Re:Why does /. keep perpetuating this lie? (Score 1)

Well I'll bite. I hope there's a chapter or section in this work that addresses the futility of any effort to understand a contrarian "group" that defines themselves by their independence. I think /. should collect these posts but I would prefer they leave it on the web so that you can dip into it in a more ethereal and three dimensional medium. It reinforces and accentuates the individual reflections of the posts in a way that insists on the futility of gaining a real understanding of these persecuted kids. A Non-Fiction book would in my opinion fail becuase it would not as powerfully encourage the reader to particpate in their own definitions of persecution, personnal freedom, society and individuality. I think the book would sell but I would really be surprised if anyone would buy it. I agree that the natural place for this is the internet and I don't think /. is perpetuating any "lies" at all, or even for that matter judging these posts. It's very compelling reading for the simple reason that the quotes are written in the candid and empowered space of contributed content. It's really interesting from a perspective of identifying the persecuted audience as "Free Thinkers" and "Non-Conformists". If there's a group that will always be persecuted in any society it's these folks. The one concern I have about the work is that the candid comments from the poster's are compelled to fulfill the charactersitics of the profile by dentifying themselves as sympathetic to the "Geek Culture" to some degree or another. In my quick perusal of this initial release they all seem to contribute on some level to their own ideas about what that culture represents and why it should be better understood rather than persecuted. The preface does a good job framing the intent of the 'authors'. I understood it to be an effort to document the ridiculous and invasive backlash against the percieved threat this group of "Geeks" represented to a bunch of emotionally charged, well meaning but clearly misguided members of society in the words and thoughts of those individuals that were either persecuted or empathized with those that were persecuted. Still to misquote someone who's name I've forgotten "the only real threat to a free society is the society itself, especially those efforts that society undertakes to protect itself in the name of 'the common good'". Yes the persecution was misguided, yes it wrongly infringed the rights of people that matched the "profile". Can we stop it? No. Should we try to foster better understanding of this culture? not in a way that would hold up to scrutiny. The facts are never clear when passed through the filter of personnal and social perception. Truth is you can be accepted by groups who's views you don't share and have valuable, free thinking, non-conformist relationships and contributions to and from those groups. I'm not saying we couldn't have behaved better as a society in the aftermath of Littleton. I just think that there are some people that might read these postings in book form and get the idea that because *they themselves* feel persecuted or share some of the individual outlooks expressed in the postings, they might be inclined to misunderstand the responsibilties associated with free thinking and non-conformity. That responsibility is daunting and unavoidably tests you on a daily basis. The responsibily you gain by taking your freedom and guiding your life by it is to accept that you will have to defend your right to be the person you are. The cost of that freedom is IMHO tied to your courage in defending who you really are and expending a great deal of effort in finding, nurturing and building that courage. Gaining the courage to be a free thinker someimes, hell, often, negatively impacts your social status, your finincial well being, your relationships with those that love you and your opportunity to contribute to the betterment of society. The value of that freedom is gained from the self awareness you must find, articulate and test in your daily life. The best value you can gain is to gain the *opportunity* (not the right or the garuntee) to live your life within the "philosophy" you create through that self discovery. How great the costs of that freedom are a personel choice if your lucky. In any event it shouldn't but will always encourage judgement. People need validation and "free thinkers" are no exception. In my experience some of the most telling validation and philosophically rewarding interactions I've had have been a direct result of someone challenging my moral and ethical idiom. If you're conformity and freedom are not challenged then I don't think your really gaining a better understanding of yourself or realizing what I consider to be the real value of an enlightened life. If your not prepared to defend your uniqueness your just wearing the labels of Non Conformity and Free Thinking like so many fashionable labels. Sure it sucks to be persecuted but persecution does a great deal to help you define, and defend your uniqueness. If these kids were persecuted that's wrong. If they felt persecuted they *were* persecuted. How is it a "lie" for /. to share their direct thoughts and reactions to that persecution with others? Will high school ever accept people that seek out an independant outlook with a huge emphasis on personnal freedom? No. Is that a bad thing? Not in my opinion. Kids can be cruel but by and large that cruelty is less dangerous in it's naivetee and enthusiastasm than life threatening. On some level it forces people to explore their capacity to defend their own freedom while growing up. I think children need some of the ridiculous, alienating, emotionally stunted challenges of thier youthful peers and well meaning but misunderstanding seniors. It should harden their resolve and help them to gain a perspective on where their personel philosophy will be challenged. Adult society is far more subtle and insidious in challenging and dismissing free thinkers. I have found my experiences in being misunderstood as a youth have helped me a great deal in preparing me for adult life. To be sure, I never had the level of persecution that these posts indicate must have existed in the aftermath of Columbine. I think that misunderstanding the "Geek Culture" is not a large enough danger to warrant a book. In fact I think it creates a new problem in freezing the discussion and encouraging people to draw some larger "lesson" where there really isn't a neat moral. In that light I feel this entire discussion a bit frivolous and self defeating as I think it encourages people to build their own utterly insufficient "understanding" of what this "Geek Culture" represents. Why would free thinkers or enlightened members of this group have been bothered by the persecution at a socialogical level. Because we as a society perpetuated thier isolation during the aftermath? Sure persecution is deplorable and should be fought in a socially responsible way but can that battle be won outside of individual victories? I think that the reason this work is valuable is that it points out in a compelling way how persecution can escalate to the point that it traps "indpendent thinkers" and forces them to either conform or find a new way to express themselves as individuals. These moments of painful persecution so often become the crystal moments that define truly free thinkers. This work can only be succesful if it succeeds in capturing those crystal moments. If the complete work doesn't attempt to judge the multiple contradictory messages within then these messages certainly can't be lies. I think this would be less valuable as a book because a book would be inadequate in capturing the flow and context within which these messages were contributed. These messages would never be historically accurate or relevant at some future date in a static procedural medium like a book. Give us a framework within which we can find those messages that most resonate with our experiences and quest for freedom from persecution. Regards, Larry