This is an outstanding example of Barry's asserting something he doesn't actually believe.
Or at least you have to hope that's what it is, because if he really does believe it, he's in far worse mental shape than even I thought. The obvious problem with his thesis is that while oxytocin is a great solution to all the things he claims require explanation, those things themselves are figments of his imagination. There's no "group apologetics thang," no cliques on FFL. I don't have Borderline Personality Disorder, nor do I suffer from "incredible envy" (of what??). It's the FFL TM critics who are big on Schadenfreude, Barry in particular, not the TMers. There's only one long-term TMer who posts here who is homophobic (BillyG), and everybody else on FFL, including the TMers, thinks he's a bigoted jerk. And if Nabby and Buck can be said to be "ethnocentric," this very series of posts from Barry this morning ably documents the extremity of his own ethnocentrism. The cherry on top is Barry quoting none other than Deepak Chopra in support of this lunacy. Did he think we wouldn't notice? And finally, you have to wonder where Barry has been getting his daily overdose of oxytocin for the past 20 years if it does, in fact, "boost dishonesty." You've gotta admit...it *does* explain the group apologetics thang. It also explains FFL cliques... http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/39595/title/Oxytocin-Boosts-Dishonesty/ http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/39595/title/Oxytocin-Boosts-Dishonesty/