Read on Twitter
Just listened to the recent podcast (link at the end) by @ttmygh and @EpsilonTheory
Couldn’t help but feel it missed 2 big things: First, that the medium is the message.
And second, that the hero we need now is The Trickster...
1/
Couldn’t help but feel it missed 2 big things: First, that the medium is the message.
And second, that the hero we need now is The Trickster...
1/
The TL;DR you need as background is that there’s some suggestion perhaps Chris Wallace’s steady demeanor was more effective at painting a proper critique of the President than Jonathan Swan’s snark.
And that Swan wasted (some of) an opportunity by being kind of a prick.
2/
And that Swan wasted (some of) an opportunity by being kind of a prick.
2/
Please note I’m a huge fan of everything these Ben or Grant does - I listen to it all.
And yet here, I could not help but disagree: nothing was lost by the way Jonathan Swan behaved.
In fact, something was gained.
3/
And yet here, I could not help but disagree: nothing was lost by the way Jonathan Swan behaved.
In fact, something was gained.
3/
Let's consider: what is the essence of The Emperor’s New Clothes?
I’d sum it up like this:
“For some time the townspeople observed decorum. Things got weirder as they did.
Then a child had the courage to breach it. And they could once again see.”
4/
I’d sum it up like this:
“For some time the townspeople observed decorum. Things got weirder as they did.
Then a child had the courage to breach it. And they could once again see.”
4/
Decorum is not only a good default setting, it can be a great way to maintain or increase one's access (as Grant notes well).
It is also too often the very veil which shrouds our mind from seeing the absurdity (and the danger) of poor leadership, thus allowing it to fester.
5/
It is also too often the very veil which shrouds our mind from seeing the absurdity (and the danger) of poor leadership, thus allowing it to fester.
5/
One of the most effective ways to “throw a flag on the play” of society writ large is to drop decorum. Or even more extreme, to sneer at decorum in an overt or splashy way.
This is an important job, and a major recurring archetype for humanity.
6/
This is an important job, and a major recurring archetype for humanity.
6/
Most mythologies have a decorum-breacher archetype: the Sacred Clown, the Court Jester, Loki.
Oh, and lest we forget: The Contrarian, too, is a manifestation of the decorum-breacher within the finance sphere.
7/
Oh, and lest we forget: The Contrarian, too, is a manifestation of the decorum-breacher within the finance sphere.
7/
The Trickster’s great power is to shatter illusions, and tricksters pay a high cost for this: decorum-breachers are ill-viewed by the powerful.
Socrates, for example, was made to drink poison for being one.
Even today, we attack whistle-blowers despite laws to the contrary.
8/
Socrates, for example, was made to drink poison for being one.
Even today, we attack whistle-blowers despite laws to the contrary.
8/
So we have to ask ourselves: if there tends to be an inherently high personal cost to Tricksterism, what sorts of things cause an upsurge in this?
And also: why are we seeing a rather large wave of decorum-breaching as of late?
9/
And also: why are we seeing a rather large wave of decorum-breaching as of late?
9/
Well... in a way it's because the Trickster archetype is part of Humanity’s immune system.
We are in a time when the veils of illusion have become poisonously strong.
And so the Clown Warrior has come.
10/
We are in a time when the veils of illusion have become poisonously strong.
And so the Clown Warrior has come.
10/
Swan didn’t get more attention because of cheap tricks, he got more attention because his message was more appropriate to the time we are in.
His message, in its irreverence, was more powerful and more valuable.
And braver: he dares to do it at the locus of maximum power.
11/
His message, in its irreverence, was more powerful and more valuable.
And braver: he dares to do it at the locus of maximum power.
11/
The message Swan embodies is not “this Prez’s decision-making is weird” - that may have been Wallace’s message, but it’s not Swan’s.
Swan’s medium breaks the 4th wall and speaks to us, the viewer
He tells us that our respect for tradition blinds us to that which is obvious
12/
Swan’s medium breaks the 4th wall and speaks to us, the viewer
He tells us that our respect for tradition blinds us to that which is obvious
12/
And what is obvious to Swan is that it’s *still absurd* for the leader of the free world to behave in such a manner.
Swan’s true message is a powerful reminder not to allow ourselves to normalize this nonsense from our political leaders.
He reminds us to recalibrate.
13/
Swan’s true message is a powerful reminder not to allow ourselves to normalize this nonsense from our political leaders.
He reminds us to recalibrate.
13/
The Trickster is the medium.
The medium is the message.
The message is that our our leaders are not of sound mind.
The Emperor is mad.
...and you know... in a certain light, the guy looks an awful lot like a Targaryen.
13/
The medium is the message.
The message is that our our leaders are not of sound mind.
The Emperor is mad.
...and you know... in a certain light, the guy looks an awful lot like a Targaryen.
13/
I find it very unfortunate that many have looked down upon Swan's decorum-breaching choices. Then again, that's kind of the Trickster's lot in life.
But still: count me as someone not looking down on it, not one bit.
Count me as someone who is 100% grateful for it.
14/
But still: count me as someone not looking down on it, not one bit.
Count me as someone who is 100% grateful for it.
14/
Once again: I’m a hopeless fanboy of @ttmygh and @EpsilonTheory - check out their work if you’re not familiar with it already, everything they do is the highest quality brain food available.
Podcast referenced here is linked below.
/15 https://ttmygh.podbean.com/e/tng_0003/
Podcast referenced here is linked below.
/15 https://ttmygh.podbean.com/e/tng_0003/
