Real-Life Barbie? Model Created Look to Spread Beliefs

[Buster's Uncle]

I don't entirely disagree with any of that - but it avoids the real question...

There's something deep within us that bypasses rationality to instinctively reject otherness, I think.  Why do you suppose?

[Valka]

The real question of identifying the lurkers? I have no ideas there.

Rejecting "otherness" is a survival mechanism that we can thank evolution for, at least in part. Nowadays it's social evolution that we need to overcome that. Carl Sagan used to talk about the reptilian part of our brain that's still there - that we haven't discarded yet - that's the source of so much of the negativity - anger, hate, jealousy, etc.

Even if we got our own Surak to persuade us to the ways of logic, we still would have that reptilian part of our brain to contend with (and as we've seen with Star Trek, logic doesn't stop a person from being a complete racist).

[Buster's Uncle]

See my second-line edit.

But the lurker thing, too, sure.

[Valka]

See my edit, too. 

[Buster's Uncle]

I think you've hit it, exactly - evolutionary competition with Neanderthals, etc., has hard-wired something really nasty into our brains.

Funny; if you read up on the cosmic new-age stuff Valeria/Amatue is into, it's all universal love and light.  Those unfortunate remarks about race-mixing have to be a remnant left from a pre-enlightenment youth, as it seems to be not reconciled/in accord with the rest.

[Valka]

Some of that new-age stuff is just ridiculous. You should see some of the vegan/omnivore fights that happen on Care2 (a misnamed site if ever there was). A couple of days ago somebody said they were working on cutting out eating anything that was once alive. I think the term is "breatharian" or some such nonsense.

[Buster's Uncle]

She's totally gotten into just that, as it happens.

[Buster's Uncle]

[Buster's Uncle]

[Buster's Uncle]

[Buster's Uncle]

[Buster's Uncle]

[Buster's Uncle]

It's all these dolls I live with...

[Buster's Uncle]

[Buster's Uncle]