Fear is compulsory, I cannot avoid it when I go through this thought process. I have been subjected to so much additional stress in my life due to those infectious societal standards that I fear the judgment that I incur from being an outlier. I have read 1984, Fahrenheit 451, The Fountainhead, and I have witnessed firsthand what fear and public discrimination can do to an individual. I fear suppression of my thoughts, feeling, and actions above all other things.
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain”
-Litany against fear
Today in class I had an interesting discussion that I felt like continuing here online. The debate began noting the development of graphic novels through the last twenty years and went on to cover the evolution of print since the dawn of the internet. The conversation touched upon several articles I had written in the past and I felt very well versed and prepared for something that I wouldn’t necessarily have great knowledge of.
If you look at the number of people who are out reading in today’s society , there is an extremely alarming increase in the number of readers thanks to the internet and other forms of digital technology in comparison to previous years. However, this number is a false prophet when faced with obtaining epiphany. Why? There is an alarming decrease in the number of people who read literature— including fictional stories, nonfictions, biographies, or educational texts.
textbook on Structural Analysis, or XKCD’s humor compare to that presented in the writing of Shakespeare? Sure the information is easily accessible and readily available, but one could contest if the quantity makes up for the missing quality.