Comments for Helian Unbound

Comment on Genesis, the Firmament, and Christian Fundamentalism by Rudy

Rudy — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:02:34 +0000

Trees without roots fall over

Comment on Niall Ferguson and the Amity/Enmity Complex by Brittanie Nanke

Brittanie Nanke — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:28:31 +0000

I agree. I don’t know whether it’s bad manners or just that young bloggers don’t understand the nature of the conversation.

Comment on Robert Ardrey and the Amity/Enmity Complex by Of Niall Ferguson, Objective Criticism, and European Hatemongers @ Helian Unbound

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:01:28 +0000

[...] brains are hard-wired to have a dual system of morality, which I have elsewhere referred to as the Amity/Enmity Complex. We reserve “good” moral behavior for those in our “in-group.” The [...]

Comment on No Military Solution? by Christian

Christian — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:11:14 +0000

It’s like ‘violence is no solution’ (we have this meme in Germany at least). Of course violence is a solution. A very efficient one in many cases, that’s why it’s forbidden in most of them.

Comment on E. O. Wilson: “Consilience,” Ethics and Fate by On the Smartness of Liberalism and Vegetarianism @ Helian Unbound

On the Smartness of Liberalism and Vegetarianism @ Helian Unbound — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:31:04 +0000

[...] failing to survive. To anyone who would claim otherwise, I can only say, to borrow a phrase from E.O. Wilson, please “lay your cards on the table,” and explain [...]

Comment on John Stuart Mill and Utilitarianism: The Quest for a Moral Law by admin0

admin0 — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:59:48 +0000

Mill said he did not believe in innate goodness in “Utilitarianism,” and I don’t see any explicit reversal of that point of view in “On Liberty.” However, it’s hard to believe in reading him that he didn’t have, at the very least, a strong psychological tendency to treat his own version of ‘the good’ as a real, objective good. I suspect that, even if he wasn’t prepared to argue rationally in favor of the innate goodness of morality, he certainly “felt” it that way. I think almost all of us do. It’s the way we’re wired. It’s very hard for us to crawl outside of our own skins when we reason about something that’s as much a part of us as morality.

Comment on John Stuart Mill and Utilitarianism: The Quest for a Moral Law by Brian

Brian — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:34:46 +0000

However Mill was thought to have evolved his arguments, which culminated in ‘On Liberty’ and so it has often been argued that actually he believed morality held an innate ‘goodness’, and was not merely the utilitarian acceptance of favourable results.

Comment on “Guns, Germs and Steel” and Ideological Orthodoxy by admin0

admin0 — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:47:08 +0000

Thanks for the note. I was aware of the books, but I’ll Google Scholar the other guys you mention.

Comment on “Guns, Germs and Steel” and Ideological Orthodoxy by SB

SB — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:14:54 +0000

The main problem with it is that it overlooks genetic changes that accompanied cultural and geographic change. Particularly, the advent of agriculture has been shown by the likes of John Hawks to have lead to a raft of genetic change. Others like Scott Williamson, Bruce Lahn and Ben Voight have shown a number of changes that relate to neurological function. For instance, you see new versions of SLC6A4, a serotonin transporter, in Europeans and Asians. There’s a new version of a gene (DAB1) that shapes the development of the layers of the cerebral cortex in east Asia. More of this will be understood as the cost of genome sequencing falls.

Books that build on Diamond’s work, but include the genetic changes include New York Times Science reporter Nicholas Wade’s ‘Before the Dawn’. Also, the more recent ‘The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution’ by Greg Cochran and Henry Harpending incorporates recent genome findings.

Comment on Post Bush German Anti-American Hate: Another Data Point by Mack

Mack — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:38:46 +0000

This artice is right on. I haved lived in Germny and the U.S. for five years now. The German people and their behavior is problematic. I belive that it comes from their history and nervous mentalty towards anyone or thing that they perceive to be better or greater than themselves. The culture wants to dominate thus they act out sometimes in an evil manner. The problem is German values always lead to hate and self detruction. If their cowardly gvernment would lead its people away from fear and macho ideology Germany would be great. This will not happen due to its leaders inability to lead wit morality( e.g. J.F.K or Ronald Regan.