Comments on: The Line Between http://dangerousintersection.org/2009/11/29/the-line-between/ Human Animals at the Crossroads of Culture, Science, Religion and Media Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:39:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: Mark Tiedemann http://dangerousintersection.org/2009/11/29/the-line-between/comment-page-1/#comment-57412 Mark Tiedemann Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:36:50 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=10316#comment-57412 Just a note on the availability of my books. Only one is "still in print"----all the rest are available in one way or another, many used, from secondary dealers who sell through Amazon, but are not technically "in print." If you walked into Borders or Barnes & Noble I doubt you get any of them besides "Remains." Just a note on the availability of my books. Only one is “still in print”—-all the rest are available in one way or another, many used, from secondary dealers who sell through Amazon, but are not technically “in print.” If you walked into Borders or Barnes & Noble I doubt you get any of them besides “Remains.”

]]> By: Erich Vieth http://dangerousintersection.org/2009/11/29/the-line-between/comment-page-1/#comment-57410 Erich Vieth Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:09:48 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=10316#comment-57410 Mark: In this post, you discuss what sounds to be a search for identity. Who are you? It's always been an elusive issue for me. On my work resume, I talk about my degrees, my law license and some accomplishments. When I read it, though, it is dry and mostly unimpressive looking. Most people can conjure up a resume that sounds halfway decent, it seems. Until you realize that they can't do it out of thin air. When I read the resumes of others, it is often obvious who is stretching their accomplishments and who has really done something. In your case, you've written many published novels, and people can see that they are still in print if they visit Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Mark-W.-Tiedemann/e/B000BCJ2VK/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1 The fact that you've written novels (among your other accomplishments) tells people many things. That you are highly literate, that you work hard, that you persevere, that others value your work, etc. Those things speak for you, so that you don't need to work so hard to spin your own accomplishments. But you also bring up another point that interests me. Who you are <em>depends</em>, doesn't it. It certainly depends on your situation, as well as your mood. This critical importance of your situation was discussed at length by Richard Nisbett in a book called The Person and the Situation (now out of print: http://www.amazon.com/Person-Situation-Lee-Ross/dp/007053926X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260149418&sr=1-1). The basic idea is that research makes it absolutely clear that basic personality characteristics are not permanent--they are drawn out by specific situations. I wrote about it these issues a bit here: http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/11/05/are-you-having-difficulty-figuring-out-who-are-you-go-consider-your-friends/ To think otherwise would invoke the fundamental attribution error. That's why I suggested (in my post) that the best way to know someone is to know their closest friends. This would be a trick in a resume, of course. We don't really want people to consult with our friends to know us. Rather, we'd like to give them something quick and dirty, even if it's not perfect. Another reason we don't list our friends on a resume is that this invites an eternal regress--to know any of my friends, you'd really need to know their closest friends, and on and on. You've got a special case where your personality would presumably show up, to some degree, in some of your characters. This reminds me of the argument by Freud (or was it Jung?) that each of the characters in our dreams is another version of ourself. You might be able to hide who you are here and there in your novels, but I would think that anyone who reads more than a few paragraphs can see and feel your complexity of thought combined with your determination to make it understandable. Unfortunately, not everyone has the time to come by and spend an afternoon with you, to see who you really are by petting your dog, seeing your CD collection, watching to see you react to their attempts at humor, watching you emote at the sunset, or whatever. Which reminds me: I videotape an interview with you more than a few months ago. It's certainly time that I finished chopping up the raw video and posting it on YouTube and DI so that people who want to get to know you can hear your voice, see your expressions and listen to your anecdotes--things that might be far more satisfying than reading your bio. Mark: In this post, you discuss what sounds to be a search for identity. Who are you? It’s always been an elusive issue for me. On my work resume, I talk about my degrees, my law license and some accomplishments. When I read it, though, it is dry and mostly unimpressive looking. Most people can conjure up a resume that sounds halfway decent, it seems. Until you realize that they can’t do it out of thin air. When I read the resumes of others, it is often obvious who is stretching their accomplishments and who has really done something. In your case, you’ve written many published novels, and people can see that they are still in print if they visit Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Mark-W.-Tiedemann/e/B000BCJ2VK/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

The fact that you’ve written novels (among your other accomplishments) tells people many things. That you are highly literate, that you work hard, that you persevere, that others value your work, etc. Those things speak for you, so that you don’t need to work so hard to spin your own accomplishments.

But you also bring up another point that interests me. Who you are depends, doesn’t it. It certainly depends on your situation, as well as your mood. This critical importance of your situation was discussed at length by Richard Nisbett in a book called The Person and the Situation (now out of print: http://www.amazon.com/Person-Situation-Lee-Ross/dp/007053926X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260149418&sr=1-1). The basic idea is that research makes it absolutely clear that basic personality characteristics are not permanent–they are drawn out by specific situations. I wrote about it these issues a bit here: http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/11/05/are-you-having-difficulty-figuring-out-who-are-you-go-consider-your-friends/ To think otherwise would invoke the fundamental attribution error. That’s why I suggested (in my post) that the best way to know someone is to know their closest friends. This would be a trick in a resume, of course. We don’t really want people to consult with our friends to know us. Rather, we’d like to give them something quick and dirty, even if it’s not perfect. Another reason we don’t list our friends on a resume is that this invites an eternal regress–to know any of my friends, you’d really need to know their closest friends, and on and on.

You’ve got a special case where your personality would presumably show up, to some degree, in some of your characters. This reminds me of the argument by Freud (or was it Jung?) that each of the characters in our dreams is another version of ourself. You might be able to hide who you are here and there in your novels, but I would think that anyone who reads more than a few paragraphs can see and feel your complexity of thought combined with your determination to make it understandable.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the time to come by and spend an afternoon with you, to see who you really are by petting your dog, seeing your CD collection, watching to see you react to their attempts at humor, watching you emote at the sunset, or whatever.

Which reminds me: I videotape an interview with you more than a few months ago. It’s certainly time that I finished chopping up the raw video and posting it on YouTube and DI so that people who want to get to know you can hear your voice, see your expressions and listen to your anecdotes–things that might be far more satisfying than reading your bio.

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