Tell me again why we're listening to this guy?
We are not (hopefully). But I would support the making of such lists in general, if only to encourage discussion.
An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
21–30 of 47 posts
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#22I find most of these things true by default. But I also find them things that we are obligated to strive to overcome.
And I can't find a way to express this idea of overcoming human frailty and human nature, without referencing something very much like a soul, or a spiritual reality.
If we are just meat machines, we are just going to do what we are going to do, and the rest is just philosophizing. I find myself unable to accept that, and I guess that's why I'm religious.
To be specific, Jesus talked about most of these things as being the default human condition, and said there was absolutely no way to overcome them from within the human condition. The ability to transcend default human behavior is necessarily spiritual, almost by definition.
So, I find myself mostly in agreement with this list, but my disagreement with the first item puts the rest in a different context. Human nature is immutable, unless we consider something outside the system, which I and many others refer to as "spiritual."
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#23I say (and believe) things from that list every day. I find it funny to provoke people and test how much they can accept. You can guess how popular I am with friends and at parties. Consequently, my list of things we can't say would be very different. I guess each of us has his own limits and his own taboos.
I think you are taking "can't" too literally.
I think the original sense of "can't" from pg's essay meant "things you can't say and remain in good social standing with the broader society." You are choosing to reduce your social standing on purpose by uttering these remarks.
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#24[deleted]
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tell me again why we shouldn't?
Because most of the content is insultingly inane. I don't need some single guy with no kids telling me about how Love is not eternal. It is a simple state of endorphin chemistry. It serves a single evolutionary purpose. It lasts about three years. Fathers being suspicious of their young daughters' boyfriends and dates is really just sexual jealousy. Parents care less about their children than they do about their care…
1. Just because a mental state like love has a known chemical or evolutionary basis doesn't make it any less real.
2. I say the father is concerned about his daughter's mate selection because she carries his genes. She is a proxy for his reproductive success. He wants her to choose a good mate (e.g. someone who's more likely to stick around to care for the children) so his genes are more likely to survive.
3. No comment here, but I think it underestimates the effects of social proof in a parent's decision.
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tell me again why we shouldn't?
Because most of the content is insultingly inane. I don't need some single guy with no kids telling me about how Love is not eternal. It is a simple state of endorphin chemistry. It serves a single evolutionary purpose. It lasts about three years. Fathers being suspicious of their young daughters' boyfriends and dates is really just sexual jealousy. Parents care less about their children than they do about their care…
I think the list's only purpose is to attack that way of dismissive, unconstructive thinking.
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#27Tell me again why we're listening to this guy?
In order to discuss whether these are things that are not socially acceptable to even utter, regardless of their empirical merits. I think the point is not whether these things are true or false necessarily, but whether even discussing them are socially permissible.
At least, that's what I took to be the intent behind the title of the submission.
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#28I find most of these things true by default. But I also find them things that we are obligated to strive to overcome. And I can't find a way to express this idea of overcoming human frailty and human nature, without referencing something very much like a soul, or a spiritual reality. If we are just meat machines, we are just going to do what we are going to do, and the rest is just philosophizing. I find myself unabl…
On of my favourite ex-girlfriends once said the following to me:
I have great difficulty with this whole idea of the soul. I mean it seems to simply be a way for individuals to secure themselves a much larger place in the universe than we deserve. When you think of the grand scale of things we are less consequential than a single atom is compared to the entire earth. Seeing as we cant even truly visualize that analogy the whole truth scares the crap out of us; hence the idea of a soul.
(I post that w/o wanting to derail into an argument/discussion. It always struck me as an insightful analysis of the possibilities - hence worth sharing)
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tell me again why we shouldn't?
Because most of the content is insultingly inane. I don't need some single guy with no kids telling me about how Love is not eternal. It is a simple state of endorphin chemistry. It serves a single evolutionary purpose. It lasts about three years. Fathers being suspicious of their young daughters' boyfriends and dates is really just sexual jealousy. Parents care less about their children than they do about their care…
Add to that:
"No one actually cares about anyone else."
Seriously?
Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tell me again why we shouldn't?
Because most of the content is insultingly inane. I don't need some single guy with no kids telling me about how Love is not eternal. It is a simple state of endorphin chemistry. It serves a single evolutionary purpose. It lasts about three years. Fathers being suspicious of their young daughters' boyfriends and dates is really just sexual jealousy. Parents care less about their children than they do about their care…
The point of such lists is not to be accurate. We accept that society is 90% right, so 90% of such lists will be either wrong or not even wrong. The point is to be aware that of the 10% we can miss if we stick to the conventional wisdom.
As for your examples, the first may be inane, but the second is at least taboo and the third actually has some truth in it, and is also more or less taboo.