Update 7 - a Little Bit of Part 1

Progress Report

Man, it was a tough day for writing. Have any of y'all who write ever had one of those days where you feel like you bash your head against your computer and nothing seems to happen? Well, thankfully, that wasn't how things ended up today, but it certainly felt like that's how they progressed.

Since working on the structure of the book I've been eager to push forward and get some stuff written for the different sections. I've started pulling in some stuff from the blog entries, and I'm excited about the direction things are going. 

Below you will find a little bit of what I've written for the first heavier section after the introduction. I welcome feedback, as always. Cheers!

A Sample

Before we can talk about pop-culture, or even about art in general, we need to talk about human beings. And, when we talk about human beings, we're going to have to talk about the universe in general. What I'm saying is that we can't talk about pop-culture without talking about Everything first.

Now, given the loose meaning of the word “talk,” this statement of mine isn't strictly true. I'm sure that we could engage in relatively lengthy verbal exchanges about The Long Halloween¹ or Buffy the Vampire Slayer² without first discussing the majesty of the cosmos or whether human life is ultimately futile. However, if we want our talk to lead to greater vision and understanding for both of us, two things are required:

1. We need to share a common theory of man and the universe. And,
2. That theory has to be correct.

Without number 1, you, or I, or both of us, might think we've made some progress in understanding, or that we've seen something worth seeing, but it won't be something shared between us. When discussing anything there is to discuss, the meaning of “progress,” “understanding,” “seen,” “something,” and “worth,” are dependent on our underlying assumptions about man, the universe, and the relationship between the two. If we don't share the assumptions, we can't progress together, because we aren't agreed on where we started or where we're going.

And, without number 2, thinking we've made progress (even together) is simply incorrect by definition. Our theory is wrong, so our conclusions based upon that theory will be wrong. You may disagree with the premise of this argument, or that it is the correct way to frame the question (see the rest of this chapter) but you have to admit the validity of the argument itself.

So, as human beings, both of us have a stake in being correct, and as an author, I'm clearly trying to convey ideas in writing while you're trying to understand them by reading. I'm trying to share these ideas with you. We're trying to come to a shared understanding.

Hence, we need to discuss Everything before we can discuss pop-culture.

1 A 13 issue series of Batman comics written by Mr. Jeph Loeb, with art by Mr. Tim Sale.

2 A popular television series by Mr. Joss Whedon.

© 2014 John Hiner III

Tweet