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Thanks for the Hicks reference. I think I'll pick up a used copy ( and save a few shekels in the process ). My recommendation for a "drier" read stands: "Glossary of Cognitive Science."

The thread lengthens in part for a back and forth that reminds me a bit of the C. S. Lewis triology's last, "That Hideous Strength." He invents "National Institute for Co-ordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E.)" My bride likes to talk about the "church of nice," in which the foundational "nice" means getting to abuse others for the "best" of reasons.

One thinks of "a woman's right to choose," which is the nice phrase of words for killing fetuses. Or remember Obama's "kinetic action" which is still just war? That idiotic "mostly peaceful" demonstration nonsense was "nice" as the news stood in front of burning cars and such. The "nice" females on the View are of course not nice, but they gin up outrage about this and that all in service to the political but "nice" Left. Certainly the goading going on in this thread is "nice," while the intent is not, neither is it courteous in the sense of seeking a real dialogue. Goading is a sport for some.

In the moment, the strange case of modern England is in the news, with Z meeting the so-called E3, each growing more unpopular in France, Germany and the UK as time goes by. With the influx is Islam into the UK, Lewis so well captures -- note the present tense verb -- as he wrote in 1945 the above:

“We want you to write it down--to camouflage it. Only for the present, of course. Once the thing gets going we shan't have to bother about the great heart of the British public. We'll make the great heart what we want it to be. But in the meantime, it does make a difference how things are put. For instance, if it were even whispered that the N.I.C.E. wanted powers to experiment on criminals, you'd have all the old women of both sexes up in arms and yapping about humanity. Call it re-education of the mal-adjusted, and you have them all slobbering with delight that the brutal era of retributive punishment has at last come to and end. Odd thing it is--the word 'experiment' is unpopular, but not the word 'experimental.' You must'nt experiment on children; but offer the dear little kiddies free education in an experimental school attached to the N.I.C.E. and it's all correct!”

On of many 'zingers' which speak to the "social experimentation" of today courtesy of the postmodern, the Leftists, the power seekers and the corrupt. And camouflaged -- "hell" in inner cities as dystopia rises across the liberal "nice" West.

As you wrote, "destruction for its own sake." And always money-grubbing along the way, alongside the fanning the flames of ressentiment."

At the "end" of the beginning of the thread, daniel1212 mentions "scorn." In the biblical narrative, scorn can be found in so many places. From Deuteronomy and throughout, the notion is that scorn is a method and result. Think of Alinsky's tactic of ridicule. Today and all the way back to "You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you."

In part, the AI "biased toward 'absence' atheism," ( daniel1212's phrase ) suggests a bias which "scorns" others. As one steps away from using scorn, one can engage in dialogue. But Lewis reminds us that some happily pretend to engage in dialogue -- scornful dialogue -- and portray themselves as "nice."

"...it does make a difference how things are put."

Best wishes, as the morning coffee is enjoyed.