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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (22033)	8/14/2001 8:28:10 PM
From: The Philosopher	Respond to of 82486

Well, it sort of depends on what you mean by hard-wired. But I get your point. Actually, I think it's of little importance, because I am much less interested in whether certain traits are hard wired in us and much more interested in asking so what. If certain men are hard wired to rape women, should we say it's okay for them to rape? If certain women are hard wired to kill their babies, should we say that's okay? If certain children (as now seems to be the case) are hard wired with a preference for violence, should we let them beat up on other children? It may be of academic interest whether certain traits are hard wired, genetically based, etc., or not, but even I don't see that adding much to the discussion of whether those traits should be accepted by society or not. Which I brought up a while back when we were discussing homosexuality and some here raised the research that suggests it is at least in part genetically based and my view is, so what. That has, IMO, little to do with whether our society finds homosexuality acceptable or unacceptable, a behavior to be accepted or opposed or neither, a basis for antidiscrimination protection under law, etc.