A funny thing happened on the way to the lynch mob...

[jsbowden]

The World's Most Toxic Value System is a nice introduction to Prof. Dutch's Science, Pseudoscience, and Irrationalism index.

This one is less about actual facts and the debinking of bullshit than the rest of the site, but I think it gives a nice intro into the author's view of how things work.

Comments

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

I'm only a little ways through it, but the section on definition is interesting. "If all else fails, use the foreign word, but don't mistranslate." That's a very good point, right there. Mistranslation, sloppy translation, and incorrect mapping of concepts to words can be a huge problem.

[thette.livejournal.com]

He came to some of the same conclusions as Unni Wikan. If you're interested in "honor and shame" systems of social control, I recommend her books and articles, if you can find them translated.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Continuing to the end...I find the point about giving low-status jobs to foreigners, and then being passed by when the jobs become important (particularly those involving trade, money, or other non-"manly" tasks) incredibly valid, but I know for a fact that this one isn't limited to the thar societies. It's what caused a lot of trouble for Diasporan Jews in Europe, and as a result created most of the anti-Semitism that pervades to this day.

Generally, though, interesting article. Thanks for linking to it.

[selki.livejournal.com]

Interesting and well-put, thanks for the link!

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

I liked it. I liked it a lot. I am also troubled by it a whole lot, for fairly obvious reasons, but I like it a lot. Clarified many things that I was only vaguely thinking about.

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

Very cool link. Thank you.

[dilickjm.livejournal.com]

Great link.

And "debinking" is my newest favorite typo.