Lawrence C Smith                       
Apr-27-93 04:48AM
Is "Sanity" A Survival Characteristic?

Organization: Cabletron Systems, Inc.
From: smith@ctron.com (Lawrence C Smith)
Message-ID: <1rja36INN4vg@ctron-news.ctron.com>
Reply-To: smith@ctron.com
Newsgroups: talk.origins

I've been lurking on this newsgroup for a long time - popping in now
and then to catch up on the fundie-vs-real-people debate and noting
the ebb and flow of the Eternal Argument.  I have an observation,
and a question or two for consideration.  Real people, please.  No
fundies.

Hasn't it begun to become clear that no amount of argument or evidence
will sway these people?  Hasn't it become clear that some people
simply deactivate certain portions of their minds when considering
questions like these?  Do you know of _any_ fundie who finally broke
down and _admitted_ that evolution was a fact, and that their
religion was pure bunkum?

Why is this?  Why does such a large percentage of the population of
this planet seem to lack certain cognitive abilities?  Is this a
difficiency of reason, mere acculteration, or is it symptomatic of
a deeper problem?  Doesn't it _sound_ crazy, this Biblical raving?
What if it really _is_?

"Sanity" is a concept that is, rather implicitly, I think, defined
in terms of the _majority_.  The majority _must_ be sane, the
atypical must therefore be insane.  This man eats bugs.  This is
a very atypical things to do, in fact, most people find the idea
disgusting, therefore he must be insane.

But is this a reasonable definition?  Doesn't it seem more reasonable
that sanity must refer to an ability to observe, integrate, and reason,
detecting incorrect data and altering conclusions appropriately?  Isn't
it "sane" to be - reasonable?

Are we a species in transition?  Do we actually have a relatively small
core of reasoning, sane, "intelligent" human beings, heavily outnumbered
by genetically-compatible humanoid forms whose intelligence cannot be
brought consistantly to bear in a reasoning and logical manner?