forensicbuzz
21st Century Throwback Dad
- Messages
- 9,089
- Location
- North Shore, Chicago
So, I mentioned this in a thread and most probably passed on it, thinking it was some geeking thing. It probably is, since it's from a Fantasy-genre novel. It was Terry Goodkind's debut novel and 10 weeks after he wrote it he was offered $275k for the rights to publish. It's a bit derivative, but it was entertaining when I read it back in the mid 90's. It might be Goodkind's attempt at a pseudo-philosophical novel in the vein of Ayn Rand. The sequels aren't nearly as good and there are other issues, but that's neither here nor there in a GT Football thread.
What is the Wizard's First Rule? It's simple. It's how wizards controlled the people in the story.
People are stupid. They don't care about the truth. They can be made to believe any lie because either they want to believe it's true or because they're afraid it's true.
Why is this relevant here? Because both sides of every argument/discussion I read on this site are governed by this rule. The problem is that both sides are arguing the rule applies to those they're arguing with, while it can be equally applied to both sides.
How do we stop being stupid? I don't have the full answer, but it probably starts by opening our minds to each other and not trying to convince someone that "we're right and you're wrong." As our former coach was apt to say, it's never as good or bad as it seems at the moment.
We're getting better. This season is better than last season. Last season was better than the one before that. Right now it doesn't matter if we're trying to scratch our way back to where we ended with the last regime. We need to focus on forward, not backward. Our young players are getting a ton of experience. That's why those that played last year are better this year. It works that way. Our trajectory is not linear. We're growing in fits and starts. So, a bad game by our young QB should be anticipated.
Today was a cluster, all around. Yet, despite the refs (who absolutely changed the complexion of the game with their one-sided calls), we almost won. No moral victories. We lost and losing sucks. But This team has some really special talent and getting more talented each class.
So, you can choose to be negative and continue to drag our program, players, coaches, and administration down if you want, but I'm going to put you on ignore because I think we're going to be really good soon and I don't need your negativity. And that's too bad because I think many of you have some really interesting things to say.
What is the Wizard's First Rule? It's simple. It's how wizards controlled the people in the story.
People are stupid. They don't care about the truth. They can be made to believe any lie because either they want to believe it's true or because they're afraid it's true.
Why is this relevant here? Because both sides of every argument/discussion I read on this site are governed by this rule. The problem is that both sides are arguing the rule applies to those they're arguing with, while it can be equally applied to both sides.
How do we stop being stupid? I don't have the full answer, but it probably starts by opening our minds to each other and not trying to convince someone that "we're right and you're wrong." As our former coach was apt to say, it's never as good or bad as it seems at the moment.
We're getting better. This season is better than last season. Last season was better than the one before that. Right now it doesn't matter if we're trying to scratch our way back to where we ended with the last regime. We need to focus on forward, not backward. Our young players are getting a ton of experience. That's why those that played last year are better this year. It works that way. Our trajectory is not linear. We're growing in fits and starts. So, a bad game by our young QB should be anticipated.
Today was a cluster, all around. Yet, despite the refs (who absolutely changed the complexion of the game with their one-sided calls), we almost won. No moral victories. We lost and losing sucks. But This team has some really special talent and getting more talented each class.
So, you can choose to be negative and continue to drag our program, players, coaches, and administration down if you want, but I'm going to put you on ignore because I think we're going to be really good soon and I don't need your negativity. And that's too bad because I think many of you have some really interesting things to say.