still too tired to think clearly or at all, because i wanted to go to sleep hours ago, but, well.
here's why i usually don't take part in a lot of discussions - 2 possible interpretations:
1) i don't get them, which means i have to reduce them to clear and simple patterns first, then i can get to know them, internalize them, digest them, ... after which process i'm ready to participate in the discussions, but the discussion is not there anymore. meh. i wasn't fast enough. :(
2) i get them. most discussions can be reduced to very simple structures. in some cases i've already had several talks about the topics at hand and found that this particular discussion is just a copy of hundreds of other discussions about other topics but with the same underlying structure of thought. easy to solve. no reason to fight.
some examples for basic assumptions underlying 90% of all discussions:
- x is x. it can be described as x. it never changes. it is always the same. it has only one face.
- that x is x is TRUE.
- TRUE exists. it is opposed to FALSE. variation: good/evil. and all the other pretty pairs!
- because x is opposed to y, it can never be y. it can also never be z.
...
i know quite a few people, many of them on my flist, whose discussions go way beyond these assumptions, which is good, because otherwise i would feel seriously lost.
nevertheless at some point in the discussions someone will come and swing the hammer of binary categories (or some other magical weapon, although i think this one is the most effective).
i have no idea how to handle the hammer.
i don't feel like learning it.
i lack the patience to work my way through the arguments the hammer-fighter makes. (i'm taking about online communication here. in face to face communication i have a lot more patience.)
possible conclusions:
1) s l o w. t r y a g a i n l a t e r.
2) i am an arrogant brat who thinks her thought patterns are better than other people's thought patterns.
3) i am an arrogant brat who talks about thought patterns.
4) i am an arrogant brat who talks about things that are obvious, feeling very clever while doing so.
5) i am a stupid brat who talks about shit no one cares about.
6) other.
7) i love peter hammill. this is not a conclusion. i knew that before i even began the argument (?). fail.
8) this post feels like poetry / therapy. I like it.