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Stenka25 Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary
The meaning of 'Sometimes you can't win'
the meaning of 'Sometimes you can't win'
The passage below is from ‘the Blank Slate’ by Steven Pinker.
http://evolbiol.ru/blankslate/blankslate.htm
At the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Alan Lomax Jr. rose from the audience shouting that Ekman should not be allowed to speak because his ideas were fascist. On another occasion an African American activist accused him of racism for claiming that black facial expressions were no different from white ones. (Sometimes you can't win.) And it was not just claims about innate faculties in the human species that drew the radicals’ ire, but claims about innate faculties in any species.
I'd like ask the meaning of the underlined 'Sometimes you can't win'.
It seems to have some sarcastic sense in this context.
But I'm not sure what the author use this phrase for.
Regards.
The passage below is from ‘the Blank Slate’ by Steven Pinker.
http://evolbiol.ru/blankslate/blankslate.htm
At the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Alan Lomax Jr. rose from the audience shouting that Ekman should not be allowed to speak because his ideas were fascist. On another occasion an African American activist accused him of racism for claiming that black facial expressions were no different from white ones. (Sometimes you can't win.) And it was not just claims about innate faculties in the human species that drew the radicals’ ire, but claims about innate faculties in any species.
I'd like ask the meaning of the underlined 'Sometimes you can't win'.
It seems to have some sarcastic sense in this context.
But I'm not sure what the author use this phrase for.
Regards.
Top answer
Stenka25 Sometimes you can't win. You will be criticized no matter which side of an argument you support, no matter which political view you take. ________________________ Apparently, the author sees the two cases of criticism he cites as motivated by opposite views.
- Stenka25 Sometimes you can't win.
- You will be criticized no matter which side of an argument you support, no matter which political view you take.
- ________________________ Apparently, the author sees the two cases of criticism he cites as motivated by opposite views.
- Ekman is supposedly fascist, so should not be allowed to speak.
- Ekman believes black facial expressions are the same as white ones (a distinctly non-fascist, non-racist opinion).
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2 Answers
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Stenka25Sometimes you can't win.You will be criticized no matter which side of an argument you support, no matter which political view you take.
________________________
Apparently, the author sees the two cases of criticism he cites as motivated by opposite views.
Ekman is supposedly fascist, so should not be allowed to speak.
00
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