Deep thoughts (sort of)

[molly_world]

I was watching a program recently that mentioned "poisoning the well". Now, I know of this concept from a military standpoint, but never really connected it to a social one. I cringe to think how often I may have (deliberately or otherwise) done this. It's really interesting to see it in an SCA context

Comments

[isabelladangelo]

I think this concept occurs more so in large groups that are joined by a single interest (history in the SCA case) to differentiate one person from another. It's about power and about social diversion in a group to mark one another as being "different". Honestly, it's interesting for an anthropological model

[lorebubeck]

Not to mention the difficulty of defining "right" and "wrong". What is wrong to one (gay marriage, abortions, pre-marital sex) isn't necessarily wrong to someone else. The world is not black and white which means we have to spend even more time "enjoying thinking about it". =)

And the avoidance of personal responsibility? Well Americans have taken that the level of art! Good Golly Miss Molly! (Hey! That saying actually works here!)

[isabelladangelo]

Very true, but I think that the avoidance of personal responsibility (I like the way you put it!:-) ) is tied to the definition of right and wrong. After all, many of the things that are seen as "wrong" are due to the lack of personal responsibility. (Not all, of course)

No, everything is not black and white, but many things are. Burning live puppies and kittens still goes on most peoples "bad" lists. :-)

[aeliakirith]

Interesting food for thought, definitely. I think what you said about people having different experiences is absolutely true, especially when it comes to individual personalities. I'm sure everyone's been in the situation where they have two friends (call them Bobby and Susie). You know both Bobby and Susie and they both seem like decent, friendly, reasonable people to you. But to hear Bobby talk, Susie is the biggest b--ch who ever lived, and Susie thinks Bobby is a cruel, lying, sack of scum. It always boggles my mind how I can have such a different experience with a person from somebody else, but like you said, there are tons of variables. I also think that relationships between people can be poisoned by little things. One incident, whether it's bad behavior on one person's part or both or just a misunderstanding, colors each person's every action negatively in the mind of the other

[1_big_grizz]

Hey there. I just wandered in and this post struck a chord. You serve good food for thought...