Are human beings fundamentally nice or nasty?
Further to your previous reply (August 20), I am surprised that such a question needs to be asked. Man is born an animal, with animal instincts. Today he is an animal with clothes on.
Man is born a hunter, a killer, even of his own species, as is being proved around the world today. Elsewhere this basic attitude is shown, though usually sublimated, by his interest in violence on film and TV.
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W. H. Cousins, Upminster, Essex
Much harm has been caused by advocates of the belief that people are born either good or bad. Rousseau’s “noble savage” is the self-parodying epitome of the former, while many Christian sects — and plenty of atheists — have insisted on the latter.
The implications for education are mischievous, amounting to either “there’s no such thing as a bad boy” or “spare the rod and spoil the child”. Neither of these sayings is quite correct, although both contain some elements of truth. In reality, the most remarkable characteristic of the human mind is its plasticity. Children learn, with amazing speed, to do whatever they have to in order to survive. I am firmly convinced that the same boy could become a ruthless killing machine, or a saintly philanthropist, depending on what he sees, hears and experiences. Nor is it enough to preach “good values”. They must be seen to pay off in practice. We can expect to raise kindly, decent, courteous children only by showing them how such behaviour is better for everyone. You do not have to be religious to see this lesson in the life and teachings of Jesus.
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Tom Welsh, Basingstoke
Nice, on the whole, though the last one I ate was too salty for my taste.
Roger Poole, Wolverhampton
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What are the debts from the Second World War? How much longer must we go on paying? Why can’t they be written off?
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In the aftermath of the world wars regeneration loans were made by the US to, among others, Britain. The British Government has never balked at paying this money back, plus interest, and Britain is due to pay its final tranche in relation to the Second World War in December 2006, of about £250 million. There is some uncertainty as to what the position is in relation to First World War debt: some commentators claim that it has never been repaid. Britain has been making annual payments each December and it is estimated that the total line of credit extended to Britain by the US in the form of loans, assistance and lend-lease relating to the Second World War is of the order of $3.5 trillion to $4 trillion, though estimates vary. It should be noted that the original loan we are currently repaying was of the order of £1 billion at 2 per cent interest, which represents a loan on extremely favourable terms. The debt can only be written off by the US Government and there has never been a suggestion, by either the US Government or Britain, that it should be.
Ashley Roughton, London WC2
People say that the camera adds 10lb. With today’s technology, is it possible to create a camera that takes off 10lb?
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Your correspondent from Bath can find on her doorstep a camera that takes more pounds off than the Atkins diet. The Gatso cam at Saltford Hill has just taken 60 off me.
Stewart Foster, Trowbridge, Wiltshire