Three things I read this week
Don't love a wild thing, don't trust experts, compliment sandwich
The paradox of solved problems - the more problems that are solved, the more passionately activists campaign as though they haven’t been.
That’s a quote from Little Platoon’s review of Star Trek Discovery. I love this succinct definition, and wish I’d conjured it into existence because it’s such a perfect way to articulate the state of modern activism.
This is probably one of the safest times in human history to be anything other than a white dude, yet the activist crowd howls like America is an abattoir for anyone who isn’t Ryan Gosling. This has the unfortunate effect of creating a boy who cried wolf scenario. All of the noise makes it exceedingly difficult to differentiate between perceived racism and actual racism. Or homophobia, sexism, etc.
Little Platoon threw out another statement that struck me hard enough that I paused the video to ponder it. LP is gay and he pointed out that homosexuals are the only people who know the pain of loving someone who is physically incapable of loving them back. I thought that was an interesting and rather melancholy point, certainly one I hadn’t considered before.
And thus, adequately schooled in paradoxical activism and the unique experience of being gay, I hit play and resumed LP’s masterclass in cinema.
1 - Never love a wild thing
"Never love a wild thing, Mr. Bell," Holly advised him. "That was Doc's mistake. He was always lugging home wild things. A hawk with a hurt wing. One time it was a full-grown bobcat with a broken leg. But you can't give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do, the stronger they get. Until they're strong enough to run into the woods. Or fly into a tree. Then a taller tree. Then the sky. That's how you'll end up, Mr. Bell. If you let yourself love a wild thing. You'll end up looking at the sky."
Breakfast at Tiffany's, by Truman Capote. I read this book about a year ago. I liked it, didn’t love it, but I did find a few quotes worth remembering.
2 - Why We Don't Trust Experts
Critical thinking and the constant questioning of dogma is the bedrock of scientific advancement, and I think the most accurate description of science would be, “to the best of our knowledge this is what we think is true, however, it’s likely that we’re not completely correct and future advances will eventually prove us wrong.”
That’s a far departure from today’s mantra of The Science ™ which is so popular right now.
If you want a succinct definition of “scientism,” it might be this - A belief system in which science is accorded intellectual abilities far beyond what the scientific method is capable of by people whose intellectual abilities are far below being able to understand what the scientific method even is.
3 - Out in the Great Alone
About a decade ago I read this amazing article about the Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska. The article was so good that I never forgot it, and now I’m sharing it with you. Enjoy!
Still, there are 66 teams entered this year. With 12 dogs each, we're looking at nearly 800 dogs within about a five-block radius. The dog factor is crazy, tremendous. Dogs are scratching themselves, snarfing down meat, yawning, whining, wrestling, pissing, drum-majoring their tails. Iditarod sled dogs are mostly not the Siberian huskies you might be picturing but smaller, faster mixed breeds, engineered for speed rather than hauling power.
4 - Dark Matter
Speaking of page turners, a few days ago I read Dark Matter in 48 hours because the book caught me off guard. About halfway through I thought I had the story figured out, but then the plot veered off into new territory and I became desperate to discover our protagonist’s fate. Dark Matter won’t compete with Dune or The Dark Forest (what possibly can) but it’s a damn fine arrangement of words.
A plot summary is all but impossible without giving away any spoilers, and if you’re thinking about giving it a read I’d suggest staying away from the reviews. This is a book about the choices we make and the regrets we must live with…
He says, “Every moment, every breath, contains a choice. But life is imperfect. We make the wrong choices. So we end up living in a state of perpetual regret, and is there anything worse?
5 - Compliment sandwich
This approach struck me as a good way to deliver criticism.
A team of psychologists boosted openness to tough feedback by at least 40% by prefacing it with just 19 words:
“I’m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations and I know that you can reach them.”
Rather than attacking them, you’re signaling that you have their back and believe in their future potential. It’s surprisingly easy to hear a hard truth from someone who who wants to help. As Kim Scott observes, people accept being challenged directly if you show that you care personally.
Discovered in 5-Bit Fridays.
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