The internet is probably one of the most important technological inventions of the last century or so. I would say even more important than space travel and atomic fission.

This invention descended upon us in a way that most if not all of us were not biologically and psychologically prepared for. My argument is that many people say and do things on the internet that they would never do in real life because evolution has not prepared us for this sort of interaction.

The detachment that I am speaking of has nothing to do with the man who stabbed his partner 50 times. This is the sort of detachment which even clear headed people may feel.

And yes, you do sometimes say unpleasant things which need not be said and which have nothing to do with the main thrust of your argument.

Need I give examples? You don’t do this to people in public life only but also to people who who you choose to pick upon because you feel that they have slighted you.

I understand your argument that you want to keep your blog popular but If I were in your position I don’t think I’d choose to be so wicked (a word that you used to describe yourself or your writing).

[Daphne – As I often say in another context, dery, better the wife who greets you with a deserved harsh word after working all day than the wife who greets you with a smile and supper after spending the day screwing her tennis coach. The same applies here. Maltese culture is rooted in private and well-concealed nastiness and malice and public ‘niceness’. Count me out.]

[Pat – However, “faith” in the sense of a belief in some reality beyond this one, for me at least, does not fall into that category].

I define blind faith as belief in things on which there is no evidence.

[Pat – I don’t think that anyone can deny that something DID happen at Lourdes all those years ago].

I do deny that anything miraculous happened, and so do many others. Apparitions are extraordinary claims that require extraordinary evidence. There simply was no evidence that anything miraculous happened. Hallucinations usually feel very real.

[Pat – Having been there myself all I can say there is a lovely “feeling” to the complex itself].

I’ve never been, but I’m sure Lourdes is beautiful.

Ok you are different from the rest of us. But my main argument is that this young man was not thinking clearly when he sent that email. He might have felt detached from what he was doing. It was still wrong, mind you.

[Daphne – Are men who stab their ex 50 times in a mad frenzy thinking clearly? Obviously not. But they still go to prison for life.]

I do not believe in a miracle trade system because that opens the door to a god of preferential treatment which then sounds human in all its flaws and fancies .

At 26 it is about time he grows up.

I think you need to Google ‘Dan Dennet, Deepity’.

We need a Maltese version of the clairvoyant octopus. Seething below is a dire need to have our own version of Lourdes, and some seem to be working overtime to make this come about .

PS otherwise, we break you.