Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and other animals by John Gray.
Where to begin with this purile, hypocritical, book of opinionated one-up-man-ship. I'm just going to clarify that I feel perfectly valid writing this 'review' (read: trash-fest) after having only read the first five or so pages of the book. Hardly professional, but if I ever manage to keep down the rising feeling of nausea I experience whenever my eyes fall on the speciously academic pages of the book, I promise to write a full review after finishing it proper-like.
Until then: behold my sentient wrath- this book just ruined a perfectly good bath for me- the most heinous of crimes.
Guilty. Case closed. Appeal denied.
Firstly, as a man who seems dead set against anything that isn't his own opinion, Mr. Gray has used Darwin(ism) as the anchor by which his shoddy papier-mache canoe can stay moored on the sea of respectability. However. He's already fucked it up. In what can only be an effort to showcase his intellectual credentials Mr. Gray name-drops Darwin(ism) six times in a page and a half of text- 'Look at me! I found intelligent theories that help me assert my poorly constructed ones! Me is clever!'. Again, I must stress that he also does so poorly. From page one Gray tells us that Darwin(ism): '... teaches that species are only assemblies of genes, interacting at random with each other and their shifting environmments. Species cannot control their fates. Species do not exist.' [Emphasis mine] Still not too bad so far, until on the next page we see that he tries then to argue that: '... though human knowledge will very likely continue to grow and with it human power, the human animal will stay the same: a highly inventive *cough* species *cough* that is also one of the most predatory and destructive'. Sigh.
So beyond hypocritical hypothesis' what does Straw Dogs offer the astute reader? Plenty of conviction is evident, which... seems odd considering the manner by which Mr. Gray chides religious types for their unwavering belief and faith.
"You couldn't be hoisting yourself on your own petard, could you Mr. Gray? What's that? Sorry, I can't really hear you properly, what with your mouth being full of your own foot."
Oh, and it isn't only at the religious citizen that Mr. Gray manages to positively squirt disdain. From the beginning he sets up his foil- the (apprently abundant) Humanist. For those unused to the term it is defined, by the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, as:
'A system of thought that rejects religious beliefs and centers on humans and their values, capacities, and worth.'
JG: 'Humanism can mean many things, but for us it means belief in progress' Sorry, what? We just covered that. You're a little off by my count Mr. Gray... Fine, we'll just let that one slide, and allow you to carry on as if you know what you're doing... 'To believe in progress is to believe that, by using the powers given us by growing scientific knowledge, humans can free themselves from the limits that frame the lives of other animals. This is the hope of nearly everybody nowadays, but it is groundless' [Emphasis mine] Now, I'm sorry, but is the ability to extend our lives through the use of medicine and technology not sufficiently removing ourselves from the natural framework? How about the manner by which we can manufacture large quantities of food as and when we need it? Do you see people chasing gazelles on their lunch break Mr. Gray? No. No you bloody well do not. How about the ability to neutralise and destroy diseases which decimated entire generations? No? HOW ABOUT BEING ABLE TO MANUFACTURE DEVICES WHICH NEGATE THE NEED TO BASH ROCKS TOGETHER IF WE NEED FIRE OR LIGHT?!?
Ye Gods man.
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