The Usual
Observations:
1. So here’s my philosophical conundrum of the day: if religion, per David Wilson’s 2002 book “Darwin’s Cathedral,” is an evolutionary adaptation that allows intra-species groups to compete more effectively for the same resources – akin to pack behavior, in other words – then doesn’t that make inter-religious strife, well, the whole *point* of religion in the first place? A group’s behaviors and beliefs allow that group to not only operate more effectively as a unit, but also spread both its genes and memes in as many directions as possible. So, to wit, is the most violent religion also the most advanced? Is ‘peace, love and understanding’ merely polite window-dressing for a biologically sanctioned ‘kill the infidel’?
2. “You’re not a bad person,” the ever-loveable H. tells me very early this morning. “Yeah, you do stupid things and hurt people, but so the fuck what? Join the club. The fact that you didn’t mean to do those things is what matters. If you were a bad human being, you’d actually go out of your way to hurt people. You need to stop watching three-hour German movies where everyone dies in a bunker at the end.”
3. For this AARP the Magazine freelance piece I had the chance to speak to Mighty Famous Author (MFA). MFA wrote a couple of books about his young life as a junkie, one of which was turned into a big movie about a decade back. He also has a severely overprotective assistant who apparently researched me with the single-minded vigor of a KGB agent on speed, because midway through our interview MFA sprung the fact that he’d read a short story I published in college and a bunch of my nonfiction. “So, when’d you write that?” he asked. “Um, sophomore year of college,” I rattled, seized by total ball-crushing terror. “Yeah, college,” he said, voice loaded with appropriate ‘it sucked, but we’ll humor it because you were obviously younger’ subtext. “College,” I repeated again, with appropriate ‘I’m a better writer now, maybe, hopefully’ subtext.
4. But I finished the freelance piece. My hour-and-a-half interview with him ended up boiled down to about 100 words worth of quote.
5. M. was my editor for that. Our relationship is totally Janus: the ‘friends’ half of it consists yakking companionably about books or whatever while co-writing the occasional screenplay; the ‘writer/editor’ half consists of her whaling on me with revision questions, muttering ‘I’m sorry’ all the while, while I cheerfully grumble after more sources.
6. Writing a nonfiction book at this point would be total overload. But I find myself plot-plot-plotting anyway. I still haven’t heard from J. about ushering me into the Promised Land of Representation.
7. My arch has healed.
1. So here’s my philosophical conundrum of the day: if religion, per David Wilson’s 2002 book “Darwin’s Cathedral,” is an evolutionary adaptation that allows intra-species groups to compete more effectively for the same resources – akin to pack behavior, in other words – then doesn’t that make inter-religious strife, well, the whole *point* of religion in the first place? A group’s behaviors and beliefs allow that group to not only operate more effectively as a unit, but also spread both its genes and memes in as many directions as possible. So, to wit, is the most violent religion also the most advanced? Is ‘peace, love and understanding’ merely polite window-dressing for a biologically sanctioned ‘kill the infidel’?
2. “You’re not a bad person,” the ever-loveable H. tells me very early this morning. “Yeah, you do stupid things and hurt people, but so the fuck what? Join the club. The fact that you didn’t mean to do those things is what matters. If you were a bad human being, you’d actually go out of your way to hurt people. You need to stop watching three-hour German movies where everyone dies in a bunker at the end.”
3. For this AARP the Magazine freelance piece I had the chance to speak to Mighty Famous Author (MFA). MFA wrote a couple of books about his young life as a junkie, one of which was turned into a big movie about a decade back. He also has a severely overprotective assistant who apparently researched me with the single-minded vigor of a KGB agent on speed, because midway through our interview MFA sprung the fact that he’d read a short story I published in college and a bunch of my nonfiction. “So, when’d you write that?” he asked. “Um, sophomore year of college,” I rattled, seized by total ball-crushing terror. “Yeah, college,” he said, voice loaded with appropriate ‘it sucked, but we’ll humor it because you were obviously younger’ subtext. “College,” I repeated again, with appropriate ‘I’m a better writer now, maybe, hopefully’ subtext.
4. But I finished the freelance piece. My hour-and-a-half interview with him ended up boiled down to about 100 words worth of quote.
5. M. was my editor for that. Our relationship is totally Janus: the ‘friends’ half of it consists yakking companionably about books or whatever while co-writing the occasional screenplay; the ‘writer/editor’ half consists of her whaling on me with revision questions, muttering ‘I’m sorry’ all the while, while I cheerfully grumble after more sources.
6. Writing a nonfiction book at this point would be total overload. But I find myself plot-plot-plotting anyway. I still haven’t heard from J. about ushering me into the Promised Land of Representation.
7. My arch has healed.
posted by NiK @ 3:53 PM
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