Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Ideas have consequences


"If we present a man with a concept of man which is not true, we may well corrupt him. When we present man as an automaton of reflexes, as a mind-machine, as a bundle of instincts, as a pawn of drives and reactions, as a mere product of instinct, heredity and environment, we feed the nihilism to which modern man is, in any case, prone. I became acquainted with the last stage of that corruption in my second concentration camp, Auschwitz. The gas chambers of Auschwitz were the ultimate consequence of the theory that man is nothing but the product of heredity and environment-or, as the Nazi liked to say, of 'Blood and Soil.' I am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Maidanek were ultimately prepared not in some Ministry or other in Berlin, but rather at the desks and in the lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers." Viktor Frankl

This quote came to mind after a old seminary friend posted an article from a medical journal proposing the justification for "after-birth abortion."

Another thought came to mind: just because you have a PhD it doesn't make you smart. MC Escher could draw lots of things (see pic above). Just because you can imagine it in your mind doesn't mean it reflects reality.

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