Unlike the wholly unauthorized Boss Lady’s Edition of the Best of 2019, this time around I have actually commissioned a Top 3 list from a dedicated reader. These picks come to us courtesy of my pensive friend and former colleague, The Doctor.1As a bonus for the dedicated few who actually read these footnotes: “also the guy who couldn’t find Connecticut on a map”. You may have seen his comments floating around here on occasion. So many thanks to him for taking the time and effort to put this together.
The Doctor says:
…I think your best stories are those that make us think about how our presuppositions about the world are plain wrong. As humans, we tend to want to make things as simple as possible, because complicated is hard. You’ve had more than a few stories that illustrate the nuance and complexity of all the other people we share the planet with.
Here are [a few of] my picks along with some of my accompanying thoughts.
– The Doctor
3. Lawnmower Man
The Doctor says:
More and more, context matters. Not just when you do something a bit goofy in the shower, but when you’re making judgments about other people choices, culture, religion, etc.
Like John Stewart said, “Actually, that joke was brought to you by… Context. Look at how silly the world would be without context.“2Watch the video here: http://www.cc.com/video-clips/o90eth/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-win-city
2. F*ck Bob Ross
The Doctor says:
Just like context is important, so is the realization that we experience the world differently. Two people can have completely different reactions to something or someone because of different backgrounds and experiences.
Even more than that, how we experience and react to the world is based in our biology.We can all look at the same picture of a dress and come way of radically different ideas about what color it is3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_dress...
1. The Olde Timey Wheelchair
The Doctor says:
So, we like to think that we are master’s of our own destiny, and that if we do everything “just right”, stuff will work out. The world is not so simple. Small events, circumstances, and comments can have far reaching effects. We just can’t anticipate everything. (Although, I guess it’s important to realize that general principals still can tell you something…)
Editor’s note: If you really want to nerd out a la The Doctor, watch this video about The Butterfly Effect:
Footnotes & References:
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