Taboos (or "There's something wrong with you to believe that")

[WorldIsMine]

Something which draws the harshest emotional response against its mention is what most desires to be discussed. Neither the statements 'Genocide is terrible' nor 'I love my wife' draw excited gasps, though both have extremely important real implications which are broadly understood. Nor do statements widely considered incorrect, perhaps obviously incorrect, draw such reactions. "Stephen King boils people in lava" might be considered an obviously ridiculous and extremely negative statement, yet it would appear as comical since it really is noncontroversially false. The very fact that people react to the notion that state behaviour might be criminal is because there is strong evidence that it is, and because this revelation somehow makes people nervous and hostile.

 

[acropolis]

you're saying that it is taboo to call state behavior criminal? it's not taboo. it does make people nervious, because no one wants to think that the state they live in is criminal. that would imply both that they could be victims, and that they indictly support criminal actions through taxes. that and some people are patriotic to the point of idol worship.

 

[stan1980]

This is kind of recognised in our libel laws (in the UK anyway). For example, I'd be allowed to print a story saying "The Queen's husband is having an affair with a green alien from Mars" because it is just too ridiculous to be true. There used to be an adult comic called VIZ that got away with that sort of stuff for years. As soon as I print a story that might have a resemblance of truth to it without proof, I can probably expect to end up in the libel courts.

Basically, I think people object to story telling without proof. Without proof, it is simply a conspiracy story.

 

[exxxys]

Someone told me it was taboo to believe that the average male has a six inch penis.

Wierd.

 

[Vigilante]

Other taboos:


1. "Good & Evil, as values, cannot exist outside out of the valuations of at least one valuing entity."

2. "Not only do States commit criminal acts, but those who pull the State-Marionette strings--the Bilderbergers, CFR, ad nauseum--use those acts as a means toward the establishment of a global Orwellian Dysutopia."

3. "The #1 cause of unnatural death worldwide during the 20th century was murder by government."

4. "There is a known control for cancer, it is a vitamin available in many natural foods, and the FDA officially refuses to acknowledge its efficacy. Big Pharma can't patent a vitamin, after all, and Big Pharma is awfully generous in its donations to the FDA."

5. "Vitamin-deficiency notwithstanding, bras are the leading catalyst of breast cancer. Vitamin-deficiency considered, they are probably the leading cause of fibrocystic breast disease (benign lumps), too."

6. "Evolution from common ancestry did/didn't occur."

7. "Christian monogamy, like so many Christian traditions, finds its historical roots in Roman gnosticism."

8. "Mormons believe that two ancient Jewish tribes traveled to the Americas, 'swarmed the lands,' and now all the biological evidence of Jewish ancestry is inexplicably gone from the local gene pool. And that's crazy."

9. "Appendicitis was essentially unknown before the invention of the modern sit-down toilet, and many gastro-intestinal and pelvic problems may be relieved by simply squatting as animals--and humans--have done for eons."

10. "Seduction is a science, and anyone can learn the steps." (Please don't PM me about this.)


I suppose that's enough provocation from me.

 

[acropolis]

^^^ none of those are taboos, they're beliefs and facts

 

[Vigilante]

I was in a creative mood.

 

[platzapS]

Other taboos:

1. "Good & Evil, as values, cannot exist outside out of the valuations of at least one valuing entity."

Agreed--but I believe that humans (with their ability to feel empathy and use reason) are the valuing entities.

2. "Not only do States commit criminal acts, but those who pull the State-Marionette strings--the Bilderbergers, CFR, ad nauseum--use those acts as a means toward the establishment of a global Orwellian Dysutopia."

I don't see enough evidence. Governments certainly commit criminal acts, and corporations have a large amount of control over many or most governments, but I don't believe in huge, conscious secret conspiracies to the degree #2 implies.

3. "The #1 cause of unnatural death worldwide during the 20th century was murder by government."

I could believe that. I'm still a socialist-leaning Democrat, but I don't doubt that governments have killed millions.

4. "There is a known control for cancer, it is a vitamin available in many natural foods, and the FDA officially refuses to acknowledge its efficacy. Big Pharma can't patent a vitamin, after all, and Big Pharma is awfully generous in its donations to the FDA."

I'm skeptical of pharmaceutical companies too, but I don't believe they're holding back a vitamin that would drastically reduce cancer cases. Of the millions of educated chemists, biologists, and doctors, it seems like at least a couple of them would be willing and able to share the secret with the world, especially with access to the easy information-sharing of the internet.

5. "Vitamin-deficiency notwithstanding, bras are the leading catalyst of breast cancer. Vitamin-deficiency considered, they are probably the leading cause of fibrocystic breast disease (benign lumps), too."

I know nothing about...mammology? But I doubt bra companies are powerful enough to keep down information like this.

6. "Evolution from common ancestry did/didn't occur."

That's a pretty simple scientific issue. (It did occur).

7. "Christian monogamy, like so many Christian traditions, finds its historical roots in Roman gnosticism."

I don't know enough about history to judge that, but it seems reasonable enough.

8. "Mormons believe that two ancient Jewish tribes traveled to the Americas, 'swarmed the lands,' and now all the biological evidence of Jewish ancestry is inexplicably gone from the local gene pool. And that's crazy."

Totally agree.

9. "Appendicitis was essentially unknown before the invention of the modern sit-down toilet, and many gastro-intestinal and pelvic problems may be relieved by simply squatting as animals--and humans--have done for eons."

Is that true? I've read up on squat toilets, and I think I might get one in my house. The whole sit-down defecation method is pointlessly destructive and difficult.

10. "Seduction is a science, and anyone can learn the steps." (Please don't PM me about this.)

Are those nails real? Oh, well they're nice anyway. *neg*

 

[Vigilante]

Eh… I don’t have the endurance to seriously forward 10 points in one thread at the same time. I was kind of expecting that my post would be read and then ignored. Not, uh, critiqued.

"Ohmigod, I'm so over the jealous girlfriend opener. Like, you shouldn't have given me so many IOIs, either. Didn't style teach you anything?" :]

 

[DailyBlessings]

It's certainly true that taboos tend to be more psychological than they are logical. And which situations we choose to apply such supposedly universal standards to are notoriously inconsistent.

For instance, I often wonder at the use of genocide as an example of supreme evil, when coupled with the extreme frequency with which they occur in the modern world. How many Americans know or care that their invasion of Iraq allowed for the destruction of several cultural groups? My guess would be, mostly only those who opposed the invasion to begin with, for other reasons. Yet genocide events that occurred under Hussein's rule were a major justification for military action in the first place. People respect "universal" taboos only when they have a reason to.