Negative Impacts on Society

Abby,It's only fair to warn you that you're on a hiding to nothing with Syamsu, I fear.There is NOTHING you can say that will change his opinion. Whatever you do, don't try & reference your claims, you will be accused of trickery & lawyering. A cunning evolutionist ploy to snow him under with literature. Of course, the rest of us call it "relevant reading material". Or, "supporting a claim", but there you go.He doesn't even read the material he criticises. He has NEVER read The Selfish Gene by Dawkins, or The Structure of Evolutionary Theory by Gould. He bases his knowledge of these texts on introductions & other peoples reviews (I shit you not). None of this stops him stridently quoting, & then refusing to accept that he has misquoted, based on a failure to place said quote(s) in their relevant contexts. How could he of, he hasn't read them!I'll give you a classic example from the Selfish Gene. Syamsu thinks that when Dawkins says "we are born selfish", he means it literally. He refuses to accept that when Dawkins mentions the word "selfish", he is actually meaning it in an inclusive sense. Altruism in many cases (eg parental care is a genetically selfish adaptation to ensure survival of the parents genes) is genetically selfish. It is after all THE POINT OF THE BLOODY BOOK!!!!! Syamsu hasn't read it but somehow knows what context Dawkins' quotes are to be placed. By magic, it seems.Syamsu has wasted too many peoples time here, don't be another casualty.Mark

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"Physical Reality of Matchette’s EVOLUTIONARY zero-atom-unit in a transcendental c/e illusion" - Brad McFall

Servant,put qs in square brackets [ ] at the begining of the quote, & /qs in the same at the end.

quote:

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You can get a similar effect with quote /quote in square brackets too

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Mark

Abby, See?Mark

Syamsu, What the FUCK would you know about the context of quotes taken from a book you haven't read?You have two problems, Syamsu, an overdeveloped sense of your own righteousness coupled with a complete absence of any sense of shame. I know of no one else who feels able to cherry pick at what part of texts s/he reads, & then displays an air of total infallibility when it comes to placing those quotes in the context of the larger body of writing that they steadfastly refuse to become familiar with.You couldn't make it up, mate, as a fictional character you would just be too implausible.Mark[This message has been edited by mark24, 03-27-2004]

If this is true, it's more like evolution has had a positive effect on society, no?Mark

redwolf,I have responded & opened a new topic here.Mark[This message has been edited by mark24, 04-21-2004]

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"Physical Reality of Matchette’s EVOLUTIONARY zero-atom-unit in a transcendental c/e illusion" - Brad McFall