The glib alluring notion that spins through 80 minutes of contentious dialogue is that beneath the surface of civilized behavior lurks an unquenchable animal impulse, a principle of aggression we labor in vain to suppress.
In fact, it's been an alluring notion for the wealthy since Roman times, when senators built villas to be away from the city stench, and judging by gasp-inducing prices in rural hot spots such as the Cotswolds, the tradition continues.
But more than the food, two things draw me to steakhouses: the lack of pretense and the still somewhat alluring notion that because these places feel related to the starter restaurants our parents took us to, lo, those many decades ago — white tablecloths, bad oil paintings, women at the next table wearing too much perfume — they are operated by, and inhabited by, grown-ups.
This sense of helplessness in the face of such entrenched segregation is what makes so alluring the notion, embraced by liberals and conservatives, that we can address school inequality not with integration but by giving poor, segregated schools more resources and demanding of them more accountability.
But as alluring as the notion of real-life hobbits seems, it is also steeped in controversy and persists as one of the hottest debates in science.
There is something alluring about the notion of a national curriculum.
As cultural forms will do, that debunking mission has generated its opposite: a paradoxical mystique of toughness, an aura of stoic, skeptical bravery as alluring as the old notions of knightly conduct in battle, or the sweetness of dying for one's country.
Transportation experts say that to succeed in New York, Megabus.com needs to make bus travel more alluring and dispel the notion that it is for people who cannot afford trains or planes, or do not own a car.
If you're Harry Rent, though, visions of romance with the alluring waitress at Cafe Retro trump conventional notions of punctuality.
If you are a politician running for national office -- or a coal or utility executive -- the notion of "clean coal" is alluring, much like pledging to lower taxes without cutting services.
The notion of "Africa rising" is understandably alluring.
