Or he's a complete lunatic that's tried several times to break the rules? It's not that deep.
On Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 2:47 PM David Eric Smith <desm...@santafe.edu> wrote: > I’m glad to have these resources, particularly the lawfare breakdowns. > > However, in this conversation I would like to see us separate the things > we credit with reflecting on real ideas from patent political nonsense and > bad faith. Dershowitz exists to prove the maxim that there isn’t really > any democratic robustness in the US legal system, and that in fact any > outcome can be achieved through a parade of nonsense by whoever has the > most money and power. That is why he takes case after case that have no > legal merits, to preen by showing that it is the singer — particularly the > singer Dershowitz — entirely, and not at al the song. > > The right wing of the senate is also a case study in how corruption works > at the institutional level, and how systems like Venezuela develop in the > stages before the society is in riots and the outside world starts to > notice that they exist. So what Dershowitz does in the senate is even more > extravagant nonsense than what he would do in an actual court, to emphasize > the fact that not only he, but they, achieve ends through manipulation of > power without any role for principal. > > In contrast, when there is real law, and a good-faith effort to use law to > create a fair playing field, there can be a good discussion of how legal > precedent is the applied domain of psychology. Then we can discuss the > difference between German interpretations of the relative merits of > punishment versus rehabilitation, and American positions on similar > questions (perhaps more historically than in this particular distorted > present). > > Anyway, one more thing to feel sick about with an understanding that one > has very little and limited agency in this big broken world, > > Eric > > > > > > On Jan 31, 2020, at 4:36 AM, thompnicks...@gmail.com wrote: > > Hi everybody, > > I am often been hard pressed by members of the “home church” to supply > examples of how locating motives “in the head” is not only a misdirection > but actually a dangerous illusion. I give you > https://shows.acast.com/the-report/episodes/the-impeachment-day-7 which, > at minute 7:40, contains an argument that Trump’s motives cannot be > inferred from his behavior because motives are inherently subjective, “in > the head” of the motivated person. This, of course, contradicts long > standing legal practice, where demonstrating motive from higher-order > patterns in behavior (i.e., patterns distributed more broadly in time and > space than in the moments surrounding the motivated act) is a necessary > element in most criminal cases. It is, for instance, the main element that > distinguishes manslaughter from murder. In fact, the whole range of > offences resulting in death are distinguished by the degree to which the > jury thinks the lethal act was “voluntary”. > > By the way, that link will serve to introduce you to the lawfare “reports > <https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-report/id1472798169>” which > attempt to provide a neutral precis of the proceedings, day by day. > > Nick > > PS: I just did a dive into the legal dictionary. Interesting. > Apparently, the law makes a big distinction between motive > <https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/motivation>and intent > <https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/motivation>, the former > being more like having a reason to commit a crime, the latter being more > like setting about to commit the crime. Interesting stuff, this law > business No wonder Oliver Wendell Holmes was a pragmatist.! > > N > Nicholas Thompson > Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology > Clark University > thompnicks...@gmail.com > https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ > > > > > > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove