The Unbearable Triteness of Agreeing
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Unbearable Triteness of Agreeing |
| Creator: | Ryp |
| Date(s): | January 16, 2000 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | |
| Topic: | fannish differences of opinion |
| External Links: | the site: The Less Than Legendary Journeys: Guide to Writing in the HtLJ Universe, Archived version, link to the post: The Less Than Legendary Journeys: The Unbearable Triteness of Agreeing by Ryp, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Unbearable Triteness of Agreeing is an essay by Ryp that was posted to The Less Than Legendary Journeys archive.
For additional context, see Timeline of Concrit & Feedback Meta.
Excerpts
We are Humanity, of Borg. Why, why, why, I ask you, in this day and age when diversity is at last being considered something to celebrate rather than disguise do so many people insist on believing that a difference of opinion necessarily implies not only an inimical relationship but vicious intent? I am continually astounded by the number of individuals that genuinely believe that anyone who doesn't have a particular affection for their favorite television character would, if given the opportunity, willfully lie in wait in a dark, dank alley somewhere, secluded in the shifting shadows of an overflowing city dumpster, in order to gleefully assail the fearful, otherly-opined party for being brazen enough to watch a different television program than themselves.
So what is it about the internet that brings these apprehensive creatures out of hiding? Strangely, despite their remarkable prevalence on the net, I have never encountered an apparent member of the Tremulous Masses in Real Life. Not even while teaching chemistry to college freshmen did I witness the degree of cringing and whimpering which bombards me almost daily over email. No, I firmly believe that the singular draw and far-sweeping influence of this phenomenon is Net specific; either that or I have been gruesomely misfortunate enough during my seven years on the internet to have subscribed only to newsgroups and mailing lists which happened to house anywhere from one to several dozen of these individuals, easily distinguished by their determination to define themselves as human beings strictly according to their entertainment preferences. My hope is that the former theory is true: I would be loth to believe that I am drawn only to those few media discussion topics which also attract people who interpret an off-hand comment about the quality of a casting director as a request for ritual suicide.