Will Shetterly's Blog, page 146
September 14, 2013
Rationalizing Animal: The Righteous Mind
Why Won’t They Listen? - NYTimes.com: "The problem isn’t that people don’t reason. They do reason. But their arguments aim to support their conclusions, not yours. Reason doesn’t work like a judge or teacher, impartially weighing evidence or guiding us to wisdom. It works more like a lawyer or press secretary, justifying our acts and judgments to others."
The article's worth reading, especially for the point that conservatives understand liberals better than liberals understand conservatives....
The article's worth reading, especially for the point that conservatives understand liberals better than liberals understand conservatives....
September 13, 2013
September 10, 2013
My socialism
Robin Hood, Superman, Jesus, and John the Baptist made me a socialist. Robin Hood taught me that heroes take from the rich and give to the poor. Superman taught me that an advanced society like Krypton shares the world's resources with all its people, and if you can't live in an advanced society, you help people where you are to make a better world. Jesus taught me it's easier for a camel to get through a needle's eye than it is for rich people to get into Heaven, and...
September 8, 2013
How to survive a mobbing (that mostly happens online)
I learned about mobs as a boy, when the Ku Klux Klan targeted my family. Since then, I've despised mob justice, no matter what the offense or whether the mobbing happens online or off. And yet, to my shame, I participated in online mobbing when I thought it was for a good cause. I failed to understand the negative form of the Golden Rule: Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you. Or, if you enjoy conflict but have a protective streak, consider this version: Do not do to stra...
September 6, 2013
Down with kerfuffles, up with celebrations!
I do not want to know about any more kerfuffles. By "kerfuffle", I mean an internet outrage focused on something said or done by someone who has no power to change society. This includes every News At 11 issue I can imagine:
Men complaining about womenWomen complaining about menOld people complaining about young folkYoung people complaining about old folkWhite people complaining about black folkBlack people complaining about white folk Trans people complaining...
Men complaining about womenWomen complaining about menOld people complaining about young folkYoung people complaining about old folkWhite people complaining about black folkBlack people complaining about white folk Trans people complaining...
Read what you want without apology: on the Paul Cook Kerfuffle, and misogyny vs misandry in f&sf
The kerfuffle du jour is about Paul Cook's When Science Fiction is Not Science Fiction. The buzz words are "girl cooties" and "misogyny". Cook's post may make you roll your eyes wildly—mine spun. I think his silliest notion is that Orson Scott Card influenced Gene Wolfe. But that's not the reason for the kerfuffle.
Cook starts his piece by praising Marion Zimmer Bradley. He praises Lois Bujold's early work in the middle of the piece. In the comments, he says one of his favorite books is b...
Cook starts his piece by praising Marion Zimmer Bradley. He praises Lois Bujold's early work in the middle of the piece. In the comments, he says one of his favorite books is b...
September 4, 2013
September 2, 2013
Updating Thomas Paine on wealth-sharing and the basic income guarantee
If I had to pick one American everyone should know, I'd choose Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense, the book that made the argument for the American Revolution. If I had to pick one quote to sum up my philosophy, I'd choose this, from his The Rights of Man: "I view things as they are, without regard to place or person; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good."
Paine noted in Agrarian Justice:
Paine noted in Agrarian Justice:
It is a position not to be controverted that the earth, in its natural, culti...
