Should Liam Neesons career be ruined just cos he thought and did not act on something whilst in a state of extreme emotional distress? This sounds very scary to me and very 1984ish. Is this the way the left really wants to go?
We are all born racists. Our innate (the ones we come pre programmed with) intuitional algorithms are designed to discriminate against foriegners as a default position for good evolutionary reason (at least it was good in the time of our ancestors). We learn that acting racist is not in our or others best interests in the modern world through reason. We can eventually also intuitively reject racism as a default response by learning to reject it. This can be done through either the weight of experience in a society where there is no benefit to being racist or it can be learned through deliberate mental training.
After an extremely upsetting event our intuitions take control of our thoughts. Reason is still in the background but will only intervene if things get serious. Clearly in the case of Neeson his intuitions had taken over his thought process. This is completely understandable given the circumstances. And given he grew up in pre 1990s Ireland it would of been very difficult to intuitively learn to reject racism as a default emotional response. Its his innate racist intuitions that therefore would be in full control of his thoughts during times of emotional distress. However, this doesnt mean he would of acted on them. To commit violence is a serious action. For most people (not all but most) reason would kick in when we come to the point of facing the decision of whether to act on our intuitions. But we never get to this point in the Neeson story. He never faced that decision and never acted on it. We dont know what he would of done had he faced the decision but surely it seems extremely likely he would of backed down. This is because this is what most people do and as far as we know it was a one off thought experience for Neeson and he clearly admits it was wrong when rationally explaining the story.
So why are we condemning him? Surely given the circumstances and the fact no action took place nor was likely to take place that this should be a non story let alone one worthy of punishment. We need to face up to the fact we are born intuitively racist as its the only way we can learn to combat racism. To punish those for doing nothing more than briefly losing rational control of their thought processes during any time let alone highly emotional times is very scary cos it happens to all of us on a regular basis. We are all guilty of it.
Its always action that should be condemned and not thoughts. Do you really think Neeson should be punished for his thoughts? Is this the world you want to live in?
We are all born racists. Our innate (the ones we come pre programmed with) intuitional algorithms are designed to discriminate against foriegners as a default position for good evolutionary reason (at least it was good in the time of our ancestors). We learn that acting racist is not in our or others best interests in the modern world through reason. We can eventually also intuitively reject racism as a default response by learning to reject it. This can be done through either the weight of experience in a society where there is no benefit to being racist or it can be learned through deliberate mental training.
After an extremely upsetting event our intuitions take control of our thoughts. Reason is still in the background but will only intervene if things get serious. Clearly in the case of Neeson his intuitions had taken over his thought process. This is completely understandable given the circumstances. And given he grew up in pre 1990s Ireland it would of been very difficult to intuitively learn to reject racism as a default emotional response. Its his innate racist intuitions that therefore would be in full control of his thoughts during times of emotional distress. However, this doesnt mean he would of acted on them. To commit violence is a serious action. For most people (not all but most) reason would kick in when we come to the point of facing the decision of whether to act on our intuitions. But we never get to this point in the Neeson story. He never faced that decision and never acted on it. We dont know what he would of done had he faced the decision but surely it seems extremely likely he would of backed down. This is because this is what most people do and as far as we know it was a one off thought experience for Neeson and he clearly admits it was wrong when rationally explaining the story.
So why are we condemning him? Surely given the circumstances and the fact no action took place nor was likely to take place that this should be a non story let alone one worthy of punishment. We need to face up to the fact we are born intuitively racist as its the only way we can learn to combat racism. To punish those for doing nothing more than briefly losing rational control of their thought processes during any time let alone highly emotional times is very scary cos it happens to all of us on a regular basis. We are all guilty of it.
Its always action that should be condemned and not thoughts. Do you really think Neeson should be punished for his thoughts? Is this the world you want to live in?
Last edited: