John Gray's "Straw Dogs"

[Woebot]

Halfway through this at the moment. A few thoughts:

• Thank god it's actuallly readable.

• Chill with the dissing of Nietzsche over Schopenhauer. Just because Schopz was cool with the ladeez! Mr Big Dick John Gray.............

• "Illusion of enduring selfhood" Hang on geez. What about those moments when you think you've done something original but then you realise it falls EXACTLY (and obviously) within pre-occuring patterns of your life. Surely thats the opposite of this?

• "I" is surely the functional equivalent of the computers ram, the "at hand" "fast" "easily accesible memory" What's so wrong with the human equivalent?

• For crying out loud tell me something I dont know already.....

• Morality isnt just the product of humanist self-delusion. You'll find wandering tribesmen in the Sahara the most hospitable people on earth. They know what goes around comes around. Kindness is, amongst many things (a pampering for the donors ego) intensely practical. The "holy glow" one gets practising it is nothing more than the default extra freebie.

• John Gray you is okay.

 

[Backjob]

's a frustrating book because sometimes he gets it really right, and says something new and interesting, but more often he gets things really fuckin wrong. Francis Ween also interestingly points out how John Gray has come through a 180 degree shift on most of his opinions in the course of his career. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but it does make him feel less credible...

 

[HMGovt’s Glorious Return!]

's a frustrating book because sometimes he gets it really right, and says something new and interesting, but more often he gets things really fuckin wrong. Francis Ween also interestingly points out how John Gray has come through a 180 degree shift on most of his opinions in the course of his career. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but it does make him feel less credible...

He was politics tutor in my college. The day he shaved off his shabby beard was the day his profile started to rise on the Today programme, Newsnight, etc. I don't know enough about the trajectory of his career to say if his old opinions followed his beard, but that's when he became the new John Gray from the media's perspective.

Been meaning to pick up Straw Dogs for ages, thanks for reminding me.

 

[kooky]

it's a really funny book. a kind of readers digest of the entire history of thought. it's really dumb too of course