The Nazis hid their crimes behind the famous legend that ‘Work makes free’. Indeed! But both agreed that extermination was the only suitable outcome.   Nigel Pocock   It has long fascinated historians and others how such an apparently sophisticated society as ancient Rome could also be so barbaric, an […]

Because gene expression is profoundly affected by social impacts (both good and bad in terms of health and pathology), these impacts cannot be predicted. Adaptation is to the life of a revolutionary guerrilla living in the jungle, not to that of a peacemaker. Nigel Pocock In his  book, Professor Jan […]

Taken on its own, the term ‘multicultural society’ has no practical use. It is a non-criticisable and non-falsifiable chameleon that changes its colour with its environment. That is, unless it is made predictable, at least for the purposes of testing.   Nigel Pocock   We might, for example, wish to […]

One of the biggest myths in Western culture, and absolute example of sociologist Peter Berger’s ‘plausibility’ thesis, is that cohabition is absolutely necessary and ideal as a first step towards a marriage will be stable and long-lasting, because it is only in this way that compatibility can be established.   […]

I recently received an email decrying people who were ‘fixated’ (possibly including this writer?). The writer of the email is a PhD (medical anthropology, London). She did not define what she meant. Except strong disapproval. What might a ‘fixated’ mind be? Why might it be so pathological? Une idée fixe? […]