I promised myself I would give this topic a rest, but unfortunately this just popped up. It's an essay on, of all things, whether Shakespeare really wrote his stuff (because, for one, he appeared to have too much medical knowledge for someone with his education).
Theodore Dalrymple, writing in the _City Journal_ (Autumn 2005) thinks otherwise. But what is of interest here in his essay (at http://www.city-journal.org/html/15_4_oh_to_be.html is this: "As to why people adopt theories that conflict with the most minimal honest reflection, I will quote T. S. Eliot, who, while not always right, was right about this: Half the harm that is done in the world is due to people who want to feel important. They dont want to do harmbut the harm does not interest them . . . or they do not see it . . . because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves. Eliot might have added: the endless struggle to look well in the eyes of their fellow intellectuals and the fear of losing caste. But as a result of their efforts, as Orwell also famously said, We have sunk to a depth in which re-statement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men. I thought hard-working Allen would particularly appreciate that passage. (and by the way, I'm on record as proposing that William Shakespeare actually wrote the Theory of Relativity). Stephen ___________________________________________________ Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Department of Psychology Bishop's University Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at http://faculty.frostburg.edu/psyc/southerly/tips/index.htm _______________________________________________ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
