Eoraptor, if you have read the book and understood it then you would would not deny my statement so easily, if you have not read the book then you are just offering your opinion.
The book stands for itself.

you are reading a lot in a few lines, yes we communicate mainly through body language, but i have only ever met one expert in it. most people don't pick up on cues, or the clusters of cues usually given in any situation.we seem to rely on words over what the visual cues are telling us.
The fact that you are disturbed by these few words probably means you are not a psychopath.
I kept throwing the book at the wall because my belief system was challenged and i didn't like it,but i continued to read and placed it in the context the author was talking about and while not happy about what i was learning i was still grateful that i learned it.
i don't like to think of myself sticking my head in the sand because i don't like what i see, and if anything this knowledge has made me less of a victim/target/prey.
Given that there was a group of them that started this project and he ended up being the last one alive over the years, after all they went through i think he was a brave man.
It is up to each of us who read his book to decide for themselves as to weather he is a fraud or not.
 

Have you read the book? the paragraph says that they lack the ability or cannot experiance empathy, not as you say ignore it.
To "ignore" is not the same as "lack" or "cannot".
If more people paid attention to their instincts or gut feeling instead of limiting themselves to just hearing or seeing, things would be somewhat better than they are.
As to your last question on how can it be that society thinks on genocide to be good, i can only answer that you should pick up any good book on the history of empire building nations and it will be self evident.
Or the history of oil, or the usa, england, israel, australia, or pretty much any nation in the west. you can go further back if you want and choose any culture you want, its all depressingly the same.
Read the book or don't, its ok to be afraid.

Isn't everything?
Our current understanding of life was based on (opinions)theory of scientists, these change from time to time as we get better information about the world and universe we live in and have to be changed as we go.Try quantum physics
Or the weird poopy our sun is doing right now, both of these two things are rewriting the books as we speak!
Just because the man was a layman, does not render his observations any less valid, why should it?
Who here has not met people who have all kinds of book learning yet know nothing of the real world.
To pretend that people who have letters after their name are somehow better able to understand the world around them than those who don't is a dangerous mindset that only blinds you from the facts as they present themselves. Would you discount the evidence of a shepard boy who can't read but who could consistently hit and kill with his sling because that was part of his life experience, or would you take the word of a hobbiest intellectual who has no real experiance with the sling but has a passing intrest and a phd?
Would you tell a newbie slinger to read everything he can about slinging, or after a little advice tell him to get out there and get some first hand experience?
Accurate observation of the conditions that one finds oneself in coupled with real world experience are what count.
I have read his book, i have met people as he has described them and i have learned a great deal from his words.I started this thread because it was an intresting topic and plainly a lot of people feel the same.(debate is healthy)
I make no defence of the man or his academic qualifications except to say that he is obviousley well read, and had an oppertunity to study something first hand.
His intelligence cannot be denied.
I have found common ground with some of what he is saying, some of it i am still working through and that's ok.
And i may stumble accross something else next week that may change the way i think again.In order to cure my ignorance i will take knowledge wherever i can find it.But one should never shoot the messenger.

Quote:


That to me is a contradiction if ever I saw one. Train people to overcome emotional responses, to act purely on logic, because this is a more natural way of things?

What *&^%^$

It is the manipulation of logical thought and argument that is the root of evil. It is those that are in tune with their emotions that suffer more the curse of poverty. Emotional understanding is oneself is the root of empathy for others. Not cold logic.

I would not like to live in a world devoid of passion, and verve.
i think that common sense and passion for life can go hand in hand.
But i would like to see more of a socractic type of education taught to our kids with universal respect for the world we live on and the beings we share it with.
But it is what it is and we do what we can to remain humane.

Obama!, what the hell America! what's this guys problem?

Yet another drawn out, expensive, war.
This guy makes Bush look like a peace loving stoned hippy!
My friends, how does this sit with you? War being waged in your name, while your civil rights are being taken away in the name of terrorism.
All because of the greed and power hungry of the few.
I have many friends and relations in Canada and the U.S.A.
I have asked them and some are scared, some don't see a problem, and some don't care, and a few don't even understand.
One however who is very sharp and well placed in the industry and is usally a warhawk has surprised me in saying that the current domestic shortage in common rounds of bullets will continue for the forseeable future and has nothing to do with market forces, better get your sling into swing!
A google search on ammo shortages does indeed tend to support this.
I guess my question is this, when is a war supportable? if ever