CHAT: The GAP's Veto
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HJ Hornbeck
Nov 4, 2011, 2:38:05 PM11/4/11
to University of Calgary Freethinkers Club
[This is the original copy of an article I fired off to the Gauntlet
Tuesday night. While it didn't make the print edition, the electronic
version is here: http://thegauntlet.ca/story/15903 Since there are
minor differences and no footnotes, I'm posting the original here!]
As the current head-honcho of the FreeThinkers club, I'm quite
strongly committed to the idea of free speech. I think we can only
approach the truth through the free discussion of issues, without
censoring or invoking blasphemy.
Which is why I'm opposed to the Genocide Awareness Project's signs.
To see why, we need to detour to Mars. NASA's Spirit rover spent an
astonishing five years wandering the planet, taking photos and
sampling rocks, quite impressive given its 90 day best-before date! On
November 6th, 2007, it even pulled off something no human has done
before: it took a photo of Bigfoot.[1]
Ok ok, this biped is about six centimetres tall. And, it's on a planet
that has just a wisp of an atmosphere, let alone any trees to swing
from. And and, it stayed rock-still for three days, perpetually in mid-
stride. Yet looking over the photos taken by the rover, it's difficult
to see it as anything other than a humanoid taking a stroll.
The reason is due to a game our ancestors played trillions of times in
billions of years.
Imagine you're sashaying through the forest, when you hear a noise
nearby. Should you: 1. Flip out and run away, or 2. Ignore it as
harmless random noise? If you ignore it, only to be attacked by a
giant sloth, you're no longer anyone's ancestor. If you freak out,
even though it was only a harmless sleeping tiger, you've wasted a
fair bit of energy and frazzled your nerves... but at least you'll
live on to make excuses about a giant sloth. Wash, rinse, repeat, and
you get a high-strung creature which jumps at any strange noise.
This rationale extends quite some ways. Is that spotted pattern just
random noise, or a hungry boar? Best be on the safe side. Is that
group of shadows in the forest nothing special, or someone from a
rival tribe waiting to pounce? Better be careful. Was that a friendly
face I saw, or just a weird pattern in a distant tree's bark? A second
look couldn't hurt...
So when we see something that looks like a hand, we don't think “hmm,
that looks like a hand,” we instead exclaim “oh, that's a human hand!”
And if we see a hand, we know there's a human lurking around there.
But is there? Human beings are a lot more than just hands and arms;
what goes on in our heads is far more important. I'd love to
rationally discuss what makes a human human, when we become conscious
or when we are granted rights and responsibilities... the problem is,
when looking at those bloody foetuses, a portion of my brain is going
“hey, that looks like a human arm, so it MUST BE a human arm!” It's
prematurely coming to a conclusion and forcing an emotional response,
trying to veto my rational side. Thanks to billions of years of
evolution, this response is both highly effective and impossible to
remove.
There's a term for this situation: the Heckler's Veto. By drowning out
all contrary opinion, you can either shut down debate or force
everyone to agree with you merely to shut you up. The Genocide
Awareness Project's foetus pictures are a visual Heckler's Veto,
tricking our lizard brains to shout over any rational discourse on
their behalf. The GAP should stop using them immediately, if they
place any value on reasoned debate. Otherwise, they're merely punking
all our brains via an evolutionary flaw.
HJ Hornbeck
[1] http://planetary.org/blog/article/00001305/
Tuesday night. While it didn't make the print edition, the electronic
version is here: http://thegauntlet.ca/story/15903 Since there are
minor differences and no footnotes, I'm posting the original here!]
As the current head-honcho of the FreeThinkers club, I'm quite
strongly committed to the idea of free speech. I think we can only
approach the truth through the free discussion of issues, without
censoring or invoking blasphemy.
Which is why I'm opposed to the Genocide Awareness Project's signs.
To see why, we need to detour to Mars. NASA's Spirit rover spent an
astonishing five years wandering the planet, taking photos and
sampling rocks, quite impressive given its 90 day best-before date! On
November 6th, 2007, it even pulled off something no human has done
before: it took a photo of Bigfoot.[1]
Ok ok, this biped is about six centimetres tall. And, it's on a planet
that has just a wisp of an atmosphere, let alone any trees to swing
from. And and, it stayed rock-still for three days, perpetually in mid-
stride. Yet looking over the photos taken by the rover, it's difficult
to see it as anything other than a humanoid taking a stroll.
The reason is due to a game our ancestors played trillions of times in
billions of years.
Imagine you're sashaying through the forest, when you hear a noise
nearby. Should you: 1. Flip out and run away, or 2. Ignore it as
harmless random noise? If you ignore it, only to be attacked by a
giant sloth, you're no longer anyone's ancestor. If you freak out,
even though it was only a harmless sleeping tiger, you've wasted a
fair bit of energy and frazzled your nerves... but at least you'll
live on to make excuses about a giant sloth. Wash, rinse, repeat, and
you get a high-strung creature which jumps at any strange noise.
This rationale extends quite some ways. Is that spotted pattern just
random noise, or a hungry boar? Best be on the safe side. Is that
group of shadows in the forest nothing special, or someone from a
rival tribe waiting to pounce? Better be careful. Was that a friendly
face I saw, or just a weird pattern in a distant tree's bark? A second
look couldn't hurt...
So when we see something that looks like a hand, we don't think “hmm,
that looks like a hand,” we instead exclaim “oh, that's a human hand!”
And if we see a hand, we know there's a human lurking around there.
But is there? Human beings are a lot more than just hands and arms;
what goes on in our heads is far more important. I'd love to
rationally discuss what makes a human human, when we become conscious
or when we are granted rights and responsibilities... the problem is,
when looking at those bloody foetuses, a portion of my brain is going
“hey, that looks like a human arm, so it MUST BE a human arm!” It's
prematurely coming to a conclusion and forcing an emotional response,
trying to veto my rational side. Thanks to billions of years of
evolution, this response is both highly effective and impossible to
remove.
There's a term for this situation: the Heckler's Veto. By drowning out
all contrary opinion, you can either shut down debate or force
everyone to agree with you merely to shut you up. The Genocide
Awareness Project's foetus pictures are a visual Heckler's Veto,
tricking our lizard brains to shout over any rational discourse on
their behalf. The GAP should stop using them immediately, if they
place any value on reasoned debate. Otherwise, they're merely punking
all our brains via an evolutionary flaw.
HJ Hornbeck
[1] http://planetary.org/blog/article/00001305/
n8rp...@gmail.com
Nov 4, 2011, 2:56:41 PM11/4/11
to freethin...@googlegroups.com
I love the article.
As an aside, I read the story you linked and that was interesting too. What really amused me is the few comments after the article.
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As an aside, I read the story you linked and that was interesting too. What really amused me is the few comments after the article.
Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry
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Evan Loughlin
Nov 4, 2011, 3:56:50 PM11/4/11
to freethin...@googlegroups.com
Ya exactly.
As a tangent this humorously also explains social anxiety disorder. Any insignificant detail is equated by my mind as rejection presumably linked to fear of never procreating, and resulting in feelings of "i'm gonna die" fear.
I flew off my bike going full speed last night and automatically began checking to see if anyone was watching before I hit the ground.
Stupid evolution.
On Nov 4, 2011 1:32 PM, "Angeline Gallivan" <angeline...@gmail.com> wrote:
"a high-strung creature which jumps at any strange noise."--sounds a lot like me :-)
Sent from my iPhone
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