1. I want a psychology centered on depravity
That is to say, when people look at the human psyche, I want the first thing they recognize to be that it’s broken and destructive. Inversely, when people think about depravity, I want them to recognize that it’s most apparent in the human psyche — our bodies in themselves don’t immediately evoke depravity; what goes on inside our heads that makes us do the things we do with our bodies does. Somewhat tangentially, I also want the church as a whole to find some way to interface its categories of mind, body, and spirit with psychological categories. I want to know how the soul relates to the superego.
John Ahern writes,
(Emphasis on the not.)
There are a lot of common avenues of arguing about Church music that I think are seriously flawed and particularly destructive because they may be arguing for the right music for the wrong reasons. Here I’m simply outlining the ways I think are particularly unwise—perhaps in another place I can begin to outline the ways I think one ought to do it. (The bold affirms what I do not.)
John Ahern writes,
In reading some of the fairy tales of both the Grimms, Anderson, and various others, one salient feature of a great many of them is this concept of the Forbidden Fruit. A Forbidden Fruit is something irresistibly desirable for little better reason than that it is forbidden. It isn’t an impulse based in the usual human desires, psychological, physical, or otherwise, but simply an impulse to do something because it’s off limits.
John Ahern scribbles deliriously,
Some storm-tossed sailors have just landed on some coast outside Africa. They’ve just been saved from a gale sent by Juno, who has a thing with these Trojans. Venus, who has a different thing with these Trojans (Aeneas happens to be her son), comes whining to Zeus, calling him out for not keeping his promises to the poor, destitute Trojans. Not particularly worried about pandering to the special interests of lobbyists—he is a somewhat partisan figure himself—Jove consoles Venus, telling her that, in fact, the Trojans’ luck will turn. They’ll settle in Latium and someday have an empire. Bigger than anybody else’s. An imperium sine fine.
Regina Bertilson yammers obsessively,
I wrote this analytical review of the book Ender’s Shadow last fall. If John still has that ridiculous limit on words, well, Psha to him. He deserves a Psha anyways. If you haven’t read Ender’s Shadow (and/or Ender’s Game), I would recommend that you do before reading this, as I spoil a good many things in the story. If you have read the books, well, I hope this will give you more of an understanding of the book. Also, expect more analysis from me in the future. I may analyze an episode or two of Star Trek, since they provide very good material for pondering upon and discussing.
Several years ago, I sat in the living room watching a movie. The movie finished and I switched to PBS just to see what kind of kid’s show was on. What I found was unspeakable.
Here’s a small excerpt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ-nif4rXGs
I wasn’t able to bring myself to watch the whole thing. Now, I’m just wondering what sort of insidious social programming this is? Is there some sort of subliminal message hidden in all of that? Is it a code?
If not, what DOES it mean?
This thing is scary enough to frighten me out of my wits. Even though it apparently doesn’t scare kids, one must wonder what sort of scarring it produces in a child. Apparently, it is bad for kids to watch shows with clever dialogue, a humorous plot, quick pacing, and superb characterization, with a bit of cartoony violence mixed in (i.e. Rocky and Bullwinkle). Too scary. Too little unbridled, abstract, escapism.
What kids need is reassurance of the order of the world. They need a supportive, friendly environment that encourages them to learn, explore, grow! They need an ADHD/motion-sickness inducing casserole of motion, light, sound, and fury.
The Child Psychology experts have spoken, and they have given us “Boobah”, the embodiment of all of the above.
If something Rocky and Bullwinkle is in danger of causing unbalanced and violent children, then Boobah is likely, as we speak, producing an entire generation of delusional psychopaths, unable to see past a twisted frenzy of flashing colors, ready to do anything to make the colors stop, ready to crack at any moment.
So, what is it? Harmless or unspeakably twisted?
I say it’s evil; that makes the show a whole lot easier to stomach.
The mind is a fascinating thing. As some of you know, I am interested in psychology. That is partly my mind’s fault. I have a tendency to analyze things – moods I am in, things I do, why I do certain things, why people do what they do, and stuff like that. It keeps me from doing stupid things on the spur of the moment (for the most part, at least), because I always think of what will happen afterwards, all the consequences. Very often, it can be extremely annoying. When I am in a sad mood, I analyze my actions, and I like to examine my facial expressions (I’m not exactly sure if that relates at all to psychology, unless it’s in the ‘telling-secrets-from-small-differences-in-facial-expressions’ department). My mind is a very evil mind. View Full Post
