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The Crazy Lady Speaks

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Re: The Crazy Lady Speaks

#21

Post by cparedes »

Lots of homeless people I've come across are usually looked down upon by other people for god knows what; silent assumptions suck.

I've talked to a few of them and I've been amazed, every single time, what sort of stories they bring to the table, and the sort of intellect a lot of them possessed.

After talking with an old homeless guy at length over a period of a year about literature and various other things, he carted over a basket full of books to give to me and a few of my friends - he was a huge book nerd and talked a lot about McLuhan, life, and literature.

It was pretty obvious that many people didn't have much of a high opinion of him - it was only after you've decided to so much as look at him and say something that you'd find out the truth.

I don't know what the hell happened to him, but I didn't see him after that year.

I miss him dearly.

Re: The Crazy Lady Speaks

#22

Post by mgw »

cparedes wrote: post #21

Lots of homeless people I've come across are usually looked down upon by other people for god knows what; silent assumptions suck. I've talked to a few of them and I've been amazed, every single time, what sort of stories they bring to the table, and the sort of intellect a lot of them possessed. After talking with an old homeless guy at length over a period of a year about literature and various other things, he car…

Sadly there's also the opposite side. I always try to talk to homeless people begging in the street, getting their attention by giving them a small amount of money. A few weeks ago I came to talk to this girl coming from a different country who was just visiting friends in mine. I was looking for that special spark you found in your acquaintance but I simply couldn't find it. After about 20 minutes I had to admit that she was just plain stupid in the normal sense of the word and brainwashed enough to reject the help society offered her. It was a bit depressing to see that she really was just a homeless person and that there wasn't that much more to her.

Re: The Crazy Lady Speaks

#23

Post by zephyrfalcon »

qq66 wrote: post #20
philwelch wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what people would think if I sat next to them on an airplane reading Mein Kampf , actually. Marx is academic-trendy enough that people won't look down on you for reading him, but Hitler's a different story.

I would think that anyone reading Mein Kampf is an avid student of history, maybe WWII history in particular. It seems much more likely than them being a Nazi.

Maybe. I don't know about the US, but in Europe, reading this book in public would provoke a strong reaction in people. (I think selling or even owning the book is illegal in several countries.) So I think somebody doing that would be more likely to be making a statement of some sort. What kind of statement, may vary... (They could have Nazi sympathies, or be vehemently anti-censorship, or just like to shock people, etc.)

Re: The Crazy Lady Speaks

#24

Post by zephyrfalcon »

atomical wrote: post #5

Assumptions. Too many of them. The real message of this article is that people will silently judge you.

While it has many unfortunate effects in society, the ability to make up your mind about something/someone in a split second is actually a survival mechanism.

Re: The Crazy Lady Speaks

#25

Post by pmichaud »

mgw wrote: post #22
cparedes wrote: post #21

Lots of homeless people I've come across are usually looked down upon by other people for god knows what; silent assumptions suck. I've talked to a few of them and I've been amazed, every single time, what sort of stories they bring to the table, and the sort of intellect a lot of them possessed. After talking with an old homeless guy at length over a period of a year about literature and various other things, he car…

Sadly there's also the opposite side. I always try to talk to homeless people begging in the street, getting their attention by giving them a small amount of money. A few weeks ago I came to talk to this girl coming from a different country who was just visiting friends in mine. I was looking for that special spark you found in your acquaintance but I simply couldn't find it. After about 20 minutes I had to admit tha…

You saw what she chose to show you.

Re: The Crazy Lady Speaks

#26

Post by tome »

gaius wrote: post #19
Lewisham wrote: post #15

You can have the same experience when it goes the other way: someone who is a good friend ends up with a startling revelation that makes your jaw drop. My case in point was this week: I was hanging out with an academic friend of mine at a conference. He lives somewhat far away, and when I do roll through town, we usually just grab a beer rather than see his house. This week, however, he revealed something that hither…

UK people are much of a muchness. Americans run a full-spectrum I suspect in the UK you've unconsciously constructed an echo chamber around yourself, it's easy to do, especially in London where you can easily fall into a demographic/subculture and never interact with anyone else. Whereas when traveling you are out of your "comfort zone" and interact with a greater range of people. People are people, and the UK has a…

Don't you think that most people from western countries would be shocked when an acquaintance casually mentions that he should have brought a gun in case he needs to shoot a criminal?

Re: The Crazy Lady Speaks

#27

Post by mkr-hn »

zephyrfalcon wrote: post #24
atomical wrote: post #5

Assumptions. Too many of them. The real message of this article is that people will silently judge you.

While it has many unfortunate effects in society, the ability to make up your mind about something/someone in a split second is actually a survival mechanism.

It's very rare that I run in to a situation where the initial impression is accurate. How's such an inaccurate metric supposed to be a life saver?

Re: The Crazy Lady Speaks

#29

Post by TerraHertz »

"There is a principle, which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation." -- Herbert Spencer, 1820-1903

Re: The Crazy Lady Speaks

#30

Post by TerraHertz »

Oh, and 'crazy conspiracy theories' is an oxymoron. It's the NON-conspiracy theories that are crazy. The world operates primarily by conspiracies. Maybe the lady passenger was just practicing her skills at grading conspiracy probabilities.
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