Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: hypocrisy is interesting

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:9/26/2000; 11:47:56 AM
Topic:hypocrisy is interesting
Msg #:21730 (In response to 21728)
Prev/Next:21729 / 21731

Yes! One might take the low road and call it hypocrisy, or take the high road and call it "changing your mind".

I ran the survey about Bush because I thought it was an interesting question with a sharp edge. Somehow it didn't seem as interesting to ask it about Gore, and honestly I didn't even think of asking it about Gore, not because he isn't disgusting, he is (to me) but Gore is much better known than Bush (he's the VP after all) and the disgustingness of Bush is something new and had a little interest for me at the time.

I wrote about this phenomenon, of people changing, in 1997:

Just when you think you know someone, they change. Sometimes the change can come out in a confusing way. The simplest assumption is just that something about the person changed, nothing more. It can feel like you're being abandoned or betrayed, and in a sense you are. Your old friend is leaving, and a new one is taking his or her place.

When a friend changes you can find the bond that's connecting you at a deeper level. The surface stuff isn't a good thing to depend on. Physical bodies change as they grow. So do emotional bodies and intellectual ones. Take a deep breath. People move, life is more like a wild dance than a ceremony. You just can't tell what's coming next.

Of course since today's critic is a total stranger to me, and probably isn't even using his real name, all he's got to go on are the bits stored in a file on a machine in Santa Clara. That's not a very reliable way to gauge the state of a human body, be it emotional, spatial, or intellectual.

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