tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post8819134173497360048..comments2023-10-21T03:54:12.029-04:00Comments on A Gift Universe: The unit of matteringSheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-20392977520802212092016-04-25T08:17:31.511-04:002016-04-25T08:17:31.511-04:00I think most Americans (and probably Canadians) wi...I think most Americans (and probably Canadians) will come down on that side of things. But I still find something admirable about people who sacrifice for their groups. A couple of weeks ago I watched Death Comes to Pemberley, in which Georgiana Darcy is going to marry someone she doesn't love. It's her own choice, and she defends it by saying something like, "My family is bigger than me, many have sacrificed to keep it going, and I too will have to sacrifice to hand it on to those who come after me." It's the polar opposite of Lizzie Bennett's choice to refuse a marriage that would have given her family security. Most modern Americans would never marry someone they didn't like to keep the family together, but I still find it an admirable thing to do on some level.Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-31268809711096975752016-04-23T17:51:12.869-04:002016-04-23T17:51:12.869-04:00I'm pretty much for individuals as the unit of...I'm pretty much for individuals as the unit of mattering.<br /><br />That's a nice phrase, though--I've often tried to think of something that captured the idea of "I don't care about X does unless X does something to some individual who experiences it as positive or negative," and saying "The individual is the unit of mattering" seems rather nice.<br /><br />Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07914381148922292029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-86056781281029836392016-04-22T21:47:14.790-04:002016-04-22T21:47:14.790-04:00+JMJ+
Well, if "people who care about indiv...+JMJ+ <br /><br />Well, if "people who care about individuals more" and "people who care about groups more" are the only two "signs" one can be in this theoretical zodiac, I'm clearly a groups person. =P But the only group I would die for (sorry, not sorry, <i>Patria mea</i>) exists for the good of its individuals. I don't see any contradiction between supporting it and supporting those individuals . . . or between hurting it and hurting those individuals. <br /><br />I'm now reminded of something I read many, <i>many</i> years ago about group dynamics. In <i>A Different Drum</i>, the psychiatrist Scott Peck (author of <i>The Road Less Traveled</i>, if that helps) said that whenever there is someone in a group who holds an unpopular opinion that no one else in the group seems to share, the reality is that <i>everyone else</i> in the group thinks it, too, but the individual is getting to be the voice of that opinion. This is true even if the opinion is so unpopular that the rest of the group wants <i>to expel</i> him. <br /><br />Now that I think about it, I think you'd really, really like <i>A Different Drum</i>! (And maybe even <i>The Road Less Traveled</i>.) I have a feeling that Dr. Peck's own mental model of different groups will echo your experiences with RC, with your in-laws, and even with Bat and me on your blog! Enbrethilielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03414765854670926854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-47176923255044397502016-04-21T22:27:31.719-04:002016-04-21T22:27:31.719-04:00Well, I don't know why, but I seem mostly to f...Well, I don't know why, but I seem mostly to feel as you do, that individuals (human individuals, mostly) are the ultimate earthly subject of political and moral questions. I also <i>think</i> it, for exactly the reasons of where consciousness operates, which you list here, but I don't know why it's also my <i>sentiment</i>.<br /><br />I do think, though, that cultures can be good or bad at serving the individuals that inhabit them, so in that sense defending [what used to be] Canadian Culture <i>is also</i> (or would have been... trying to mend it now, I guess) a service to those individuals I'll never know in this world. But, yes, it feels rather abstract.<br /><br />... I do have one story of doing a stupid thing that might (in equally-probable circumstances) actually have <i>got</i> me killed, for the sake of two people I'd never met, but... write me if you want to know. But I don't feel particularly courageous, either, and can't imagine (say) joining the Army. One can be put in the way of violence even without the Army, though... so, no way to know before it's done, I guess.Belfry Bathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00514867101036143597noreply@blogger.com