FNG wrote:Q12543 wrote:FNG wrote:The Biles situation is nuanced and complicated. And like so many other issues today (the January 6 Capitol attack, vaccinations, climate change, etc.), opinions seem to be tied more to which political camp you declare yourself to be in than an actual thought-out opinion. I golfed and had lunch today with 11 old friends, and opinions were almost entirely on the side of "she's courageous" or "she's a coward"...and since know all these guys political views (like I said, they're old friends), I knew in advance what their take on Biles would be. Almost all of the opinions were entirely black and white for an incident that is not at all black and white. I don't quite know what my thoughts are about this, but I'm quite sad at the political divide in this country. It's bizarre to me how everything has to be political these days in such a polarizing way. We need to be better.
Yeah, I agree and I'm not even passing judgment on Biles herself. She is one data point in a broader trend I'm seeing that I happen to have mixed feelings about. And her situation may be the wrong one to prompt my musings on the topic. I just have a bit of skepticism around the motives and media coverage of these mental health incidents among high-profile athletes and Hollywood types. I believe it's become almost en vogue at this point in some corners.
For some, a bout of anxiety (which is a very normal and perfectly human ailment probably all of us have experienced at some point) suddenly turns into a mental health crisis that must be discussed, publicized, and empathized with very publicly. Not sure how I feel about that.
On everything being politicized, I couldn't agree more. That's why I love folks with heterodox views - even if I disagree with some of them. At least they show an independent mind and don't succumb to tribal pressure and instincts.
Kudos to Q (Qdos?) for using a word I had to look up...heterodox! And your last paragraph couldn't be any more right on.
Good posts everyone and I like the term Qdos!
Q I do feel conflicted about how people's lives are on full display. On one had some of the public figures being open is allowing for awareness maybe helping to set a new social norm of it being ok to share some of these things and also make decisions on what an individual needs to do for themselves.
On the other hand I think we likely both agree that there is a thirst for information by people and a lot of media are all too willing to provide it. If I'm truly honest I do feed into it some as well at some level although I don't click on a lot of links spend too much time reading about every famous person's stuff. I have too much time gossiping about the people I know! Lol jk...but I'm guilty of that too at times. I also realize that some famous people do utilize some of these topics to their advantage to draw attention to themselves either because they simply want attention or as a calculated part of marketing themselves.
What I try and do is separate what seems trendy with what I perceive is something more real from individuals or a possible change in perspective that lasts longer than a season in fashion. It's honestly incredibly difficult at times.
Maybe others feel differently but I do not think I have my identity figured out. It's in some sort of constant flux. IMHO some of that is perfectly natural. Our lives environments change. I get older and so do people around me so some relationships change. Changes in careers, even hobbies can change identity. Some people struggle with their identity more than others. I can't imagine being as good at something as famous people are and not tying up a significant portion of myself in that thing. Meanwhile everyone has their opinion of you and what you should be doing and people are reporting about what you or people around you are saying which may or may not be accurate. It makes me a little stressed just thinking about it. Basically my point is that many of us likely doing have it figured out. IMHO could be more generous with each other knowing that each of us is probably going through something. I know I am.
I do think things are very politicized we do need to guard to some extent against making assumptions based on what side we assume people are on. If we do that I feel like we are just adding to the polarization. Like Q said we can have different views while not agreeing on everything.
