1) All this political talk is giving me a headache. It's true what a friend of mine said the other night, people who post on Facebook trying to convince other people to "see the light and join their side" are total idiots because it goes against basic human nature to just concede to other people's opinions. On the contrary, those posted to will go out of their way to look for opposing arguments. Unless you have the title of "expert", you've written an extensive political analysis on something that was well researched or you've actually worked in politics, no one is going to listen to or care about your fake-ass punditry. I'll admit that sometimes I can't help but respond to people's idiocies, but I know it will fall on deaf ears. The problem with Facebook and Twitter is that they've given people the impression that they actually have an audience. But they don't... really. True audiences need to be earned and built up the hard way and should comprise of more than just your friends and acquaintances (who will humor you if you're lucky). The other side of that debate is that this is the point of social media, that it has allowed people to express their views and generally "share" with others, and I don't have a counter-argument to that (except that some people are dumber than others and some information is more shareable than other). I mean, yeah, that's what social media has done and by having a blog and posting statuses on Facebook, I am subjecting myself to my own criticism. But I know that I have few readers and I don't really care about gaining more. Part of the reason for this blog is purely a writing exercise, to keep my brain sharp as I get older. No, seriously, it is. And it's a lot of fun to go back and look at some of the funny things and idiocies I've written.
2) I'd like to revise my previous statement regarding my imminent demise should I manage to survive an apocalyptic event based on my recent "Sandy" storm experience, in other words, I didn't feel a thing. First of all, I'll probably survive because I live on the upper east side of Manhattan, Michael Bloomberg's neighborhood, geographically one of the wider hoods in the borough, halfway between the East River and Central Park and on the 15th floor. Second, I'd say I have a small edge over people who live downtown, Staten Island, the Rockaways, the burbs or New Jersey when the post-apocalypse period comes. I'm assuming my headstart will be erased at some point, when gangs start to form and invade my building, but there will be lots of chaos in the beginning so just maybe I can organize myself and make it. Better start making some friends now.*
3) There seems to be an inability for many people to accept the existence of a "gray area" in most facets in life. I don't know if this has a direct correlation with a lack of empathy, or the inability to grasp nuance, but I've noticed in the press, in social media and online that the views expressed are always pretty extreme, one way or the other. Perhaps it's because extreme people are the ones making their voices heard and the news only makes money when the story is sensationalized. Obviously, the most recent example is the election, but I've also noticed this with other big news stories. The vilification of human beings is incredible. I'm not saying that some don't deserve it (Sandusky, perhaps), but for the most part, I do try to see different aspects of a story and understand where the villain is coming from and what their psychological and physiological state is before I come down hard on anyone. After all, we know that the press has a tendency to misquote, over-simplify and pull things way out of context. With that said, for some reason, I can't seem to exercise a shred of empathy when it comes to Lance Armstrong. I have no sympathy for the guy, even though I know that part of him used his evil for good purposes. Even that is shady in my opinion. Have you ever heard of the pedophile strategy of ingratiating yourself with a community in order to mask your true intentions (i.e. Sandusky), well, this is also the case with some serial killers and other evil doers (e.g. Bernie Madoff). Therefore, it can really be applied to many instances of wrong doing (in other words, Lance Armstrong). I guess it started with me not liking him in the first place. He's just such a douche in general, I always had a bad feeling about him. Then, when I read the Floyd Landis interview a while back in which he heavily implicated Lance Armstrong in the doping scandal (riveting stuff by the way), I couldn't help but believe Landis. Perhaps his credibility had been undermined, but the way he was talking just sounded like the truth (my gut feeling). This was a guy who had nothing left to lose. Now that it's out in the open and Armstrong's seven titles are being revoked, I don't feel a bit sorry for him, which is very strange for me.
* This does not really apply in the event of a nuclear wipe-out
No comments:
Post a Comment