[lit-ideas] Re: On The Perfectibility of Man

  • From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:06:15 -0800

"Geary's not a blind optimist; he's the disappointed pessimist whose job it
is to poke holes in all human plans. . . ."

How fortunate we are to have Geary who readily becomes all things to all
people, a veritable man for all seasons.

Lawrence Helm
San Jacinto

-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of John Wager
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:34 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: On The Perfectibility of Man

Lawrence Helm wrote:
> . . . .*Comment: * One doesn't need to be a Neoconservative to believe 
> that human nature is* NOT* perfectible. There will be no future 
> Gearyite brotherhood of man because* NO* amount of Social Engineering 
> will manage to perfect human nature. And to forestall the non-dogmatic 
> Gearyite from demanding that I prove that, I believe that since there 
> is no evidence that human nature* CAN* be improved that it is up to 
> him to prove his case. That is, to prove that human nature can be 
> altered (I won't even say "improved") to such an extent that all the 
> world can live in peaceful harmony in a single borderless brotherhood. 
> But, as we have seen Geary scoffs at proof, logic, references, 
> footnotes, dogma and dogs.
Geary's not a blind optimist; he's the disappointed pessimist whose job 
it is to poke holes in all human plans, whether they be to improve 
mankind's basic nature or to repel aggression. He's the son of 
Dostoyevsky's "Underground Man," the one who thinks that, while it might 
indeed be possible to create a "crystal palace" of social engineered 
perfection, humans should stick out their tongues at such perfection and 
heave a rock or two through those perfect windows just to keep what's 
most human alive, our own free whim to not follow the rules we make for 
ourselves.



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