This month’s Socrates Café question:

“Is any person inherently better than another?”

Chime away.

8 Responses to “April ’09 Socrates Café”
  1. Randy Zeitman says:

    No. Actions over genetics.

  2. Brian says:

    A. Kutcher is better than most of us, but O. Winfrey is superior to us all. At the bottom of the Human Pyramid lies a solid foundation of email spammers.

  3. Bill says:

    There is nothing philosophical about this comment, but regarding “At the bottom of the Human Pyramid lies a solid foundation of email spammers,” that’s a pyramid with a very small base. 80% of spam comes from just 200 spammers:
    http://www.spamhaus.org/statistics/spammers.lasso
    and spam costs society tens of billions of dollars per year:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(electronic)#Costs_of_spam
    A truly impressive amount of destruction from such a small group of people.

  4. Bill says:

    I’ll try that link a little differently so it hopefully won’t get chopped:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_%28electronic%29#Costs_of_spam

  5. Brian K. says:

    Depends entirely on the definition of better, but if you define it as “better at doing everything” then the answer is no.

    Here’s an example: Who is better at doing things, a genius or a catatonic? The genius may be able to outrun, out think, out juggle, and out dance the catatonic, but the catatonic will still be best at staring at one spot while drooling.

  6. Arlene says:

    I agree with Randy but, I must say, Brain K. certainly gives one a lot to think about!

  7. adam P says:

    While I regretfully missed yet another meet, I think I really would have liked to be apart of this one. The question being “Is any person inherently better than another?” This is not just a question, but a part of everyone’s reality. While humility is becoming more of a disappearing term, the pride in people is growing.

    Humility – Someone who does not think that he or she is better or more important than others.

    Embrace it! Your still the same person you were born as, and no baby is better than another. Life may shape us through experience, but you, me, the pharaohs and the kings, we were all born and we will all die.

  8. brad rothman says:

    yes