Masks

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

I'm thinking a distinction should be made but I'm thinking it's not mask wearers v's non-mask wearers

Maybe Mask wearers who are good at playing the part and mask wearers that suck at it.

You start out designing a new mask, a new personality, there's a learning curve, an adjustment period. During this adjustment period everyone who knows the old mask will accuse you of trying to "be something you're not" or "fake" or words to that effect.

This aspect of human nature gets right on my tits. Give a person time to settle in and they'll grow into their new mask. Like riding a new bike. Discouraging it is discouraging growth. Most of the time it's just sour grapes anyroad but a lot of the time it works.

Has anyone already done a piece about taking off the various masks until you realize there's nothing left? It feels familiar, but I'm not sure if that's just because I've had a version of it bouncing around for the better part of a year.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I'm thinking a distinction should be made but I'm thinking it's not mask wearers v's non-mask wearers

Maybe Mask wearers who are good at playing the part and mask wearers that suck at it.

You start out designing a new mask, a new personality, there's a learning curve, an adjustment period. During this adjustment period everyone who knows the old mask will accuse you of trying to "be something you're not" or "fake" or words to that effect.

This aspect of human nature gets right on my tits. Give a person time to settle in and they'll grow into their new mask. Like riding a new bike. Discouraging it is discouraging growth. Most of the time it's just sour grapes anyroad but a lot of the time it works.

Has anyone already done a piece about taking off the various masks until you realize there's nothing left? It feels familiar, but I'm not sure if that's just because I've had a version of it bouncing around for the better part of a year.

Ooh.

Maybe. The idea is similar to Roger's Uniforms analogy, but with the added bit about the crap on the inside

[LMNO]

I'm thinking a distinction should be made but I'm thinking it's not mask wearers v's non-mask wearers

Maybe Mask wearers who are good at playing the part and mask wearers that suck at it.

You start out designing a new mask, a new personality, there's a learning curve, an adjustment period. During this adjustment period everyone who knows the old mask will accuse you of trying to "be something you're not" or "fake" or words to that effect.

This aspect of human nature gets right on my tits. Give a person time to settle in and they'll grow into their new mask. Like riding a new bike. Discouraging it is discouraging growth. Most of the time it's just sour grapes anyroad but a lot of the time it works.

Has anyone already done a piece about taking off the various masks until you realize there's nothing left? It feels familiar, but I'm not sure if that's just because I've had a version of it bouncing around for the better part of a year.

Write it anyway.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I'm thinking a distinction should be made but I'm thinking it's not mask wearers v's non-mask wearers

There are no "non-mask wearers".

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I'm thinking a distinction should be made but I'm thinking it's not mask wearers v's non-mask wearers

Maybe Mask wearers who are good at playing the part and mask wearers that suck at it.

You start out designing a new mask, a new personality, there's a learning curve, an adjustment period. During this adjustment period everyone who knows the old mask will accuse you of trying to "be something you're not" or "fake" or words to that effect.

This aspect of human nature gets right on my tits. Give a person time to settle in and they'll grow into their new mask. Like riding a new bike. Discouraging it is discouraging growth. Most of the time it's just sour grapes anyroad but a lot of the time it works.

Has anyone already done a piece about taking off the various masks until you realize there's nothing left? It feels familiar, but I'm not sure if that's just because I've had a version of it bouncing around for the better part of a year.

Write it anyway.

We did a series on the mask cracking and what was underneath, but that's different than what you're saying.  Write it.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

I'm thinking a distinction should be made but I'm thinking it's not mask wearers v's non-mask wearers

There are no "non-mask wearers".

Maybe a few, but only because they've given up having any identity that isn't the mask.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I'm thinking a distinction should be made but I'm thinking it's not mask wearers v's non-mask wearers

There are no "non-mask wearers".

Maybe a few, but only because they've given up having any identity that isn't the mask.

So, at that point the mask becomes the mirror, and the mirror becomes the mask, since there is no real difference between the two.

Hmmm.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I'm thinking a distinction should be made but I'm thinking it's not mask wearers v's non-mask wearers

Maybe Mask wearers who are good at playing the part and mask wearers that suck at it.

You start out designing a new mask, a new personality, there's a learning curve, an adjustment period. During this adjustment period everyone who knows the old mask will accuse you of trying to "be something you're not" or "fake" or words to that effect.

This aspect of human nature gets right on my tits. Give a person time to settle in and they'll grow into their new mask. Like riding a new bike. Discouraging it is discouraging growth. Most of the time it's just sour grapes anyroad but a lot of the time it works.

Has anyone already done a piece about taking off the various masks until you realize there's nothing left? It feels familiar, but I'm not sure if that's just because I've had a version of it bouncing around for the better part of a year.

Write it anyway.

We did a series on the mask cracking and what was underneath, but that's different than what you're saying.  Write it.

Could you bump it?

[tyrannosaurus vex]

I'm thinking a distinction should be made but I'm thinking it's not mask wearers v's non-mask wearers

There are no "non-mask wearers".

Maybe a few, but only because they've given up having any identity that isn't the mask.

So, at that point the mask becomes the mirror, and the mirror becomes the mask, since there is no real difference between the two.

Hmmm.

It's dissolution of the Ego, in a way. Also enlightenment, in a way. Except instead of giving up your Ego entirely, you just merge it with the Ego of a larger group. There are plenty of honest-to-goodness Fundamentalist Baptists who are not wearing masks, for example. That's really who they are. There are no further identities beneath the Fundamentalist Baptist masks they wear -- maybe a skeleton, maybe the grim remains of whatever motivated them to become what they are -- but no souls under all the dress-up. They are bodies that serve the purpose of an idea, nothing more.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I'm thinking a distinction should be made but I'm thinking it's not mask wearers v's non-mask wearers

There are no "non-mask wearers".

Maybe a few, but only because they've given up having any identity that isn't the mask.

So, at that point the mask becomes the mirror, and the mirror becomes the mask, since there is no real difference between the two.

Hmmm.

It's dissolution of the Ego, in a way. Also enlightenment, in a way. Except instead of giving up your Ego entirely, you just merge it with the Ego of a larger group. There are plenty of honest-to-goodness Fundamentalist Baptists who are not wearing masks, for example. That's really who they are. There are no further identities beneath the Fundamentalist Baptist masks they wear -- maybe a skeleton, maybe the grim remains of whatever motivated them to become what they are -- but no souls under all the dress-up. They are bodies that serve the purpose of an idea, nothing more.

Damn.

I'm probably going to end up having to give you a partial writing credit for the short story and the song.

[LMNO]

Oh, look.  Another article at Less Wrong that is relevant to this thread.

I thought I was working for a particular goal (become capable of doing useful Singularity work, advance the cause of a political party, do useful Singularity work). But as soon as I set that goal, my brain automatically and invisibly re-interpreted it as the goal of doing something that gave the impression of doing prestigious work for a cause (spending all my waking time working, being the spokesman of a political party, writing papers or doing something else few others could do). "Prestigious work" could also be translated as "work that really convinces others that you are doing something valuable for a cause".

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Oh, look.  Another article at Less Wrong that is relevant to this thread.

I thought I was working for a particular goal (become capable of doing useful Singularity work, advance the cause of a political party, do useful Singularity work). But as soon as I set that goal, my brain automatically and invisibly re-interpreted it as the goal of doing something that gave the impression of doing prestigious work for a cause (spending all my waking time working, being the spokesman of a political party, writing papers or doing something else few others could do). "Prestigious work" could also be translated as "work that really convinces others that you are doing something valuable for a cause".

Funny enough I was reading Less Wrong on the other tab anyway

[Don Coyote]

RE: non-mask wearers

So um, don't we define ourselves by comparing ourselves to notourselves? In other words, I am Me because I know I am not You, and the things that I used to differentiate Myself from NotMyself changes based on the NotMyself I am comparing Myself to. So wouldn't that mean there are Masks that are Mask over Mask, but also Masks that aren't complete Masks, but parts of a Mask, and you mix and match your Maskparts?

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Gonna have to sort that one out a bit when i get home. It seems pretty straightforward im just not processing it atm.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I'm thinking a distinction should be made but I'm thinking it's not mask wearers v's non-mask wearers

Maybe Mask wearers who are good at playing the part and mask wearers that suck at it.

You start out designing a new mask, a new personality, there's a learning curve, an adjustment period. During this adjustment period everyone who knows the old mask will accuse you of trying to "be something you're not" or "fake" or words to that effect.

This aspect of human nature gets right on my tits. Give a person time to settle in and they'll grow into their new mask. Like riding a new bike. Discouraging it is discouraging growth. Most of the time it's just sour grapes anyroad but a lot of the time it works.

Has anyone already done a piece about taking off the various masks until you realize there's nothing left? It feels familiar, but I'm not sure if that's just because I've had a version of it bouncing around for the better part of a year.

Write it anyway.

We did a series on the mask cracking and what was underneath, but that's different than what you're saying.  Write it.

Whatever happened with those?

Also, seems to me that both of them have a tie-in to the "Hi, My Name Is..." or whatever it was called thread. I loved that  thread. You know shit's GOOD when it makes you anxious, uncomfortable, angry, depressed, etc.

The number of people who said they started to write one but quit because it was too awful really flagged it for me as a good topic. They were on the right track... I wish they would revisit it.