Mollydukes,

I do enjoy your insights...however, I think you underestimate Houellebecq's innate ability to cut through the cultural bullsh!t most of us trot out from within the confines of our softly padded cells.

Thanks for the memories SPQR

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=13002&page=0

Unless you are a sock-puppet, you obviously did not contribute to the thread.

Thanks Poirot,

I'm a bit busy at the moment, but I will get to the book at some stage. In the fullness of time. At the appropriate juncture.

Mollydukes,

I have no 'responsibility', to do anything but state my opinion. Is it, perchance, a responsibility to you? To society? To myself? Do tell. It's sad that you found yourself in an abusive relationship, but that's irrelevant to my argument. Certainly I would love you to try and prove how one would infer that giving responsibility to people for choices somehow equates to 'absolve men of any responsibility for their violence'

Leaving aside the fact that both men and women can be violent, I made no mention of the responsibility of violent people. It seems that you have decided to make this a personal matter and projected your anger about this onto my good self.

Regardless you seem to be the one absolving people of responsibility ...

'there is absolutely no evidence that people do make free choices..'

I make free choices all the time. I often times take stock of the reasons for those choices too. It seems to me your theories are all about wiping away any responsibilities 'victims' have over their own lives. I say victims as you definately seem to think abusive men have responsibilies.

Ah that wonderful cry of 'Blaming the Victim!'. Well, I reckon labelling yourself a victim is a sure fire way to experience being a victim for the rest of your life, and taking away any power you have to change your circumstances.

'who believe they understand people better than 'academics' or even 'practitioners'. '

Au Contraire. My point is that the individual is in the best place to make any calls, no matter how much your lot would wish to profit by telling them what's best for them. Does my independence threaten the demand your lot attempt to create for your services?

Since in your opinion I don't have free choice, I cannot fulfil this responsibility you have thrust upon me to indoctrinate myself with views more to your liking.

BM,

Caught in a Lie?

"You are delusional if you think I refered to "snippets from other politicians' comments on global warming". I did not."

What about your previous post:

"Abbott “it’s crap”"

OOPS

It appears that not only do you have trouble reading my posts, you also forget what you have written.

If you don't feel like a complete idiot, you ought to.

To Hollee-beck, I do believe that we all have a responsibility to seek the 'truth' (truth is defined as a horizon value that science can and does strive toward while acknowledging that there is no absolute reality) and to make the world a better place, if only by our own actions.

Perhaps your problem is that you hang out with too many of those low IQ, right-wing types. So that because you are clever and you have been 'right' many times when 'analysing' them, you think that you can generalise this to the entire population?

You rely on your nous too much. You really should get a first year psych textbook out of the library and check it out.

Check-out this site; read the research from the people who do it, not the science 'journalists'.

http://researchblogging.org/post-search/list/tag_id/226

Poirot, he might be an okay bloke but he does go on about nothing and spends a lot of time and effort jumping to conclusions on the basis of his own assumptions, and ignoring the point I was making, or tying to make.

Here are a couple of articles you might enjoy

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/12/the-science-of-success/7761/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/26/us/navigating-love-and-autism.html?_r=3&pagewanted=3&h&adxnnlx=1325204341-ez6rYj56govslEc5A2ozGw

Andrew Bolt's findings had nothing to do with free speech or free expression, he invented lies to demonise innocent people.