colonel@gloria.UUCP (05/06/84)
[At K.F.F., ...] Don't worry about it. If the electrophysics of the brain is a valid excuse for misbehavior, it's an equally valid excuse on the part of retributors for punishing the misbehaver. -- Col. G. L. Sicherman ...seismo!rochester!rocksvax!sunybcs!gloria!colonel
rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (05/11/84)
> Don't worry about it. If the electrophysics of the brain is a valid > excuse for misbehavior, it's an equally valid excuse on the part of > retributors for punishing the misbehaver. No one said anything about *excuses*. We're talking about causes and reasons. Yes, the "electrophysics" (nice word, I prefer biochemistry, but it depends on which level you traverse down to) of the brain could explain the reasons for misbehavior, and the electrophysics of other people's brains could explain why those people need or seek to punish others. But one thing you might want to do with a brain that CAN be rational, or rather, CAN be induced to produce logical thought patterns (if properly trained) is to formulate a rational society based on rational precepts. I said it before. Our potential to use our brains in a rational fashion (which has evolved over the eons) is in direct conflict with our chemical make-up, with the fact that we are formed from animal stuff. And that animal stuff results in animal reactions like aggressive behavior, and in other behavior that interferes with (or in some cases supplements) rationality. Like when we rationally ask questions about the universe, and emotionally come up with answers like "God" because they are emotionally satisfying. Despite the contradictions (or absence) of evidence. -- You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Rich Rosen pyuxn!rlr