"Whether you can hold frame when enraged by a guy’s colorful hat is a separate question from why the hat triggers rage."
This statement made my day. In my very large and wildly eccentric family it was never uncommon to have the colourful hat wearer and the one triggered by it at the same event, expected to make polite cocktail conversation. That was always a trip, leading to my second-favourite quote of the article:
"The affable tale teller can be irritating at times, but is a different order of magnitude from the quick-triggered loon."
Uncle H, of the drink-until-well-lit-then-boogie-on-the-coffee-table variety, used to set off the hackles of Uncle B, he-who-cuts-his-lawn-with-nail-scissors, on a regular basis. From my little kid perspective and the twinkle in Uncle H's eye, I always suspected he did it deliberately, because the steam coming out of Uncle B's ears was kind of fun to watch.
It kind of was. Looking back now as an adult, I think Uncle B was surely a gamma, and appalled that Uncle H, who during his non-lit-at-parties life was extremely prominent and well known in his field. I think B couldn't handle that H, as unserious as could be in his off hours, held such a serious and important role in his professional life. "Not befitting the dignity of the blah, blah, blah..." and all that.
I imagine if B held a position of similar prominence we would never have heard the end of it. The colourful hat was the perfect metaphor for all of those social dynamics.
I’m watching someone in that final phase of circling Jesus before he finally appears to them. I don’t know about mass conversion, but there’s pressure that way.
"Whether you can hold frame when enraged by a guy’s colorful hat is a separate question from why the hat triggers rage."
This statement made my day. In my very large and wildly eccentric family it was never uncommon to have the colourful hat wearer and the one triggered by it at the same event, expected to make polite cocktail conversation. That was always a trip, leading to my second-favourite quote of the article:
"The affable tale teller can be irritating at times, but is a different order of magnitude from the quick-triggered loon."
Uncle H, of the drink-until-well-lit-then-boogie-on-the-coffee-table variety, used to set off the hackles of Uncle B, he-who-cuts-his-lawn-with-nail-scissors, on a regular basis. From my little kid perspective and the twinkle in Uncle H's eye, I always suspected he did it deliberately, because the steam coming out of Uncle B's ears was kind of fun to watch.
It was probably too amusing to pass on.
It kind of was. Looking back now as an adult, I think Uncle B was surely a gamma, and appalled that Uncle H, who during his non-lit-at-parties life was extremely prominent and well known in his field. I think B couldn't handle that H, as unserious as could be in his off hours, held such a serious and important role in his professional life. "Not befitting the dignity of the blah, blah, blah..." and all that.
I imagine if B held a position of similar prominence we would never have heard the end of it. The colourful hat was the perfect metaphor for all of those social dynamics.
The habituation of morals is at a low of probably 120 years.
Be better is the start.
Accepting Aristotle is right again, and that mosts are slaves to their pleasure and preferences help too.
It makes sense why the elite hate them.
There’s an advantage in facing such a low bar. If the system isn’t degraded to total dysfunction.
Prep for collapse, hope for a great awakening of the people. There could also be a sloutching towards the future.
An actual mass conversion and repentance would be amazing and worth praying for. Low probability, but never zero.
I’m watching someone in that final phase of circling Jesus before he finally appears to them. I don’t know about mass conversion, but there’s pressure that way.
Everyone talks about the pull and temptation of evil, but good has a gravitational pull of its own. It's less flashy, but plenty strong.