Author: Crowhill Report

Bossy sister turns a good deed into a bad situation

Absolutely everyone on LinkedIn would correct that to “woman with leadership qualities turns a good deed into a bad situation.”

Jordan Peterson cites A Billion Wicked Thoughts — which tries to establish what men and women desire based on their internet searches — to the effect that women are most attracted to the list of characters in the title of this post.

This guy says JP got it wrong, and he wrote his own (fairly interesting) review of the book.

I don’t know who has it right, but on a quick look it seems the reviewer is confusing “what women search for on the Internet” (what JP was talking about) with “most desirable professions in Harlequin romance novels.”

In any event, it’s interesting stuff.

I haven’t read A Billion Wicked Thoughts, and probably never will, so I don’t know if this is a fair criticism, but I think it’s very important to make a distinction between what people fantasize about — which might be reflected in search terms — and what they actually want.

I’ve been watching Derry Girls on Netflix, which is very funny, but a little crude.

There’s an episode at a wedding where everyone is mad to participate in “rock the boat,” which is a kind of seated line dance. I was sure they had invented it as a joke for the show, but it’s a real thing.

And in case you were wondering, Derry Girls didn’t invent it, they just brought it to the rest of the world.

As with most wedding / line dance things, it’s very silly.

The song came on a playlist on my Amazon Music app, and it sent me down a little rabbit trail.

I assume everyone knows that “My Sweet Lord” is about Krishna, although some people who don’t listen carefully think it’s about Jesus, or at least pretend that it is.

Imagine the various reactions to this song.

The “generally spiritual” person might think, “Okay, if that’s what he likes, more power to him. If it gives meaning to his life, so much the better.”

The fundamentalist might think, “He’s a demon worshipper. Don’t listen to that song so you’re not infected!”

The liberal Christian might think, “He’s on to something, just not the right something.”

The Jungian psychologist might think, “Krisha is a fundamental archetype that permeates all of human experience. This kind of devotion is psychologically healthy.”

The “new atheist” might think, “Wrong, wrong, wrong. He’s wrong and stupid and wrong and … did I mention stupid?”

Which of these reactions is the least human?

There’s a weird, fundamental mismatch in the things I see every week — often on LinkedIn, but in other places as well.

On the one hand, we’re told that everybody is different, with different dreams and so on. On the other hand we’re expected to be motivated by one particular person’s inspiring story.

But that person is different, with different desires and dreams. Why should I expect that his life has any message for me?

If you push “different” too far, we’re all alone. We have nothing to talk about. Your life and dreams and “lived experience” is something I will never understand, and there’s no point in trying.

If you push “similar” too far, we can’t benefit from the amazing variety of gifts that people bring.

And if you do either of these things while bunching people together into identity groups, you are an enemy of the human race.