An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
1–10 of 47 posts
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#2Not a surprising list. I agree with some points, and disagree with others. But this:
"6. People believe what they want to believe. Any evidence they possess is an excuse, not a reason."
Seems to pose a bit of self-referential paradox...
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#3I don't see anything here that you can't say to quite a lot of people. And I'm not surprised. After all, if you couldn't say it, you sure couldn't publish it for the world to see.
A genuine list of things you can't say has not been written and will probably not be written, because such a thing is nearly paradoxical. Even if someone is foolish or suicidal enough to write one, nobody who reads it will want to pass it along to anyone else as that would taint them as well, so it will remain obscure.
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#4This topic reminds me of an ex-girlfriend who had a knack for saying what I deemed inappropriate things. I recall getting upset with her when said something like #4 (below) among others. For example driving through an apartment area I used to live at which had slipped down economically after the dot-com bubble burst she said "You know you are in a bad neighborhood when there are a lot of black people" ... talking about a newborn cousin "he has a big nose, like a black person" ... and some other non-racist sounding stuff that I can't remember. Even when stuff she said was statistically true or had some basis in fact she just stated it in the most matter of fact and cynical way possible that really upset me.
"4. There is no such thing as altruism. Everyone is ultimately only interested in their own pleasure. Even those who appear altruistic are doing so because it makes them feel good. No one actually cares about anyone else."
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#5Honestly, I could tell most of the things in that list to pretty much anyone I know without shocking them. Including my grandma.
"Communism would never work" ? Gee, I think there are actually more people in the western world who would actually be shocked if they were told otherwise!
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#6They must something that teenagers can spot as true.
Indeed. Many of these are sophomoric "truths" that a teenager might believe, but someone with more understanding would spot as falsehoods.
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#7Not a surprising list. I agree with some points, and disagree with others. But this: "6. People believe what they want to believe. Any evidence they possess is an excuse, not a reason." Seems to pose a bit of self-referential paradox...
I didn't think it was surprising as well, but I don't know if it's because I'm older and have seen more of the world and the sort of people in it, but I know I would have been surprised at some of them as a college student, such as public schools didn't exist to teach, but as a daycare center so parents can work.
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#8Honestly, I could tell most of the things in that list to pretty much anyone I know without shocking them. Including my grandma. "Communism would never work" ? Gee, I think there are actually more people in the western world who would actually be shocked if they were told otherwise!
I think you missed the point of that one
"Communism would never work, because no one with power is ever willing to share it. However, the reason we were taught to hate it was because it was a threat to our masters."
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#9Honestly, I could tell most of the things in that list to pretty much anyone I know without shocking them. Including my grandma. "Communism would never work" ? Gee, I think there are actually more people in the western world who would actually be shocked if they were told otherwise!
I think you missed the point of that one "Communism would never work, because no one with power is ever willing to share it. However, the reason we were taught to hate it was because it was a threat to our masters."
Ouch, you are right. This is perhaps the only one that might shock one or two persons ;)
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#10Honestly, I could tell most of the things in that list to pretty much anyone I know without shocking them. Including my grandma. "Communism would never work" ? Gee, I think there are actually more people in the western world who would actually be shocked if they were told otherwise!
I think you missed the point of that one "Communism would never work, because no one with power is ever willing to share it. However, the reason we were taught to hate it was because it was a threat to our masters."
"the reason we were taught to hate it was because it was a threat to our masters."
That's sophomoric pseudo-wisdom, and a cliche to boot. Who hasn't heard that one?