Dale Nelson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Knygatin Wrote:
>
> > > "The Country of the Blind", is that a genuine
> SF
> > tale, or an instructive morality lesson?
>
>
> I'd say it was a genuine "lost race" type of
> story. Wells's "Empire of the Ants" is another
> short one to read. As I recall "The Plattner
> Story" is a good story with a dull title.

I'd bet Wells still has a lesson for us, something along the lines of "They may be blind, but they still can see better than us, because they are clever and not wasteful, using what they got, their fingers's touch and so forth."

Thanks, I will check on "Ants" and "Plattner" too.

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dale Nelson Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Knygatin Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > The Time Machine is available in George Pal's
> > > excellent movie, so why should I also read
> the
> > > book?
> >
> >
> > You are kidding -- right? : )
>
> Half and half. I'm a bit tired, that's all. There
> are so many books to choose from, ... and I really
> only have time to read a select few. I want those
> ones to be the very most worthwhile for me
> personally. I realize, of course, that only a
> small part of a well written book can go into a
> film, so my comment above was half-hearted.
>

Another reason for my restraint toward Wells, is that I have always felt a dislike for sharing the same emotional impressions and ideas as the masses. I don't like to follow and be part of the herd (and the political correctness that comes with it). I am also suspicious of popular mass appeal, because the masses are generally simple minded and easily gullible. I prefer to seek out more obscure items, that I find intellectually superior, both in literature and film. There are exceptions, like Tolkien, E. R. Burroughs, some of Stephen King.

And no, Sawfish, I don't use that stuff.

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Knygatin Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Dale Nelson Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Knygatin Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > The Time Machine is available in George
> Pal's
> > > > excellent movie, so why should I also read
> > the
> > > > book?
> > >
> > >
> > > You are kidding -- right? : )
> >
> > Half and half. I'm a bit tired, that's all.
> There
> > are so many books to choose from, ... and I
> really
> > only have time to read a select few. I want
> those
> > ones to be the very most worthwhile for me
> > personally. I realize, of course, that only a
> > small part of a well written book can go into a
> > film, so my comment above was half-hearted.
> >
>
> Another reason for my restraint toward Wells, is
> that I have always felt a dislike for sharing the
> same emotional impressions and ideas as the
> masses. I don't like to follow and be part of the
> herd (and the political correctness that comes
> with it). I am also suspicious of popular mass
> appeal, because the masses are generally simple
> minded and easily gullible. I prefer to seek out
> more obscure items, that I find intellectually
> superior, both in literature and film. There are
> exceptions, like Tolkien, E. R. Burroughs, some of
> Stephen King.
>
> And no, Sawfish, I don't use that stuff.

You know, what you just wrote could have been me, writing a self-description.

Here are a couple of nuances...

Rationally, I've come to realize that any of the various flavors of "crowd phenomena" tend to amplify the most emotional and visceral of human responses. Such response are often blindingly immediate and dizzyingly gratifying in the moment.

And I find that all people I know of are susceptible, myself, as well. This means that I, too, under the "right" conditions, could be a rabid supporter of any of a number of emotionally appealing ideas, as relayed by emotionally appealing, charismatic leaders.

So what I've developed to "save myself", I suppose, is that very rejection of herd sensibilities that you describe. By reflexively doing this I buy an interval of time, and in that interval, my rational self can usually unwind the reflexive appeal, if any, to distance myself from the subjectively extreme moment.

Me, I think that this is a *good* thing. It's probably the primary difference be tween myself and my brother, who simply takes emotional satisfaction wherever he can find it, and the hell with the predictable consequences.

Now I hasten to add that it could be easy to think that perhaps I am by nature attracted to social groups, crowds, large-scale social interactions, but the contrary seems to be true: I grew up 'way the hell in the country--rural California in the 50s--and without either playmates or a sibling until I was 6. By then, books (or firearms--talk about irony!!!) were my regular companions, which explains why I still consistently walk around with a book (or now an e-reader) at all times.

It explains why I post here, and not on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Now this leads me to the uncomfortable possibility that if I ran out of books, maybe I'd start walking around with a holstered 1911...

Hmmmm... ;^)

So I mention this in support of my strong belief that all (virtually) fairly normally adjusted and functional adults are indeed moved by crowd phenomena and other widely recognized social phenomena like charisma, human beauty, etc.--and I've developed a mechanism for that, too. The individual differences in response are simply whether the individual simply goes with the immediate flow, or resists it--and to what degree they resist it.

To my mind, those who fail to resist such social phenomena at least a little are, well, déclassé.

In fact, at this stage of my life, so certain of how this works that I'd by default think that anyone quick to deny this is basically lying, either to him/herself, or simply to me.

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That was an interesting post, Sawfish. Thank you for sharing. You seem to me a person of contradictions, and I find that a good thing. I appreciate a person who struggles to expand beyond his boundaries. You do surprise me sometimes; one moment you come across as politically correct (ultra-) liberal, and then suddenly astonish me with very conservative values rebellious against present society decadence. But when it comes to literature, you clearly have a sophisticated, refined taste, and intellectual understanding in your perspective; you obviously don't waste time consuming mass appeal garbage.

Sawfish, your comment reminded me of this old ditty:

CHAIN LIGHTNING by Steely Dan

Some turnout, a hundred grand
Get with it we'll shake his hand
Don't bother to understand
Don't question the little man
Be part of the brotherhood
Yes it's chain lightning
It feels so good

Hush brother, we cross the square
Act nat'ral like you don't care
Turn slowly and comb your hair
Don't trouble the midnight air
We're standing just where he stood
It was chain lightning
It feels so good

[www.bing.com]

Good one, Dale!

I liked a lot of Steely Dan stuff--it was often witty and sardonic. Having lived in LA for a while when I was in my 30s, I think they are the closest to capturing the Lotus Land effect that living at the beach or in areas around the Santa Monica mountains engenders. It's damned near intoxicating, or was for me, at least.

I mean, if you're making reasonably good money and you get off work on Friday, you can drive home and actually think that anything might be possible that evening. Any positive thing you can think of. Me, I'm kinda conventional, but it was very easy to convince myself, yep. And often you'd get reasonably close, with like-minded people with the same things on their mind.

Not the ideal place to raise kids, in my judgement. Tough on marriages, too... ;^)

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~