Re: Science and Unemployment...

peter lucey (lucey@PROBLEM_WITH_INEWS_GATEWAY_FILE)
30 Jun 1995 16:56:35 GMT

Matthew Scott (scott@informatik.hu-berlin.de) wrote:

: lucey@PROBLEM_WITH_INEWS_GATEWAY_FILE (peter lucey) writes:
: >And it just so happens there is a convenient solution for all these
: >worries. Switch off the rational thought and follow the messiah.

: it is not possible to switch rational thought off and follow the
: messiah at the same time. It might be possible to switch of rationalizing
: and follow the messiah at the same time. Are you sure you know what it
: means to follow the messiah? I'll attempt to fill you in on a little.

My examples were of "religious" (well, crazy-religious) figures who needed
to scare their flock. Once the fear-factor is established, the messiah
(a messiah, no capital "M" -:)) then becomes the one to deliver his
followers from that fear. I was thinking of Shiva Naipaul's masterly
"Black and White", tracing the career of JIm Jones.

Most totalitarian states also require such a fear-factor; a shadowy enemy
from which the leader is the saviour.

Stand back and examine the fear with a clear head; then look at the
solution the messiah provides.

--

Peter Lucey Opinions are personal and do not
lucey@uksr.hp.com reflect or affect Hewlett-Packard.