serial killers murdering prostitutes 'believe' they are doing good.
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe screams
FREEDOM GO TO HELL

fascism comes from The Right
that is the lie of The Left

.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
pretend to defend

human rights while stopping
speech defending human rights

.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
never mock The Left

it's just their religion
you RIGHT-WING INFIDEL
.
All real freedom starts with freedom of speech. Without freedom of speech there can be no real freedom.
.
USpace | Email | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 11:07 am | #

Sometimes people are able to convince themselves that because their behavior has some "good intention" or idealized fantasy behind it, that it represents 'hope' or 'change' or 'progress' or 'social justice'...

As in Citizen Robespierre's Republique of Perfect Virtue?

In shame cultures, destruction is preferable to achievement; if by destruction you "preserve your honor"; and being perceived as honorable and virtuous is far more important than actually being honorable and virtuous.

The two basic axioms of a Shame culture:

1) If nobody knows of my sin, I Am Not Shamed.
2) Dead Men Tell No Tales.
Headless Unicorn Guy | Email | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 6:35 pm | #

maybe it's because our kids are being trained in victimology classes in the name of cross cultural understanding....

http://mediatedcultures.net/worldsim.htm
http://www.bloggernews.net/119378
tioedong | Email | Homepage | 01.13.09 - 7:50 pm | #

OBH, just replace DINSDALE with MOHAMED and we've got a match.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8...?v=8ZkWL-XvO0U&
(about 5 minutes in, for those who know not of what OBH speakeths)
yonason | Email | Homepage | 01.14.09 - 10:59 pm | #

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