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alexiscartwheelI've just started Steven Pinker's latest book The Stuff of Thought. Thus far, I'm really enjoying it, and thought I'd share an amusing passage I read this morning:
"The paradox of identifying taboo words without using them has always infected attempts to regulate speech about sexuality. In several states, the drafters of the statute against bestiality could not bring themselves to name it and therefor outlawed 'the abominable and detestable crime against nature,' until the statues were challenged for being void for vagueness. To avoid this trap, a New Jersey obscenity statue stipulated exactly which kinds of words and images would be deemed obscene. But the wording of the statue was so pornographic that some law libraries tore the page out of every copy of the statute books." (19-20)
People are really dumb sometimes, eh?
I sincerely hope that libraries are no longer tearing "obscene" pages out of law books, both because I'm strongly opposed to censorship in libraries, and because that's ridiculous to bother writing down a law if the record of it is automatically destroyed. Of course, there still are plenty of laws about what words can and cannot be used during television and radio broadcasts. For instance, it's still not advisable to air Ginsberg's "Howl". Alas, we're so uptight.
Anyway, The Stuff of Thought looks to be an enjoyable and thought provoking read!
"The paradox of identifying taboo words without using them has always infected attempts to regulate speech about sexuality. In several states, the drafters of the statute against bestiality could not bring themselves to name it and therefor outlawed 'the abominable and detestable crime against nature,' until the statues were challenged for being void for vagueness. To avoid this trap, a New Jersey obscenity statue stipulated exactly which kinds of words and images would be deemed obscene. But the wording of the statue was so pornographic that some law libraries tore the page out of every copy of the statute books." (19-20)
People are really dumb sometimes, eh?
I sincerely hope that libraries are no longer tearing "obscene" pages out of law books, both because I'm strongly opposed to censorship in libraries, and because that's ridiculous to bother writing down a law if the record of it is automatically destroyed. Of course, there still are plenty of laws about what words can and cannot be used during television and radio broadcasts. For instance, it's still not advisable to air Ginsberg's "Howl". Alas, we're so uptight.
Anyway, The Stuff of Thought looks to be an enjoyable and thought provoking read!
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