I'm going to reply to this comment in good faith, because I think a lot of people actually think like this but are afraid to ask about it.

The question before the court is: how can you read fiction during times of crisis and upheaval? Why not study history instead?
And the answer is complicated, but it must start with the acknowledgement that history is fiction, too.

Stories don't really happen, stories are created by synthesizing things that may or may not have happened and presenting them in a narrative frame.
The idea that we should all be reading history books is, generously interpreted, actually an argument that we ought to be focusing our recreational activities in ways that make us better equipped to understand global events.

And that's fine, that's a fine opinion to have --
-- for yourself.

If history books are what allow you to make sense of what's happening around you then by all means read history books.

But what you're not getting is that all stories -- not just the "true" ones -- help us make sense of what's happening around us.
I'd argue that reading Les Miserables will teach you more about the current historical moment than reading any number of history books.

That Dostoevsky has more to teach us about our shared humanity than any historical scholar.

That Shakespeare helps make sense of motivations.
"Ok but those are the classics, what I'm really trying to do is express judgment towards people who are reading popcorn fiction during a time of crisis."

Ok, so what if someone is reading the DaVinci Code? Or watching Jersey Shore? My point holds:
Those stories contain emotional, narrative, social and yes historical "truths". They're just synthesized and presented in a frame that doesn't claim to be factual.

You're still consuming meaning. That's why it feels good.
"Ok, but surely not all meaning is created equal? Can't we say that some meaning is more useful / appropriate / relevant than other meaning?"

Useful / Appropriate / Relevant to what, though? Why are you seeking to judge?

Sometimes people just do what makes them happy. So?
(If you want more thoughts about Narrative, including why Narrative is how Magic works, check out this thread and the one I link to from the end of it: )

β€’ β€’ β€’

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
γ€€

Keep Current with πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ sunflower seeds 🌻

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ sunflower seeds 🌻 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @mykola

Mar 18
I get a lot of DMs from people asking for help, or just asking for conversation. I'm not always prompt at responding, and I don't always respond.

It's just too much. Recently someone reached out about their recent ex who they think is Autistic and are worried he may be suicidal.
I would like nothing better than to track down and help every single suicidal autistic person. I think we should send them all care packages to let them know we see how hard they're working.

But I can't -- I CAN'T -- get that involved in strangers' lives.
A part of what drives me in this work is a desire to serve, a desire to help, a desire to give back _in a way that works for me_.

It turns out that posting sermons about mental health and story telling is a great way to help a lot of people. I'm glad I found this work.

But.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 17
Today a coworker reached out to say that, hey, I'm visible about ND issues, have I heard of any efforts at Mode to get us to start using the subtitles on Zoom for meetings?

And it blew my mind because I hadn't even considered that, but would benefit too. So I asked in #general -
A TON of other people chimed in to say that it would really help them, too.

The good news is, if your org uses Zoom you can enable captions for YOUR account and they'll be on for any meeting you host.

Now trying to get IT to enable by default for all accounts.
Turning the captions on started as a way to accommodate one person with Auditory Processing Disorder, and turned into a dozen other people with a dozen other reasons why captions would help them, from bad connectivity to English as a second language.

This is not an accident:
Read 4 tweets
Mar 17
As I muse about my career today I'm also thinking about my last job, for the big online fine art marketplace that's just a giant front for international money laundering.

They had Russian oligarch investors as well as American oligarch investors. Now I understand why.
That's the job where they brought in a new CEO to make us more profitable and he had them cut our phenomenal benefits and then made HR tell us as if it was good news that we have more "appropriate" healthcare options.
I called out HR and the new CEO in the main company chat and refused to have the conversation in private.

Every single employee at that company had those great benefits, even non-engineers. Loved that. They framed it as a mistake.
Read 6 tweets
Mar 17
Today begins my third year of work for @ModeAnalytics.

I'm someone who often moves on after a year or two as a combination of "welp that's all I'm going to learn here", "I would like a raise and this is how that happens" and "I am so burned out."

I plan to stay at Mode longer.
a year ago things were pretty grim at Mode. We'd lost a lot of colleagues due to the pandemic (there were layoffs) and then to attrition as peoples' priorities shifted and patience waned.

But leadership has really turned it around well.
This time I made the choice to stick with the company through the difficult transitionary times instead of cutting and running, and I'm really glad I did. I've discovered whole new growth edges, and a potential for career options I'd never had elsewhere.
Read 4 tweets
Mar 10
Every once in a while I remember the night I Burned Out and the subsequent year and a half and I just start sobbing.

It was the worst time of my life, I literally wanted to die every day.

I think I have some ptsd around it that I haven’t processed.
Do you know what it’s like to suddenly lose the ability to mask?

When you have only just discovered that you ARE masking, still figuring out what Autism means?

Do you know what that does to every single relationship in your life? How deeply alone you are when you go through it?
When my burnout started I told my best friend I was suicidal. He dropped everything to fly out and spend a week with me.

He didn’t believe I was autistic.

Three months later he friend-broke-up with me because I was β€œtoo negative”.
Read 25 tweets
Mar 4
Fuck, my dad has Long Covid. He got covid at a work meeting right after Christmas and he's still sick, currently on a bunch of meds to help his lung congestion, still.
Fuck all of you people who are pushing for "covid is over" party.

Fuck you, I hope you get Long Covid and spend the remaining decades of your life out of breath, weak and disabled.
What do you have to expect?

1. You are disabled now. You cannot do the things you used to do.
2. Your able-bodied friends and family will mostly abandon you. This happens to all of us.
3. People in your life will constantly ask you if you're better yet, and ignore you if "no".
Read 38 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(