tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889397929114285590.post870776566087758177..comments2023-06-09T09:32:30.336+01:00Comments on The World Of Morrissey: Understanding empathy, a tee and a B-sideheathercathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13214253508596912469noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889397929114285590.post-37318593152763995072016-04-01T05:32:16.990+01:002016-04-01T05:32:16.990+01:00I've realised that I'm just too polite to ...I've realised that I'm just too polite to feel comfortable with the slogan. comrade harpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16868307582875295395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889397929114285590.post-27217276951033191252016-03-30T19:18:02.767+01:002016-03-30T19:18:02.767+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jjazminehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12713584941373594228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889397929114285590.post-15531652673896561532016-03-30T18:50:51.123+01:002016-03-30T18:50:51.123+01:00 With regards to the "kill you" shirt, I... With regards to the "kill you" shirt, I don't get the big deal comrade, it sounds to me like you are more afraid of the possibilities of being murdered by vegans when really, anyone, meat eater or not could kill you at anytime and they don't need a shirt suggesting such lol As a private school victim of T-shirt censoring, I fully believe in the freedom to wear whatever you want, regardless of anyone's reaction. Marianne says one might even recognize a social group one feels comfortable with like other animal advocates. Which I totally agree!Chucks comment about the shock value works too, it's just another clever slogan.<br /><br />Christian Dior is a really beautiful song, the vocals are just ear-gasmic. Although "drawn to what scares..." Is one of those forever quotable moz lyrics personally, my favorite bit is: <br />Lyonise maverick, ah<br />Design if you can, ah<br />The way to just be a man, ah<br />To just be a man, ah<br /><br />The way to just be a man, early echos of the latest album's I'm Not A Man. But what does make a man? The tough macho image we automatically conjour up, we know now to be a learned perspective. It took men like Marlon Brando and James Dean for the general public to see that gentle is the strongest persona of all. We often think that women have more empathy and compassion because women are programmed as such. Evolution has made meek mothers of women who dote on babies and men. That's not the case anymore. The opposite is thought of with men, men are expected to be cold Clint Eastwood emotionless hard and sturdy. <br />It's my personal belief that a person can at least think in terms of both sexes. It would be interesting to see how different each person's right supramarginal gyrus (area of the brain that controls empathy and compassion) actually is and how they react to decisions. Decisions based on how other people's feelings would make us feel, it is very different from completely putting yourself in someone's mindset while detaching from your own. <br />Which brings me to the most difficult direction in Chairman's tweet Be yourself, doesn't sound difficult but I don't get along with myself. I'm always questioning, always thinking, always comparing, and always wanting to be different from everybody. Instead of putting up a front on Twitter, I'd rather just save my comments for here and my scribblings.<br />Jjazminehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12713584941373594228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889397929114285590.post-22870439530195957372016-03-28T21:44:14.342+01:002016-03-28T21:44:14.342+01:00Good, thoughtful comments. Much more insightful th...Good, thoughtful comments. Much more insightful than my waffling pithle. Thank you.comrade harpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16868307582875295395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889397929114285590.post-66887207326440182532016-03-28T21:06:38.441+01:002016-03-28T21:06:38.441+01:00Now… on empathy you also have my attention. Becaus...Now… on empathy you also have my attention. Because some of you know I work with youth in mental health/crisis. In such a position we have to exude empathy towards others of course, and at least reflect it, if that makes sense. However, we can’t know what anyone else is ever thinking or feeling, no matter how hard we try – of course this can lead one into solipsism, in its extremes. Does anyone else have thoughts or feelings? Does anyone else even exist? How can we know? Well… a vicious cycle. It’s my belief we can only understand by analogy. Perhaps this is a form of narcissism in itself because again we relate it to the self, and how we would feel in a similar situation, etc, but in the end it’s our only means of beginning to understand. If I feel pangs when others do – it may be particularly because it’s something I can relate to. But I also generally avoid a lot of human contact because of my sensitivity. <br /><br />My response to Chairman in the tweet you posted was entirely reflective my feelings on this topic. I don’t expect empathy, but what I say online is generally quite genuine –and - as I’ve said before, this is a massive risk. In my everyday conversations, even with people with whom I’m supposedly “close,” I often cannot be as open. Part of it is luck of the draw – many people I know don’t believe in my depression – I’ve tried – no dice – they just don’t believe it’s a real illness, even if it’s rendered me bed ridden at times. I just don’t have the energy to re-explain. So I say, “I’m fine.” No loss, I can’t make people believe in things they don’t want to believe in. Other people in my “everyday life” only care about things like if I’m moving to a bigger house, or how many hours I work. Well – what a yawnfest. So I can’t really speak how I want to with them.<br /><br />I found a number of like minded people online, which is great – and I believe what drew me to Morrissey is how much I see myself in his art. I can’t say I know what he’s thinking because I haven’t sat down and had a personal conversation with him – well at least in person. But even if I did know him in person of course I wouldn’t know what he was thinking. The one thing I do know is that he says things through the song and written word which I strongly relate to. <br /><br />And with empathy, I could waffle on for ages about how it’s a psychological construct, is it a social construct, etc but I don’t want to bore everyone to tears, if I haven’t already. <br />MTearfullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06575625793457886798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889397929114285590.post-44084569049882791052016-03-28T21:04:44.649+01:002016-03-28T21:04:44.649+01:00Ok. You’ve reeled me in to comment with this post,...Ok. You’ve reeled me in to comment with this post, so well done. I found this very interesting. First of all, the Be Kind To Animals tshirt I tweeted you about, but I’ll jot down what I said here. I think that the statement is a case of turning the sadly violent power differential humans impose on non-human animals on its head rather than inciting violence. <br /><br />I could be entirely wrong on that one. But humans have commodified and ignored the feelings of sentient non-human animals for centuries. Millions of animals are constantly being murdered, so in my guess, it is a reaction to the violence, which I believe is probably not meant to be taken literally. Although… as Moz himself has said before – people who work in abattoirs and animal testing (torture) facilities deal in the language of violence constantly, so perhaps this induces such a reaction. I’m not advocating it one way or another, but think it’s about a power reversal. Another interesting point may be that the shirt is SUPPOSED to induce shock to get us thinking – why are we shocked about the thought of killing people, yet tacitly approve of the murder of millions upon millions of beings daily in slaughterhouses? Every time someone tucks into a steak, that’s precisely what they’re doing, yet we find a message on a tshirt shocking? Perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate. <br /><br />I believe it is about animals reclaiming power, or those with voices reclaiming it for them. Perhaps in a sense it’s analogous to hip-hop singers reclaiming the N-word after centuries of slavery and torture, but maybe I’m digressing.<br />Regardless, I don’t see the shirt leading people to go out and start murdering people for eating hamburgers; and I can hardly stand it when people blame a song or shirt or piece of artwork for them murdering loads of people because they themselves are clearly dangerously unwell. I own the shirt myself, however so I could be biased, but those are my thoughts.<br />MTearfullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06575625793457886798noreply@blogger.com