Re: Fw: (off topic)

[Jed Rothwell]

Revtec wrote:

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when 
they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped 
and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide).

That is incorrect. His grandson committed suicide because he suffered 
from severe mental illness. Mental illness is not caused by parents 
who do not spank their children, although in some cases it is caused 
by parents who *do* spank or otherwise abuse their children.

Also, Spock advocated, and practiced, discipline and structured child 
rearing. The notion that he favored allowing children to misbehave is 
absurd, as anyone who has read his books knows.

The other assertions in this message that the world is going to hell 
in a handbasket -- that crime is increasing or people in the U.S. are 
becoming less religious -- have no basis in objectively measured 
fact. These are urban myths. I wish that people would become less 
religious, but the trend in the U.S. and in the Moslem countries is 
in the other direction.

Since this is a science-based discussion group I wish that Revtec 
would do a little fact checking before posting messages -- even off 
topic ones -- that have gross factual errors.

- Jed