Like I said, when someone has a question either implicit or explicit the
normal, natural and polite thing to do is to answer it. If what you say
is, what is art? you are explicitly asking a question and if I have the
answer I answer it. If you say, I don't know what art is, that is an
implicit question and if I do know then it is the normal, natural and
polite thing to do if I tell you what it is. I might also add that it
is incredible to me that you do not remember the discussion on art. It
went on so long. You said that you didn't know what art is. I simply
said that art is the human imposition of patterns on some medium. I
really expected that would be the end of it, but Alice had to throw one
of her fits. I will admit that art is not one of the things that I know
a lot about. It has never interested me much, but at least I think I
know what it is. I can recognize art when I see it just because patterns
have been imposed on some medium whether it is a canvass, a piece of
rock or even if it is language. In fact, that last one is something I
figured out from the discussion. I had never thought of it before, but I
came to the conclusion that poetry is an example of art. However, Alice
and you too got very upset over my simply explaining what it is. For one
thing , it makes no sense to me that the very person who stated an
ignorance of what art is would get upset over having it explained. As
for Alice, she ranted on and on, but never, not even once, offered
another explanation of what art is. If she had I might have seen it as
better than my own explanation and changed my mind. But despite my own
ignorance of the details of art I was never even offered an explanation
of what it is other than the one I offered. And I really don't
understand how a simple explanation of something that is not understood
could cause so much strife. It is as if I walk into a room and say hi
and come under attack for it. It's not like I am putting anyone down for
not knowing something or otherwise being impolite. As far as I can tell
I am being perfectly polite. In fact, I remember once being told that
when someone compared me to someone who was not. A certain woman named
Joy compared me to another woman named May. It was right after I had
said something that she did not understand and she asked me to explain
it. I explained it. She then went on to say that she much preferred to
ask me a question than to ask May because when she asked May something
May would try to make her feel stupid and in my case I just gave an
answer and an explanation. I knew May and I agreed with her about May
and sometimes I enjoyed catching her up in something she didn't know and
amusing myself by watching her trying to cover up her ignorance. But I
have always politely explained things when I see that an explanation is
called for. It makes no sense at all that you think I am causing you to
have some kind of feelings. But I do know that what are called feelings
are subjective. It is something within yourself that you are feeling. So
perhaps it would be well to look inward for the explanation of those
feelings. Just why does it cause you to have bad feelings when someone
tells you something you didn't know? I can't answer that because I have
never experienced it. When someone tells me something I didn't know I
feel enthusiastic about it because I have learned something new. Through
my entire life when I have learned something new my reaction has always
been something like wow, that's interesting. I love being a learner and
it makes no sense to me at all that other people would resent being
taught something.
---
Christopher Hitchens
“ What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.
”
― Christopher Hitchens,
On 4/13/2019 9:42 AM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
Roger,
Does it occur to you that there might be a reason why so many of us on the
list, end up arguing with you from time to time and that the reason might have
to do with you and not us?
Perhaps it isn't your responsibility to provide information whenever it seems
to you that you have the answer to a question and we do not.
I don't remember the art discussion, but I suspect that if I said that I don't
know what art is, I was making a statement about art, not a statement about my
ignorance. If one is very literal minded, one has difficulty telling the
difference between rhetorical questions, statements phrased as questions, and
actual questions.
Carl is a wonderful model of tact, gentleness, and modesty for all of us. He
knows how to avoid conflict with people while continuing to hold his beliefs.
His response to you about Fascism was identical to mine, but stated so
cleverly, that you never perceived it as a challenge.
I am going to tell you how I feel about your explanations. This is a statement
of feeling. Feelings and emotions are real and they don't change because
someone explains why one shouldn't have them. When you explain things and you
think that you're just giving information and you insist that your explanation
is correct with logical and/or literary backup, I feel as if I were being
bullied. I feel like I can't express thoughts or feelings without being
corrected. I feel, probably like you do whenfundamentalist Christians insist on
explaining to you why there really is a God or when Mustafa explains to you why
Islam is the true faith.
Miriam
