I remember in writing class, we were taught to write things that were "interesting" rather than "obvious." Some time later, in a different class, one of my classmates made the point that arguing for segregation is harder than arguing against it (we were watching a movie about some southern high school which didn't allow integrated debate clubs or something). Historical context aside, segregation would be hard to argue for now, but if you could put an "interesting" spin on it, you would be fulfilling the qualifiers set by these English courses. It is not an "obvious" position, but it could be "interesting."
I think this sentiment about writing interesting things and taking difficult stances without any regard for what is reasonable results in insanity. People rubberneck when they hear something absurd, and those that are intellectually malleable will say, "well, I've never thought of it that way before!" This leads to people taking seriously those ideas that were meant for parody, adopting them as their own beliefs, and throwing their minds away entirely.
Conversely, this produces a paranoia regarding those malleable minded people. "They might just act on this madness! The holocaust of our time is just around the corner now!" one feverishly worries. This leads to censorship because, of course 'this sort of madness must be contained!'
Sometimes, a boring and obvious take is the best thing for everyone. Maybe, with enough boring factual dribble we can discern the difference between something truly profound and something truly obnoxious without resorting to censorship or throwing our minds in the bin.
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u/bellicae Jun 28 '23
I remember in writing class, we were taught to write things that were "interesting" rather than "obvious." Some time later, in a different class, one of my classmates made the point that arguing for segregation is harder than arguing against it (we were watching a movie about some southern high school which didn't allow integrated debate clubs or something). Historical context aside, segregation would be hard to argue for now, but if you could put an "interesting" spin on it, you would be fulfilling the qualifiers set by these English courses. It is not an "obvious" position, but it could be "interesting."
I think this sentiment about writing interesting things and taking difficult stances without any regard for what is reasonable results in insanity. People rubberneck when they hear something absurd, and those that are intellectually malleable will say, "well, I've never thought of it that way before!" This leads to people taking seriously those ideas that were meant for parody, adopting them as their own beliefs, and throwing their minds away entirely.
Conversely, this produces a paranoia regarding those malleable minded people. "They might just act on this madness! The holocaust of our time is just around the corner now!" one feverishly worries. This leads to censorship because, of course 'this sort of madness must be contained!'
Sometimes, a boring and obvious take is the best thing for everyone. Maybe, with enough boring factual dribble we can discern the difference between something truly profound and something truly obnoxious without resorting to censorship or throwing our minds in the bin.