puttin the brakes on

What I tried to say

Ting - Oct 13, 2015 04:35 PM EDT
What I tried to say with my "I'm not really itetresend..." line was that if you want to have a worthwhile conversation, or perhaps even tempt a larger audience to rethink an argument or assumption, then insults are pointless.Yes and no.It's definitely true, as far as I can tell, that the political debate in the US now has degenerated to such a point that sensible conversation about real issues seems impossible. This is actually rather tragic. I hope it isn't as bad as it seems. We are far more fortunate in this country, the crazies are a small minority (although rather vocal) ... but then again we don't have a fraction of the problems you have landed yourselves in.Anyway, where was I ... oh yes, I disagree with the last part of your statement. That you can't get others to rethink their position in this way. An example: I don't know if you are familiar with the TV show The Atheist Experience ... ? I mention it every so often here on the blog. It's a local show in Austin, Texas. (Isn't the internet great?? :-) They will often rip into people something awful when they get a really crazy theist calling in. And they are sometimes asked whether they think that being so disrespectful and insulting will do anything to change that caller's mind (although they rarely are as bad as those asking this type of thing imagine). The thing is that they don't think that. What they do think is that there may be people, theists of whatever stripe, in the anonymous mass of viewers who, hearing the AE crew brutally dismantle the claims of other believers, may get the push they need to start examining their own religious beliefs and eventually come to the logical conclusions. And this really does happen. They get responses from viewers all the time confirming this.Now, obviously, in this way they will only 'catch' those who are already in some way open to the arguments. They won't get through to the real crazies. They will just always feel offended - by real arguments, usually, as well as by actual insults. But that's the thing. Those people are a lost cause anyway. Fuck 'em. There's no hope for them. The only ones that can be saved, if you'll pardon the expression, are the ones who were only on the edge of the crazy to begin with. But they can actually be reached by the impact of insult on someone with whom they think they should identify.It's like Ray Comfort and the people who read his blog. You can insult the former all you want, in fact it's all you can do, because he's so utterly beyond the reach of any argument, rational or otherwise. He's the stupidest person in the entire world. He's a liar and a cheat. These aren't insults, btw, just facts. If they were insults they would have to be more creative and elaborate. And while they could never hope to effect Ray himself, they could be a wake up call to those who follow his ... I hesitate to call it work ... and make them examine what it is that they actually profess to believe.

Guest - Jun 12, 2006 10:42 PM EDT
lol, that's a good one. Looks like he suddenly saw the other one on the rock and put the brakes on. These shots are so good. thanks for the eagle nest webcam link, will check it out.