The remarks about Turning may not have a direct connection with the topic here but note that the results of Turning's work concluded that the human brain is like a computer (i.e. mechanical). Work since Turning has raised numerous fields, questions, and issues (such as Ray Kurzweil's work and philosophy, Transhumanism, A.I. Cybernetics, etc.) the biggest question is concerned with whether or not consciousness is strictly the result of material causes or if something essential (or spiritual) is present. Example: Can we build robots that will have their own consciousness?

How this relates is the concern with the cognitive structure, in-short, babies learn because of via the processes which are inherent in the brain structure, yet we can't rule out the experiences coupled with physical properties.

We don't have innate ideas as Plato suggested, but (here suspending my own Subjective Idealism for the moment) empirical knowledge must have a vehicle of transmission from external experience to consciousness, thus our intricate "machine-like" brain structure.

On the flip-side here, the "arm chair" comment is merely another example of the trivialization of philosophy. Philosophers throughout history have used examples from children when it met their needs. It isn't necessary to delve into the introspection of babies. Epistemological discourse doesn't require one distinguish adult human learning/knowledge from infant human learning/knowledge. The same processes occur no matter the age.

Shouldn't we be more worried about people with their guns hidden at such events!?!

-When people attack they don't warn you beforehand!

So Kostric may have not thought about whether wearing his gun was a wise thing to do or not.

It's still legal!!!

When we begin to say "thou shalt not...," we begin to fulfill exactly what he claims is happening.

There's such a thing as Critical THINKING and it seems to be lacking in people who would rather vocalize.

After quite a day trying to teach students Critical Thinking, and questioning (since 5:30 AM) whether any of what I do is "worth it" anymore, I being distracted and frazzled, boringly read over this article - which ultimate sounded like the same old "let's blame somebody" B.S. jargon.

Upon browsing the "letters to the editor" (where the "good stuff" hides) I found some of the same "my opinion adheres to whatever the guy with his hand in my back says," until finally reading letters such as that of "" and a couple others who actually know how to think it seems. So I just want to extend a "thank you" to those who have mind enough to see past jargon, fallacies, manipulation of words, emotions, psychology, etc.

Critical Thinking may survive after all.

"That one" has nothing to do with race, (it's especially difficult to make such a connection since race doesn't exist anymore), ethnicity, or anything else.

Depersonalizing it may be, but this is something all people do accroding to their own existential inter-recognition of "Other."

Which one of us did it? - That one.

A more important topic: Why has politics and media coverage of politics resorted to primeval "he said-she said" personal bashing of the other instead of actually discussing philosophies, ideas, goals, plans, objectives, strategies, etc?

Hmmm... first, "kermitKlink" is not that far off from an idea postulated by Pythagoras, "Numbers."

As Giberson suggests, "science" ("God" how we misuse words) already has a creation myth. This was very eloquently pointed out in the novel "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn which I highly recommend to anyone thinking on either side (assuming there are sides) of this issue.

My most pressing comment is simply: WHERE'S JOSEPH CAMPBELL WHEN WE NEED HIM?!?!?!

Wilson's "Mythopoeic Needs" can't be that different from Carl Jung's "Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious" and Adolf Bastian's "Elementargedanken & Volkergedanken."

The characters, stories, symbols, teachings, etc, of all the religions which have ever existed, are quintessential extensions of ourselves, our very being. The problems arise when, (to paraphrase Campbell), we "take the image; the reference, to be a FACT and don't realize that it's a metaphor." Religion (from the Latin root: re-ligio, meaning "to link back") evolved with and from human beings since the time of Homo habilis. It has reincarnated into many different cultural manifestations (i.e. Volkergedanken) over time but its archetypal "elements" remain constant - we cannot escape them.

We need religion, it's part of what/who we are, but we don't need dogmatisms of any kind (this includes Scientism). So we need to re-form our religions.