tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post6822923015311894993..comments2023-12-18T07:59:16.525-05:00Comments on Hats and Rabbits: The Sword or the Microscope?Chris Matarazzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17885109959459471509noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post-54062605571109515302011-11-03T07:46:14.257-04:002011-11-03T07:46:14.257-04:00Hi, Nick. I'm not sure what we can do. There&#...Hi, Nick. I'm not sure what we can do. There's a horrible lack of sincerity and belief in things in our world. It feels to me like a current thing. Maybe we need to wait for the current to shift? Until then, some of us need to be salmon.<br /><br />That paradox is the same kind of thinking our young friend was doing, I suppose. It reminds me of the question of altruism: that there is no such thing as altruism, because, if we feel good because of an altruistic gesture, we have gained something. The danger of this sort of thinking is that it can lead to a flat reaction to good deeds. At some point, we need to stop our logical reductions, I thiink.Chris Matarazzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17885109959459471509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post-36622090493268180472011-11-02T19:59:27.485-04:002011-11-02T19:59:27.485-04:00Hey Mr. Matt, ever hear of the Paradox of Toleranc...Hey Mr. Matt, ever hear of the Paradox of Tolerance? Basically, it's a theory that states people who criticize intolerance will inevitably be labeled as hypocritical, just for the act of criticizing, in order to invalidate their argument.<br /><br />Your anecdote sort of reminds me of this. What are your feelings as to why this kind of thinking is talking hold? What can we do to combat it?Nick Tomasellohttp://gemini-comic.smackjeeves.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post-69615905755477109282011-11-02T10:29:55.341-04:002011-11-02T10:29:55.341-04:00Haha. Maybe there is hope -- maybe what I see as a...Haha. Maybe there is hope -- maybe what I see as an increase is just the cycle that always was . . . at least, I hope so. Now go set that whippersnapper straight!Chris Matarazzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17885109959459471509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post-42393772883076944322011-11-02T10:17:23.823-04:002011-11-02T10:17:23.823-04:00Chris, that's why we who have actually earned ...Chris, that's why we who have actually earned the right to be cynical have to keep restraining ourselves, I guess. It's a challenge. I have a meeting scheduled this afternoon with one of those Bright Young Things who hasn't earned his cynicism but likes to trot it out regularly. I take a perverse pleasure in yanking that rug out from under his oh-so-certain feet now and again. Bless his heart, he hasn't caught on yet to the fact that I was once a Bright Young Thing, too, and know the game.'norahttp://damenora.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post-52585272175002398992011-11-02T09:05:04.967-04:002011-11-02T09:05:04.967-04:00Pete -- Facebook away, I say! Haha. Yes -- it is d...Pete -- Facebook away, I say! Haha. Yes -- it is difficult to stay quiet when those kids speak. Maybe, in the end, it would do them some good if someone pointed out their foolishness.<br /><br />'nora -- "The problem with intellectual maturity is that sometimes it takes more than a few years to develop it." Indeed. The thing I worry about is that (with the framework of cynicism we grown-ups have created)we might well be encouraging those kids to continue on a path that will, in the end, impede intellectual progress. Sadly, only time will tell, I suppose.Chris Matarazzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17885109959459471509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post-73161346313482241032011-11-02T08:44:09.916-04:002011-11-02T08:44:09.916-04:00I think there's always been a bit of that amon...I think there's always been a bit of that among 'the smart kids' though I can't say for sure that it's not becoming more prominent (or maybe I just notice it more now than I did 10 or 20 years ago?) I will say that I most often see it from those who haven't yet come to terms with the idea of their own privilege -- that is to say, the ones who were born on third base but have not yet figured out that they didn't hit a triple to get there.<br /><br />The good news, of course, is there's always hope. I went to a school run by a particularly progressive order of sisters, during the window between Vatican II and the murder of liberation theology, and while I remember hating the poverty budget exercises and social justice classes while I had to take them, the older I get the more I see their value.<br /><br />The problem with intellectual maturity is that sometimes it takes more than a few years to develop it.'norahttp://damenora.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post-32609877858451920562011-11-02T08:21:51.349-04:002011-11-02T08:21:51.349-04:00" intellectuality (which, in recent years, ha..." intellectuality (which, in recent years, has continued to dress itself from the wardrobe of cynicism)", thats a quote im tempted to 'facebook'. Somehow, my senior year, i got involved in the UN day and i can vividly remember slouching in my chair and emptying my lungs when 'that kid' got up. 'That kid' always got up more than once and i would imagine and pray that someone would simply stand up and shout to him, "No! Sit! Bad! Go lay down! Think about what you've done...crazy."petehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14114021265422512528noreply@blogger.com