What an unexpectedly entertaining exchange · 3:57am Apr 29th, 2015
Cheers all!
As many of you might have noticed, the other day, I wrote and submitted a new short story.
Said story, To My, Mostly, Faithful Student has generated more hits in two days than any of my previous stories... and in fact, more than many of my previous stories combined. That's fun. It really is.
At the same time, it's also generated more Likes and Dislikes than pretty much anything else I've done. Almost as many likes as ALL my other stories COMBINED. Humorously, at least to me, the number of dislikes is vastly greater than all my other stories combined... and then multiplied.
Additionally, the comments have exploded, and I've done my best to respond to each.
I've gotta say, it's interesting seeing how polarizing this story has been. I've heard that it was wonderful, and within seconds read how utterly awful it is. Comments run from the intelligent to the lofty level of brain death required to legitimately expect a popsicle to remain frozen if you put it in your back pocket while hiking in 103 degree weather. There's been good critiques, bad critiques, and even a few in between.
And all this tells me that people are thinking.
And it is good.
When people think things through, to support, to attack, to [typo correction: defend] or to examine, what it does is engage more and more of their minds in the process of exploration. From a psychological standpoint, it's like learning to ride a bike: sometimes you do something right, sometimes you do something wrong, but the more you DO something, the more experience you accrue.
When folks are reading, they are able to experience a story. When they critique, they can analyze the tale for qualities and meaning. When people discuss and debate.... that's where the magic happens. Ideas are explored. Viewpoints are challenged. The nature of concepts and assumptions and understanding are all able to be challenged. But more than just analysis... discussion and debate allow a people to experience resistance... something that critiques and trolling really can't. Going up and being willing to question or explain means that you are willing to critically examine your own beliefs, with the understanding that you might, actually, not have the right, or only, answer.
And that, my friends, is closer to your favorite little pastel ponies' lives than I am willing to bet any of you expected to be today.
