# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=454 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 455 --- ## [Man/Woman, Chaser/Chased](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-woman-chaser-chased/540382)
**Author:** [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Replies:** 174\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-woman-chaser-chased/540382 "2010-05-29T18:44:35Z")
As an alternative theory to that of a Rape Culture (i.e. where rape isn’t treated as the crime it should be) which produces results like these, I’d like to suggest that the problem is in the system by which people meet e… --- ## ["Americans - the most brainwashed people of the World"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-the-most-brainwashed-people-of-the-world/540685)
**Author:** [@No\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Man)\ **Replies:** 93\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-the-most-brainwashed-people-of-the-world/540685 "2010-05-29T17:08:42Z")
I googled “the most brainwashed people” and “the most brainwashed nation” and came up with this title. My opinion is that people everywhere are too brainwashed. Mostly we don’t think, but if we think we don’t act. To m… --- ## [evolved senses as an argument for ontological naturalism](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolved-senses-as-an-argument-for-ontological-naturalism/540446)
**Author:** [@Cyningablod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyningablod)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolved-senses-as-an-argument-for-ontological-naturalism/540446 "2010-05-29T15:17:43Z")
Here’s a thought I had recently (although I’m sure other, more erudite brains have already considered it long ago): Doesn’t the fact that we only have a small number of physical senses, which consistently detect only th… --- ## [Have rape victims the moral or ethical obligation to prosecute their rapists?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-rape-victims-the-moral-or-ethical-obligation-to-prosecute-their-rapists/540258)
**Author:** [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2010, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-rape-victims-the-moral-or-ethical-obligation-to-prosecute-their-rapists/540258 "2010-05-29T11:51:55Z")
The current threads on rape culture in this subforum and IMHO brought this topic to mind. Even today, there are places where an accusation of rape are not likely to be dealt with sympathetically or professionally by th… --- ## [SYnthetic LIFE!!! The answer to all questions!!!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-life-the-answer-to-all-questions/540944)
**Author:** [@Swarog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swarog)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2010, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-life-the-answer-to-all-questions/540944 "2010-05-29T08:39:31Z")
My question is this. If we are capable, in light of modern Genomics and Genetics to construct and design new biological functions otherwise not found in nature, then what are we really capable of? Can we produce synthet… --- ## [Conservatives/Libertarians: How has the Gulf spill affected your views?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-libertarians-how-has-the-gulf-spill-affected-your-views/540581)
**Author:** [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Replies:** 87\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-libertarians-how-has-the-gulf-spill-affected-your-views/540581 "2010-05-29T07:05:48Z")
Thus far, the US government has adopted a (mostly) hands-off attitude toward the Gulf spill, putting the onus on BP to stop it and clean it up. Thus far, this concept of private disaster reponse doesn’t look to be doing… --- ## [Can irrationality be the rational choice?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-irrationality-be-the-rational-choice/540646)
**Author:** [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Replies:** 74\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2010, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-irrationality-be-the-rational-choice/540646 "2010-05-29T07:00:14Z")
I just read Priceless by William Poundstone. It’s about psychology and economics. A good book worth reading. In this book, Poundstone makes several references to the ultimatum game, which is a common “game” used to stud… --- ## [Libel? Slander? Or just 'welcome to the 21st century'?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel-slander-or-just-welcome-to-the-21st-century/541096)
**Author:** [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2010, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel-slander-or-just-welcome-to-the-21st-century/541096 "2010-05-29T06:31:33Z")
I read about this case this morning: I was wondering what people think about the merits of the suit (personally, I don’t think they ever thought they’d win, I think they thought they’d use the courts to threaten the ki… --- ## [Can the laity change the RCC?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-laity-change-the-rcc/540949)
**Author:** [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-laity-change-the-rcc/540949 "2010-05-29T02:25:59Z")
In the pope thread in the Pit, I have said that if the laity wants changes in the Roman Catholic Church, they can achieve them. Bricker, who comes at it from an entirely different perspective, has said he could work thr… --- ## [Why does the left love big government so much?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-left-love-big-government-so-much/539728)
**Author:** [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Replies:** 72\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-left-love-big-government-so-much/539728 "2010-05-29T00:16:12Z")
This is a question not of political philosophy but one of psychology. Among the biggest differences between the left and the right is the role, scope, and size of the government. But in the USA the government IS we the… --- ## [Can reintegration of Taliban soldiers work?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-reintegration-of-taliban-soldiers-work/540583)
**Author:** [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-reintegration-of-taliban-soldiers-work/540583 "2010-05-28T23:30:06Z")
See this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/world/asia/24reconcile.html?ref=world In brief - the US military is granting low-level Taliban soldiers a sort of parole, releasing at least some of them in exchange f… --- ## [Israel and Civilian Kills](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-civilian-kills/538840)
**Author:** [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Replies:** 319\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-and-civilian-kills/538840 "2010-05-28T19:38:02Z")
Dear people who complain about Israel killing too many civilians: Pray tell, what SHOULD Israel do when terrorists are firing rockets from hospitals and day schools? This isn’t meant to be a thread debating who is righ… --- ## [Is Britannia ruled today by nearly non-stop crime? (Says Theo. Dalrymple)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-britannia-ruled-today-by-nearly-non-stop-crime-says-theo-dalrymple/540790)
**Author:** [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\ **Replies:** 67\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-britannia-ruled-today-by-nearly-non-stop-crime-says-theo-dalrymple/540790 "2010-05-28T18:54:52Z")
\*Real Crime, Fake Justice Theodore Dalrymple For the last 40 years, government policy in Britain, de facto if not always de jure, has been to render the British population virtually defenseless against criminals and cr… --- ## [Was Deepwater Horizon over-insured? Is that proper?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-deepwater-horizon-over-insured-is-that-proper/540975)
**Author:** [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-deepwater-horizon-over-insured-is-that-proper/540975 "2010-05-28T15:37:00Z")
From AlterNet report Is this true? Did the rig owner benefit from the catastrophe? Do insurers allow such over-value insurance? Doesn’t this lead to wrong incentives? Should it be illegal? --- ## [Civil Rights and other Social Changes: Wouldn't they have occured anyway?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-rights-and-other-social-changes-wouldnt-they-have-occured-anyway/540788)
**Author:** [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Replies:** 58\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-rights-and-other-social-changes-wouldnt-they-have-occured-anyway/540788 "2010-05-28T14:30:58Z")
With all of the debate over Rand Paul’s Libertarian view that things such as the Civil Rights Act were not necessary steps for a Constitutional Republic to take in order to ensure no tyranny of the majority, one of the v… --- ## [How Long Until American Pediatricians Are Cutting Off Clitorises?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-american-pediatricians-are-cutting-off-clitorises/539541)
**Author:** [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Replies:** 102\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2010, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-american-pediatricians-are-cutting-off-clitorises/539541 "2010-05-28T08:30:42Z")
This question doesn’t come out of thin air. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/health/policy/07cuts.html Up to now, American doctors have been adamantly opposed to the practice. But now? Many seem to have come around to… --- ## [N. Korea torpedoed the S. Korean ship: chest thumping or something more?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/n-korea-torpedoed-the-s-korean-ship-chest-thumping-or-something-more/540103)
**Author:** [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Replies:** 125\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/n-korea-torpedoed-the-s-korean-ship-chest-thumping-or-something-more/540103 "2010-05-27T14:46:54Z")
International investigators have declared that the S. Korean ship that suddenly sank in March was almost certainly torpedoed by the N. Koreans. The White House said that they backed these conclusions. http://www.msnbc.… --- ## [What if Anglo-Irish treaty was rejected?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anglo-irish-treaty-was-rejected/539047)
**Author:** [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\ **Replies:** 62\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anglo-irish-treaty-was-rejected/539047 "2010-05-27T13:22:52Z")
In the movie about Michael Collins, they show the treaty negotiators pressured to sign as plenipotentiaries, which of course in turn triggered an Irish civil war. What though, if the rebellious Irish forces were unanimo… --- ## [Iran offers to help US oil spill](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-offers-to-help-us-oil-spill/540549)
**Author:** [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2010, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-offers-to-help-us-oil-spill/540549 "2010-05-27T10:50:14Z")
The National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC) has renewed its offer to assist the US in reining in an ecologically disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Mehran Alinejad, the head of special drilling operations at N… --- ## [Is "securing the border" even possible?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-securing-the-border-even-possible/540255)
**Author:** [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Replies:** 87\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-securing-the-border-even-possible/540255 "2010-05-27T05:19:56Z")
So, some say the first priority of United States immigration policy should be “securing the border.” Southern border, that is. Physically preventing anyone from crossing the border without passing through a continuously … --- ## [Is the "Detoxify or Die" movement valid science?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-detoxify-or-die-movement-valid-science/540794)
**Author:** [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-detoxify-or-die-movement-valid-science/540794 "2010-05-27T02:55:02Z")
Lately after suffering from side-effects from over-the-counter pills, I’ve encountered this ‘wellness’ movement which disdains such treatments in favor of natural remedies. I myself aim not to be biased; I don’t like ph… --- ## [North Korea / South Korea - The US Role](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-south-korea-the-us-role/540781)
**Author:** [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [May 26, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-south-korea-the-us-role/540781 "2010-05-26T22:55:14Z")
It seems to me there is a very high probability that NK & SK will go to war over the sinking of the SK ship. After all, there is not much difference between sinking one ship and sinking two ships. After that, things can … --- ## [Operation Top Kill - Any one else watching this crap (shoot)?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-top-kill-any-one-else-watching-this-crap-shoot/540872)
**Author:** [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [May 26, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-top-kill-any-one-else-watching-this-crap-shoot/540872 "2010-05-26T22:48:49Z")
I began watching the CNN video feed shortly after 2:00pm this afternoon, checking back every 30 minutes or so. What started as what seemed to be a single plume of oil now looks like multiple, possibly 4 plumes. What the … --- ## [Should performance enhancing substances be allowed in professional sports?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-performance-enhancing-substances-be-allowed-in-professional-sports/540294)
**Author:** [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Replies:** 51\ **Last updated:** [May 26, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-performance-enhancing-substances-be-allowed-in-professional-sports/540294 "2010-05-26T19:42:17Z")
Inspired, of course, by the Landis Brouhaha. It’s a fairly straightfrward argument, I think. Professional athletes have jobs for one reason only: they keep the rest of us couch-potatoes entertained. Sure, we all like … --- ## [What is a "Tea Party member"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-tea-party-member/539749)
**Author:** [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Replies:** 83\ **Last updated:** [May 26, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-tea-party-member/539749 "2010-05-26T16:46:30Z")
I’ve seen this phrase invoked in a number of threads here, and it currently gets (with quotes) 651,000 Google hits. But what exactly makes a Party member? Showing up at any Tea-identified event? Simple self-identificat… --- ## [Can a "some drugs are worse than others; stay away from the bad ones" work?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-some-drugs-are-worse-than-others-stay-away-from-the-bad-ones-work/540349)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 45\ **Last updated:** [May 26, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-some-drugs-are-worse-than-others-stay-away-from-the-bad-ones-work/540349 "2010-05-26T13:08:53Z")
So numerous threads about anti-drug efforts have made it clear that most people think that universally condemning and criminalizing all drugs don’t work. But the meth thread going on in another forum reminds me that the… --- ## [PC Game Piracy (and I agree with this...)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-game-piracy-and-i-agree-with-this/539800)
**Author:** [@yarblek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yarblek)\ **Replies:** 75\ **Last updated:** [May 26, 2010, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-game-piracy-and-i-agree-with-this/539800 "2010-05-26T10:56:20Z")
I think that this article has some merit in the piracy debate, although it’s more to do with PC game piracy than piracy in general. PC Game Piracy Examined I’m sure some of you will deny some things said there, but wha… --- ## [Is sex a need?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sex-a-need/538368)
**Author:** [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [May 26, 2010, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sex-a-need/538368 "2010-05-26T05:59:12Z")
I read this often- that sex is a biological need. Often when people are caught having affairs or, as in the neverending cases of closeted gay men who get caught having sex with men, the “his needs and urges were too gr… --- ## [Popular Fiction and Nonwhite Characters](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-fiction-and-nonwhite-characters/540075)
**Author:** [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [May 26, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-fiction-and-nonwhite-characters/540075 "2010-05-26T02:05:30Z")
I’ve been thinking about this for a while and the other thread we’re having on race and talking to our kids about race kind of prompted me. So often you hear people saying that putting in a black character or Asian or H… --- ## [Justification for 5th Amendment right not to testify against yourself?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justification-for-5th-amendment-right-not-to-testify-against-yourself/540774)
**Author:** [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 26, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justification-for-5th-amendment-right-not-to-testify-against-yourself/540774 "2010-05-26T01:23:55Z")
America generally allows the government to force people to testify in court against their will. The right to force people to testify against their will is even enshrined in the Sixth Amendment: the accused has the right… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=453) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=455)