On ‘Sunday’ on Radio 4 another voice demanding that a monument to someone who put down a slave rebellion be taken down. Is this because they think there will be a deterministic behaviourist response- stimulus/reaction to the monument? That is to say we see it and are compelled inevitably like automata to think slavery good? Perhaps they underestimate us assuming that we lack the veneer of detached consciousness that sees and makes judgements about such things using our free will. In this sense do they wish to abolish the wit, the freedom and the detachment that distinguish humans? The monument staying in place would actually do more good in terms of education and stimulating curiosity, understanding and imagination than taking it down would do. Is the problem a faithless lack of trust in what humans *are*? It’s rude really.
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