Sunday, October 19, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Green Squares
There is a problem with the extremities in which the people I currently relate with live their lives. It's not so much a problem in the grander scheme of things, rather just the scheme of my understanding.
There are those out there who, I feel, do not care at all. Passed going to Target to get a matching plaid set - scarf, gloves, hat and calling so-and-so to tell her about it, the world ends. But then, there are those whom I love and cannot understand all at once. They are not eating, buying, seeing, hearing or connecting with the world as I know it. Every topic, every choice is a fastidious pyramid of research that falls upon a reason that, by the time it has come to that choice, must be like the telephone game that travelled around the world. They will never talk to the person that made that special thingamabob from whatever fair trade country that was animal friendly, eco-conscious and pro-choice, but they will spout the evils of the milk I drink from the farmer I talked to from the family farm less than 30 miles away.
On the other side there is the one who has no research but an inclination as to what is right, what is best, what is the end all be all of that which is...a piece of bread. These opinions change on daily basis mind you (better than not at all), but they are all but decrees when they are uttered. One day he is convincing me that the red square is the only acceptably hued geometric shape and the next day the green circle is the center of the universe. The rhyme or reason extends little beyond having been whispered to by the person who owns the can of green paint, "This is the best paint, and I'm going to put it on a circle, which is so much better than a square." And there you have it.
As much as I cannot stand it I likewise find the prospect of being around the infinitely malleable creature that is the wholly unbiased person disgusting. There are those who do not have opinions and do not express them. There are also those who have opinions but will not express them. Thinking themselves some sort of high-minded altruist, these people listen, in silent judgment thinking their opinions superior but refusing to put them to the test. I fear I am that person.
Finally, you have those who I have referred to above, slathering their opinions all over like monkeys throwing their own feces. These people have verbatum facts that they rub in my eyes like salt. I am so blinded by the assembly of data that there is no way to have a dialogue about it.
What it comes down to is exactly that: the dialogue. Why does no one ask any questions of her peers these days? Do we not want to know what another thinks anymore? After all, when we do not know, best not admit it until we've thoroughly investigated on Wikipedia right?
The more adamantly someone pushes these things in my face the less likely I am to ask a question about what or why or how an opinion came to be. Taking this into account, I am therefore less likely to change the way I act or what I believe. It is only through engagement (some sort of political key word no doubt) that I am available, and not the passive sort nor the aggressive sort (nor the passive-aggressive sort). I mean, whatever happened to genuine interest in the inner workings of another human being? Is it so complex that we all fear to tackle it or are we so simple that we fear letting someone else know this truth?
There are those out there who, I feel, do not care at all. Passed going to Target to get a matching plaid set - scarf, gloves, hat and calling so-and-so to tell her about it, the world ends. But then, there are those whom I love and cannot understand all at once. They are not eating, buying, seeing, hearing or connecting with the world as I know it. Every topic, every choice is a fastidious pyramid of research that falls upon a reason that, by the time it has come to that choice, must be like the telephone game that travelled around the world. They will never talk to the person that made that special thingamabob from whatever fair trade country that was animal friendly, eco-conscious and pro-choice, but they will spout the evils of the milk I drink from the farmer I talked to from the family farm less than 30 miles away.
On the other side there is the one who has no research but an inclination as to what is right, what is best, what is the end all be all of that which is...a piece of bread. These opinions change on daily basis mind you (better than not at all), but they are all but decrees when they are uttered. One day he is convincing me that the red square is the only acceptably hued geometric shape and the next day the green circle is the center of the universe. The rhyme or reason extends little beyond having been whispered to by the person who owns the can of green paint, "This is the best paint, and I'm going to put it on a circle, which is so much better than a square." And there you have it.
As much as I cannot stand it I likewise find the prospect of being around the infinitely malleable creature that is the wholly unbiased person disgusting. There are those who do not have opinions and do not express them. There are also those who have opinions but will not express them. Thinking themselves some sort of high-minded altruist, these people listen, in silent judgment thinking their opinions superior but refusing to put them to the test. I fear I am that person.
Finally, you have those who I have referred to above, slathering their opinions all over like monkeys throwing their own feces. These people have verbatum facts that they rub in my eyes like salt. I am so blinded by the assembly of data that there is no way to have a dialogue about it.
What it comes down to is exactly that: the dialogue. Why does no one ask any questions of her peers these days? Do we not want to know what another thinks anymore? After all, when we do not know, best not admit it until we've thoroughly investigated on Wikipedia right?
The more adamantly someone pushes these things in my face the less likely I am to ask a question about what or why or how an opinion came to be. Taking this into account, I am therefore less likely to change the way I act or what I believe. It is only through engagement (some sort of political key word no doubt) that I am available, and not the passive sort nor the aggressive sort (nor the passive-aggressive sort). I mean, whatever happened to genuine interest in the inner workings of another human being? Is it so complex that we all fear to tackle it or are we so simple that we fear letting someone else know this truth?
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