
pwned?
Seconded. The literacy part, at least.Coulter wrote:"I think there should be a literacy test and a poll tax for people to vote."
I tend to agree with her on this.Coulter wrote:"I have to say I'm all for public flogging. One type of criminal that a public humiliation might work particularly well with are the juvenile delinquents, a lot of whom consider it a badge of honor to be sent to juvenile detention. And it might not be such a cool thing in the 'hood to be flogged publicly."
While this is probably true, the bigger problem is that a lot of people are like Bob. Bob is far more interested in hearing 'pundits' provide 'justifications' for his own prejudices and intuitions rather than putting these prejudices/intuitions under the knife of rational scrutiny. How many Bobs do you know? I know a lot of Bobs....and they inhabit every profession, social class, and cultural group. There are unwilling to be surprised...they can't imagine ever being wrong...about politics, ethics, the 'good' life, whatever. For them, rational discourse = parroting Rush Limbaugh or Al Franken or Bill O' Reilly or whomever. It's the "In-Group vs Out-group" phenomenon, moving like a large wave of shit into the epistemology of everyday life.Jackal wrote:Anne Coulter, one of the stupidest smart people I've ever seen. Nobody would even listen to a word she says if she wasn't mildly attractive.
She's got a point on this one. But otherwise, yeah, she's Geoff.Ann Coulter wrote:On Princess Diana's death: "Her children knew she's sleeping with all these men. That just seems to me, it's the definition of 'not a good mother.' ... Is everyone just saying here that it's okay to ostentatiously have premarital sex in front of your children?"..."[Diana is] an ordinary and pathetic and confessional - I've never had bulimia! I've never had an affair! I've never had a divorce! So I don't think she's better than I am."---MSNBC 9/12/97
A very good observation. People are susceptible to catchy one-liners that assure them their opinion is the Right One. I try not to be but even I find myself lured by demagogs sometimes. "Yeah, that's right man! Tell it like it is!!!"Hannibal wrote:While this is probably true, the bigger problem is that a lot of people are like Bob. Bob is far more interested in hearing 'pundits' provide 'justifications' for his own prejudices and intuitions rather than putting these prejudices/intuitions under the knife of rational scrutiny.Jackal wrote:Anne Coulter, one of the stupidest smart people I've ever seen. Nobody would even listen to a word she says if she wasn't mildly attractive.
Did you expect a mass epiphany? Or were you just underwhelmed?Hannibal wrote: The inability to be surprised by new ideas, ideas that may challenge one's own perspective, is just a sad motherfucking state of affairs. College campuses offer no sanctuary from this. I try to give a mini-lecture on this topic every semester, but the light only goes off for a few folks. I probably should've just been a Chippendale's dancer, like momma wanted.
No, but they pay dearly if they don't provide a reasoned justification for their views. Underwhelmed is the better description....disturbing is another...especially considering most of the people I teach are graduate students.Massive Quasars wrote:
Did you expect a mass epiphany? Or were you just underwhelmed?
Also, have you posted your lectures on the internet? Link?
If you can even turn on just a few lights you're doing good work :icon14:Hannibal wrote:While this is probably true, the bigger problem is that a lot of people are like Bob. Bob is far more interested in hearing 'pundits' provide 'justifications' for his own prejudices and intuitions rather than putting these prejudices/intuitions under the knife of rational scrutiny. How many Bobs do you know? I know a lot of Bobs....and they inhabit every profession, social class, and cultural group. There are unwilling to be surprised...they can't imagine ever being wrong...about politics, ethics, the 'good' life, whatever. For them, rational discourse = parroting Rush Limbaugh or Al Franken or Bill O' Reilly or whomever. It's the "In-Group vs Out-group" phenomenon, moving like a large wave of shit into epistemology.Jackal wrote:Anne Coulter, one of the stupidest smart people I've ever seen. Nobody would even listen to a word she says if she wasn't mildly attractive.
The inability to be surprised by new ideas, ideas that may challenge one's own perspective, is just a sad motherfucking state of affairs. College campuses offer no sanctuary from this. I try to give a mini-lecture on this topic every semester, but the light only goes off for a few folks. I probably should've just been a Chippendale's dancer, like momma wanted.