Why I am forever centrist

[paulgiamatti]

Originally Posted by Archalen [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Sam harris should be more careful about his words. He sometimes is indistinguishable from a dumb blonde fox news commentator when it comes to foreign policy. When he put his sentence in context, I found it virtually no better.

Yeah, I can't say I disagree. I was actually thinking after I read his article on defamation that it's not very difficult to misinterpret what he was saying, and he sort of makes himself a target for defamation in that regard. That doesn't excuse the people doing the defaming, but he could certainly be more deliberate in his wording.

I think it was more a statement about self-defense against people who are dead set on killing someone, than it was about religious fanaticism. Sam Harris isn't just a political commentator but he's also a neurologist, so a lot of what he writes about concerns human behavior and things like psychopathy and sociopathy, and how belief plays its part in people who kill others for no discernible reason. It was more a statement that says, "If someone believes they absolutely have to kill you, you might have to kill them in self-defense."

[paulgiamatti]

Also, I just stumbled on an interview posted today in which he acknowledges that a lot of what he wrote in "The End of Faith" is very easily taken out of context, and he admits that was partly his mistake as an inexperienced writer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIGX2mo6CuQ#t=3m49s

[Sidelle]

Talking shit on the internet = classic.