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Meanwhile, the world outside of the Vonnegut Museum is performing an homage to him by attempting to recreate Harrison Bergeron. I became a Vonnegut fan at age

Meanwhile, the world outside of the Vonnegut Museum is performing an homage to him by attempting to recreate Harrison Bergeron. I became a Vonnegut fan at age 12 when I tried to check out Breakfast of Champions from the local library, and they sent me home with a permission slip for my mom to sign instead. So of course I had to read all of his books. Then had to reread them a few years later to understand them. "A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved." -- Vonnegut

cableshaft 7y ago
> Meanwhile, the world outside of the Vonnegut Museum is performing an homage to him by attempting to recreate Harrison Bergeron. It does seem like that sometimes. I think generally things have been going in the right direction overall (mostly), but some people are never satisfied and use social media to loudly demand that everything in society to be structured in exactly the way that pleases them, and not make any attempts to adapt themselves to society. But if that never happened, and everyone was quiet, we wouldn't have the positive overall changes our world enjoys, it's just sad to see some people that look like they don't want to even try to enjoy the life they're given.
rozab 7y ago
So, exactly what parallels do you see between the world today and Harrison Bergeron? This story is constantly misinterpreted by libertarian types. Vonnegut himself has disputed such readings. [0] [0]: https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/may/05/vonnegut_lawyers_could/ https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/may/05/vonnegut_lawyers_c...
- WorldMaker 7y ago
  It reminds me of how many memes right now are going around trying to get people to recall the difference between "equity" and "equality". That story is a fascinatingly absurd version of those sorts of memes, and the reasons it can be so easily misinterpreted coincide directly with why those memes seem to be circulating again in today's political climate.
bsder 7y ago
> Meanwhile, the world outside of the Vonnegut Museum is performing an homage to him by attempting to recreate Harrison Bergeron. Diana Moon Glampers demonstrated a competent executive branch of government. Reality is not so kind. (If you want to know who Diana Moon Glampers is ... Go read "Harrison Bergeron".)
thundergolfer 7y ago
> Meanwhile, the world outside of the Vonnegut Museum is performing an homage to him by attempting to recreate Harrison Bergeron. Can you expand on this? Isn't a central part of that book radical equalisation, where today's world is full of people and institutions driving inequality to greater heights. In the story talented people are forced to handicap themselves. What is the parallel of that to the real world?
- 0xcde4c3db 7y ago
  Beyond that: to me, the thing that distinguishes Harrison Bergeron in the field of dystopian literature is how relentlessly farcical it is. The "handicaps" are self-defeating because they blatantly advertise the advantages that they're meant to neutralize. The allegedly super-intelligent rebel protagonist acts like an impulsive idiot. His ultimate showdown isn't against a legion of high-tech enforcers, but against a shotgun-wielding bureaucrat. In short, it goes beyond merely being unbelievable; it gleefully throws the whole notion of believability into a dumpster and sets it on fire because the fire is pretty.
- patrec 7y ago
  https://www.research.ibm.com/5-in-5/ai-and-bias/ https://www.research.ibm.com/5-in-5/ai-and-bias/

cableshaft 7y ago

> Meanwhile, the world outside of the Vonnegut Museum is performing an homage to him by attempting to recreate Harrison Bergeron. It does seem like that sometimes. I think generally things have been going in the right direction overall (mostly), but some people are never satisfied and use social media to loudly demand that everything in society to be structured in exactly the way that pleases them, and not make any attempts to adapt themselves to society. But if that never happened, and everyone was quiet, we wouldn't have the positive overall changes our world enjoys, it's just sad to see some people that look like they don't want to even try to enjoy the life they're given.

rozab 7y ago

So, exactly what parallels do you see between the world today and Harrison Bergeron? This story is constantly misinterpreted by libertarian types. Vonnegut himself has disputed such readings. [0] [0]: https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/may/05/vonnegut_lawyers_could/ https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/may/05/vonnegut_lawyers_c...

WorldMaker 7y ago
It reminds me of how many memes right now are going around trying to get people to recall the difference between "equity" and "equality". That story is a fascinatingly absurd version of those sorts of memes, and the reasons it can be so easily misinterpreted coincide directly with why those memes seem to be circulating again in today's political climate.

bsder 7y ago

> Meanwhile, the world outside of the Vonnegut Museum is performing an homage to him by attempting to recreate Harrison Bergeron. Diana Moon Glampers demonstrated a competent executive branch of government. Reality is not so kind. (If you want to know who Diana Moon Glampers is ... Go read "Harrison Bergeron".)

thundergolfer 7y ago

> Meanwhile, the world outside of the Vonnegut Museum is performing an homage to him by attempting to recreate Harrison Bergeron. Can you expand on this? Isn't a central part of that book radical equalisation, where today's world is full of people and institutions driving inequality to greater heights. In the story talented people are forced to handicap themselves. What is the parallel of that to the real world?

0xcde4c3db 7y ago
Beyond that: to me, the thing that distinguishes Harrison Bergeron in the field of dystopian literature is how relentlessly farcical it is. The "handicaps" are self-defeating because they blatantly advertise the advantages that they're meant to neutralize. The allegedly super-intelligent rebel protagonist acts like an impulsive idiot. His ultimate showdown isn't against a legion of high-tech enforcers, but against a shotgun-wielding bureaucrat. In short, it goes beyond merely being unbelievable; it gleefully throws the whole notion of believability into a dumpster and sets it on fire because the fire is pretty.
patrec 7y ago
https://www.research.ibm.com/5-in-5/ai-and-bias/ https://www.research.ibm.com/5-in-5/ai-and-bias/