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I don't really see how you can simply assume that there's some sort of absolute standard for "banality". Would this article be banal to a 10 year old? A 20 year

I don't really see how you can simply assume that there's some sort of absolute standard for "banality". Would this article be banal to a 10 year old? A 20 year old? How many super surprising things might seem banal to an 80 year old? I'm 34 and I didn't think it was banal at all. A lot of PG's essays seem obvious to me now, but I can tell you what originally brought me to this site is that PG's thought's were not obvious to me at all when I was 18, and they had a huge influence on me. Perhaps I'm banal? Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world I suppose, although I don't think people that know me would generally describe me that way. If you were to think I'm banal, it's probably because you have thought about things I'm saying more than I myself have, but that doesn't mean my statements would be banal to people who haven't thought about things I want to say.

dennis_jeeves 7y ago
>I'm 34 and I didn't think it was banal at all. Fair enough, for someone who is 34. Just make sure to read/listen/see ( if you can ) the works of people who are may have made astute observations of human nature a very long time back, even generations back. I'm talking about the likes of Aristotle, or a Carl Sagan, or a George Orwell, or a Woody Allen ( a comedian) etc. They all offer significantly more insight into human nature much more than PG can. Ofcourse your limit might be PG at your age. And nothing wrong with that. I too will be banal by some standards. We all got to fine tune to our level of stupidly to the 'thought' leaders we are think are our heroes.
dennis_jeeves 7y ago
May I also suggest, that you are taking things a little too personally? You are internalizing something which IMHO, you shouldn't. A thick skin helps. To answer your other question: >Would this article be banal to a 10 year old? A 20 year old? How many super surprising things might seem banal to an 80 year old? This would be quite banal to a well read 'smart' 20 year old. ( 10 year old - extremely unlikely)

dennis_jeeves 7y ago

>I'm 34 and I didn't think it was banal at all. Fair enough, for someone who is 34. Just make sure to read/listen/see ( if you can ) the works of people who are may have made astute observations of human nature a very long time back, even generations back. I'm talking about the likes of Aristotle, or a Carl Sagan, or a George Orwell, or a Woody Allen ( a comedian) etc. They all offer significantly more insight into human nature much more than PG can. Ofcourse your limit might be PG at your age. And nothing wrong with that. I too will be banal by some standards. We all got to fine tune to our level of stupidly to the 'thought' leaders we are think are our heroes.

dennis_jeeves 7y ago

May I also suggest, that you are taking things a little too personally? You are internalizing something which IMHO, you shouldn't. A thick skin helps. To answer your other question: >Would this article be banal to a 10 year old? A 20 year old? How many super surprising things might seem banal to an 80 year old? This would be quite banal to a well read 'smart' 20 year old. ( 10 year old - extremely unlikely)