What You Can’t Say
Cool link of the day: Arabic numerals
I found Paul Graham’s article about What You Can’t Say by way of Slashdot, but it’s been making the blog rounds ever since. Since I referred to my more unmentionable opinions in a comment a few days ago, I found the article timely. My favorite thing you can’t say that Graham actually came out and said was:
It could be that the scientists are simply smarter; most physicists could, if necessary, make it through a PhD program in French literature, but few professors of French literature could make it through a PhD program in physics.
But seriously, here’s the Conformist Test; it will tell you whether you need to read the whole article:
Do you have any opinions that you would be reluctant to express in front of a group of your peers?
If the answer is no, you might want to stop and think about that. If everything you believe is something you’re supposed to believe, could that possibly be a coincidence? Odds are it isn’t.
One popular reaction to the article is going forth and giving your personal list of Things You Can’t Say. Aaron Swartz gives a representative list including endorsements of eugenics, bestiality, and racial superiority. The trouble with these lists is that they’re all the same political hot-buttons. You’d think unspeakables would come up in other areas of life.
So I tried to think of things you can’t say in fandom. I’m blogging late because I was busy chatting about whether Trek fandom is dead - but plenty of people think it is, so that doesn’t quite qualify as unspeakable.
I think it’s relatively taboo to say that good writing is an inborn talent - some people don’t have it and no amount of hard work will ever make them good writers. There are cases when you see someone working so hard at something at which they so clearly will never succeed, and you want to tell them to get a new hobby. I’m thinking of an aspiring pro writer, not anyone who might be reading this blog - but the same taboo exists in fandom. It’s related to the general myth of equal potential, but since Americans aren’t allowed to say that’s a myth, I’ll just be going now.