"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. ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html