[CountDuckula]

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Quote:

"I could easily argue that poker falls far below the level of Mother Theresa's work in terms of it's societal worth, but I could argue equally well that Mother Theresa's work was aimed at assisting those who would not have survived without her, and from the perspective of a social Darwinist, her work -- while meretorious -- was ultimately unnecessary."

Well! lol. What can I say?

To suggest that Mother Theresa's efforts were uneccessary because those who received her aid "would not have survived without her" is tantamount to suggesting that a trauma surgeon's efforts are unneccesary because after all, what happens to a car crash victim who does not receive his/her aid?
Why help the car crash victim, when CLEARLY they have a genetic tendency to get in car crashes? Who wants a bunch of bad drivers and unlucky people poppulating the earth. That would be contrary to the evolutionary force of natural selection and would be a step backward for society? wouldn't it? I don't think so.

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I don't believe that Lou was advocating Social Darwinism here. I think he was making the point that no matter what someone does with his/her life, there exists a point of view from which it can be viewed as non-beneficial to society (as an extreme example, and I'm not trying to invoke Godwin's Law here [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img], a Nazi would view charitable work done on behalf of Jewish people as evil).

I also think that the car crash analogy you propose doesn't represent the way a real Social Darwinist thinks; such a person is likely to consider a single car accident (as opposed to a pattern thereof) to be a misfortune that could befall anyone through the fault of antoher person, whereas long-term poverty is indicative of a moral/intellectual lack (i.e., the notion that anyone with enough drive and intelligence can pull him/herself out of poverty). BTW, I am not a Social Darwinist, myself.

In any case, I think the bottom line is that asking what a professional poker player is contributing to society is simply a silly question. People play poker for their own reasons, and if someone is capable of making a living at it and chooses to do so, that's entirely their business, and they don't need to justify it on the basis of their contributions to society.

-Mike