Random thoughts
I've been stuck sick in bed for a few days now (but I am getting better now!) and so all the thoughts that normally I might find someone to comment to about, and so clarify the notion and move on, are filling up my head and copulating with each other. Mix in a bit of sickness-induced fuzzy-headedness and this is what comes out. This gets a bit meta-(sensitive-topics), so if you're easily hurt by others' opinions you may want to skip it.
I thrive on complexity, on subtle differences, on parallels and analogies, on more than one way of looking at things. I don't really understand why so many people want to simplify things. Now I appreciate *elegance*, that simple beauty of a rule from which others can derive, the short proof, the math that physics runs on. But an elegance solution is at some level narrow, if that makes sense. Calculus works great, but it's always going to be an appropriation of the discrete real world.(1) I like having my multiple view-points to try on like sunglasses; those metaphorical filters give me the ways that I understand things, and I'll look at any hard decision with several filters before I make the decision.
I still hate being silent and I still do it well, and by default. In the short run, it's easier to say nothing and not have to figure out how to clearly express my different viewpoints, and I don't risk hurting anyone else. In the long run, though, the silence gnaws at me and I start to forget who I am.
Extremists scare me. When you become obsessed with the enemy, you become the enemy.(2) And extremists always seem to argue with opposing view points, rather than try to see them. I hate to see the conflict, and I keep going and trying to stand in the middle.
A couple of people who some consider annoying complained to me about other annoying people recently. I'm starting to think that anyone that complains should cause the person their complaining about to get a -1 mod and get a -1/2 mod themself. And finger pointing in ideology has a similar but stronger effect. Stop calling your opponents stupid and/or evil for a minute and think about where they came from, what hurt them in the past, what they're scared of, what they hope to accomplish. Maybe they're trying for the same thing you are and just disagree how to get there. Or maybe they have different priorities than you, but don't disapprove of the things you value. At some level, all of us aren't so different: we're all trying to figure out a world that exceeds our mental capacity, we all want good stuff for those we care about. Compassion before ideology, I always say.
(1) Paraphrased from David Brin
(2) Babylon 5
I thrive on complexity, on subtle differences, on parallels and analogies, on more than one way of looking at things. I don't really understand why so many people want to simplify things. Now I appreciate *elegance*, that simple beauty of a rule from which others can derive, the short proof, the math that physics runs on. But an elegance solution is at some level narrow, if that makes sense. Calculus works great, but it's always going to be an appropriation of the discrete real world.(1) I like having my multiple view-points to try on like sunglasses; those metaphorical filters give me the ways that I understand things, and I'll look at any hard decision with several filters before I make the decision.
I still hate being silent and I still do it well, and by default. In the short run, it's easier to say nothing and not have to figure out how to clearly express my different viewpoints, and I don't risk hurting anyone else. In the long run, though, the silence gnaws at me and I start to forget who I am.
Extremists scare me. When you become obsessed with the enemy, you become the enemy.(2) And extremists always seem to argue with opposing view points, rather than try to see them. I hate to see the conflict, and I keep going and trying to stand in the middle.
A couple of people who some consider annoying complained to me about other annoying people recently. I'm starting to think that anyone that complains should cause the person their complaining about to get a -1 mod and get a -1/2 mod themself. And finger pointing in ideology has a similar but stronger effect. Stop calling your opponents stupid and/or evil for a minute and think about where they came from, what hurt them in the past, what they're scared of, what they hope to accomplish. Maybe they're trying for the same thing you are and just disagree how to get there. Or maybe they have different priorities than you, but don't disapprove of the things you value. At some level, all of us aren't so different: we're all trying to figure out a world that exceeds our mental capacity, we all want good stuff for those we care about. Compassion before ideology, I always say.
(1) Paraphrased from David Brin
(2) Babylon 5