This same consistent loss of control over ones destiny has been the basic force that drives the "so called hostility" that has existed in the Black race for many years. Maybe Dr Wright was really just trying to get the powers that be to understand this same issue long before your news flash of today...................."different is not difficient."
MIND MATTERS
Wray Herbert
Destined to Cheat?
New research finds those who believe in fate over free will are more likely to act immorally.
Jan 15, 2008 | Updated: 4:43 p.m. ET Jan 15, 2008
Email To A Friend
Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.
SPONSORED BY
"Seinfeld" fans will remember the classic scene in which Jerry, during his stand-up act, is heckled by a relapsed alcoholic. Jerry decides to give the drunk some of his own medicine:
Jerry: "Hey, it's not my fault you're back on the wagon."
Drunk: "It's off the wagon."
Jerry: "In the old days, how do you think they got the alcohol from town to town?"
Drunk: "I don't know."
Jerry: "On the wagon. Don't you think they broke into a couple of those bottles along the way?"
Drunk: "You can't drink on a wagon. It would be too bumpy."
Jerry: "They had smooth trails. What about the Cumberland Gap?"
The drunk may be slurring his words here, but he actually has a better understanding of idiom than Jerry. He has indeed fallen off the wagon of sobriety, though by the end of the episode he will happily be back on that metaphorical wagon.
It's a safe bet that both these phrases are getting a lot of use this month, as millions of Americans resolve to put the holiday hangovers behind them. Some will try to moderate their drinking, others may take a vacation from booze, while still others may finally decide it's time to call it quits. But most alcoholics will fall, with a collective thud, off the wagon.
Why is that? Well, there is actually a fairly acrimonious debate taking place about the origins and nature of alcoholism, part of a larger debate about genetic determinism and free will. Some see alcoholism as a disease, perhaps even a genetic legacy; alcoholics are not unlike diabetics according to this view, cursed with a disease that is wickedly difficult to manage. Others disparage such genetic fatalism, arguing that it makes victims out of people and erodes personal responsibility and morality. In this view a lopsided belief in the power of genes is itself part of the problem: it takes away free will and gives addicts an excuse to behave dishonestly and unethically. Why fight destiny? Bottoms up.
Surprisingly, the link between fatalistic beliefs and unethical behavior has never been examined scientifically—until now. In two recent experiments, psychologists Kathleen Vohs of the University of Minnesota and Jonathan Schooler of the University of British Columbia decided to explore this knotty philosophical issue in the lab, and they figured out an innovative way to do it. They set out to see if they could make otherwise honest people cheat and lie, simply by manipulating their beliefs in free will.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Next Page »
Discuss