Revealing that I haven't reached a state of enlightened ego-loss, I'll admit to a reason why I listen to conservative Portland talk show host Lars Larson fairly frequently:
I feel superior when I do.
Because Larson, like most other right-wing public airwave pundits, is both amazingly ignorant of modern science and deficient in common sense.
Case in point -- a discussion he had today with a caller who was trying to equate an innate propensity toward homosexuality with an innate urge to abuse children sexually.
Larson believes that gayness is learned, a lifestyle choice, which is ridiculous.
Yet he was trying to twist the argument that child abusers are driven by factors (including heredity) outside of their control to buttress his position that both homosexuality and child sexual abuse would have to be tolerated by society if these behaviors were found to be determined, rather than a result of free will.
I guess Larson doesn't realize that most neuroscientists consider that everything we do is determined. That is, there are causes for what brains do. Human consciousness isn't controlled by a free-floating "soul" or free will generator.
Almost certainly Lars Larson won't be reading Sam Harris' new book, "The Moral Landscape," since (1) it is written by a noted anti-religion atheist and (2) Harris has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, so he deals in scientific facts.
Here's an excerpt, in case Larson reads blog posts:
While viewing human beings as forces of nature does not prevent us from thinking in terms of moral responsibility, it does call the logic of retribution into question. Clearly, we need to build prisons for people who are intent upon harming others. But if we could incarcerate earthquakes and hurricanes for their crimes, we would build prisons for them as well.
The men and women on death row have some combination of bad genes, bad parents, bad ideas, and bad luck -- which of these quantities, exactly, were they responsible for? No human being stands as author to his own genes or his upbringing, and yet we have every reason to believe that these factors determine his character throughout life.
Common sense, Lars. Use some common sense.
Cute little chipmunks and ferocious large lions each do what comes naturally to them, as do humans. We too are animals -- just more complicated animals, with bigger brains capable of more sophisticated behaviors.
If we're walking down a trail and a chipmunk runs straight at us, it makes sense to smile and let it do whatever if feels like doing. But if a lion is charging, we need to take steps to defend ourselves.
Larson was blathering about how, if some behavior is innate (natural), it has to be accepted. Huh?
Hurricanes are natural. So are many, if not most, diseases. We humans don't sit back and say "Whatever..." when such undesired entities come our way. We fight back, doing what is necessary to protect people and property.
Ditto with innate/natural behaviors like being sexually attracted to children. Pedophiles have to be controlled, just as rogue lions do. But homosexuality is chipmunk'ish. There's no harm in gays acting naturally: being attracted to members of the same sex.
Common sense, Lars. Use some common sense.
I rarely have a chance to listen to Lars anymore, but he never lets facts get in the way of a good story.
Posted by: Bruce Berryhill | October 19, 2010 at 11:44 PM
I admire you being able to do that because I think we should know what people like him are saying with their forums; but I can't go very many minutes anymore before I can't stand it.
Posted by: Rain | October 21, 2010 at 08:18 AM
We I hear Lars opinionate, I have a mental picture of a twelve year old boy picking his nose and eating what he has found.
Posted by: surefoot | October 21, 2010 at 07:39 PM