1. 28 December 2009

    Reblogged from
    jakec

    jakec: I have a lot of problems with the concept of equality, and the notion that, as the Dalai Lama puts it, “we are all the same”. Seriously. This notion that we’re all the same seems incredibly flawed, just another piece of conventional wisdom that goes unexamined and accepted. We are not all the same. Some of us have brown skin, some of us have white. Some of us have big ears, some of us have small noses. These are what many call “superficial differences”, and argue that, fundamentally, we are all the same. No. In biological terms, nobody in human history has been an exact physical copy of somebody else. Psychologically, we all have varying degrees of difference in our personalities. Different tastes, different ideologies, different beliefs. Not only do I believe this theory is incorrect, I think it’s dangerous. It’s so dehumanizing. When somebody says “Everybody is the same”, it evokes in my mind an image of soldiers in grey uniforms, goose-stepping in sync, marching to the beat of an indifferent drum. Whether you’re of the opinion that we were created by an omnipotent being or we evolved from a primordial soup, how you can believe that “we are all the same” is utterly beyond sense. The first thing this book does is ask me to accept that belief, and as such, it’s very difficult for me to find the motivation to continue reading this bonkers literature. Why on earth would you read anything written by a man who believes he is a godhead? The Dalai Lama is an old-school feudal despot. If he didn’t wear bright colours and giggle a lot we’d send secret agents to assassinate him in the night.

    jakec:

    I have a lot of problems with the concept of equality, and the notion that, as the Dalai Lama puts it, “we are all the same”.

    Seriously. This notion that we’re all the same seems incredibly flawed, just another piece of conventional wisdom that goes unexamined and accepted. We are not all the same. Some of us have brown skin, some of us have white. Some of us have big ears, some of us have small noses. These are what many call “superficial differences”, and argue that, fundamentally, we are all the same. No. In biological terms, nobody in human history has been an exact physical copy of somebody else. Psychologically, we all have varying degrees of difference in our personalities. Different tastes, different ideologies, different beliefs.

    Not only do I believe this theory is incorrect, I think it’s dangerous. It’s so dehumanizing. When somebody says “Everybody is the same”, it evokes in my mind an image of soldiers in grey uniforms, goose-stepping in sync, marching to the beat of an indifferent drum.

    Whether you’re of the opinion that we were created by an omnipotent being or we evolved from a primordial soup, how you can believe that “we are all the same” is utterly beyond sense. The first thing this book does is ask me to accept that belief, and as such, it’s very difficult for me to find the motivation to continue reading this bonkers literature.

    Why on earth would you read anything written by a man who believes he is a godhead? The Dalai Lama is an old-school feudal despot. If he didn’t wear bright colours and giggle a lot we’d send secret agents to assassinate him in the night.