Nancy asked in a comment, “But why are you revealing your experiment and your tactics and your goals to your lab rats?” My answer? Well…
I wrote in response, “Because I am neither insidious nor duplicitous. And it continues the experiment. It is like Schrödinger’s Blog — the lab rats are both living and dead all at the same time. And, because the blogosphere is so decontextualized and because nobody cares about historical imperative, there is very little chance of there being any change in the outcome. It is my experience that even after you reveal the secrets to all the tricks and techniques in your entire magic act, people are still astounded by sleight of hand and are willing to still believe in magic.”
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Bravo for the Magritte reference. I am thoroughly impressed.
Oh come on, you didn’t underestimate me again, did you? Sometimes a pipe is only a pipe.
It’s because people will only understand it if they “get it” otherwise, they won’t be able to benefit from secrets revealed, imho.
I kind of dig the aracana of “people will only understand it if they ‘get it’ otherwise, they won’t be able to benefit from secrets revealed.”
To be honest, until only a few years ago, I used to assume that the glazed-over looks that people shot me were condescending and patronizing when it was actually their defense mechanisms against not getting it.
And truth be told, people are very literal. People are amazing literal. And absolutist. Nuance is almost always lost on most people, even the sophisticated.
There is too little time or trust implicit in the medium — this or others — to assume that the message is innately complex and important.
When I say “Don’t Save the Whales” that is the tenor of the story and no matter how I try to turn that message around, it is all for naught.
No matter how compelling my argument or the dexterity and redirection of my linguistic judo, at the end of the day, I am indeed a Whale-Killer.
What a fantastic experiement!