On Sat, 4 Mar 2000, Ken Stuart wrote:

> On Fri, 3 Mar 2000 19:14:43 -0800, Julie Kangas <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> >Crowding, limited resources,
> >societal changes all modify "normal" behavior and
> >bring about other sets of behaviors that as
> >thinking animals we find repugnant (I hope.)
>
> I agreed with all of your well considered statements up until this point.
>
> The implication here of the oxymoron "thinking animals", is the popular modern
> disinformation that mind proceeds from the body.
>
> This absurdity is at the root of all dysfunctions in modern society.
>
> No well-balanced ancient culture could possibly be convinced of such nonsense.
>
> Only moderns totally out of touch with reality could believe that a room full of
> chimpanzees had actually typed all of Shakespeare's works by sheer random
> coincidence...
>

Please tell me where you got that chimpanzee thing from my text.

By thinking animals I mean that while we have programming
common to all mammals, we do have the ability to act against
those drives.  And we act against those drives not  just
as punishment avoidance as in trained animals, but in
a reasoned manner.  Or at least some humans do.

"Mind proceeds from the body" - what does that mean?
We are unique on this planet.  We have a huge brain compared
to our body mass.  While this has caused lots of problems,
it has also, IMO, taken us beyond cognition levels seen
in other animals.  No, our minds aren't separate from
our bodies, but they are rather different from other
animals.  We can understand that certain behaviors,
while being natural under certain circumstances, are
not behaviors that we should indulge in.  Unlike a
zebra stallion who can't even begin to comprehend the
idea of considering whether or not to rape pregnant
mares.

As for a well-balanced ancient culture, well, I suppose it's
time for me to come out of the closet.  Do I want to live
in an ancient culture?  No.  Absolutely not.  The paleo diet
is the best thing for my body.  I am positively relieved
however that I don't live in those times.  Modern society
certainly has major problems, but I'm not about to suggest a
return to the past.  I love high-tech and I'm not ashamed
to admit it.

Julie
(You can have my DVD player when you pry it from
my cold dead fingers.)