Mostly Brilliant Ideas

A blog of mostly brilliant ideas.

[rjowen]

I listened to an interesting piece by this American life today, about psychologists and the history of changing something that was once classified as a pathology into normal behavior - something that people once got therapy to avoid having as a part of their personality, their identity, their life, their outlook, something they sought to remove, and was viewed as a sickness, now classified as a normal variant of behavior and preference.

In the piece they make the claim that psychologists often unknowingly, or maybe used to, become enforcers of social norms. By having a claim on what is and isn’t healthy behavior, psychologists perform therapies that attempt to bring the socially deviant inline.

The radio piece asks the question, “where do these definitions of healthy and diseased come from?” It claims that many were previously based in social convention and history rather than science, and it’s the social scientists task and struggle to attempt to undo these mistaken definitions.

But what kind of science is this? What kind of testable object is the human mind, and what can of science can be done to get the bedrock truth of who a person is or isn’t, and what does it mean to have a psychological disease, to be pathological?

I ask because this isn’t a field I know much about, but feel I know enough to be skeptical. I ask because it challenges me and I really want to know. I ask because if I’m honest it seems like we’re kidding ourselves that there’s any bedrock truth to the human identity, any uncompromising self that exists apart from social conventions and relationships and influences. It seems to me that if science has taught us anything about psychology, it’s that humans don’t know very much about themselves, and are far more permeable, malleable, fallible, manipulable, than they can believe or want to think.

It seems to me that there is no truth here, no substance to be uncovered, no pathology or health other than what we define. And if this is true, we have a few conclusions to choose between:

1) decide upon a set of social conventions for some other reason and insist everyone adhere to them;

2) give up on psychology as a field of medicine - meant to heal or direct - and instead merge it with anthropology, meant as descriptive rather than curative.

[rjowen]

Marketing

It seems to me that there’s nothing inherently wrong about selling something. About making a thing and then making it available for sale, or about buying something and then adding a little markup for your trouble and selling it, or about taking a commission when you find someone who wants to buy a thing and connect them to someone who wants to sell it. At the most basic level the idea of a market seems fine, even sort of virtuous - people able to optimize or maximize or be rewarded for doing a thing they hopefully chose (making the thing being sold) and make a living. Other people getting things they want or need. It all seems fine.

The place it starts to get murky for me is marketing and advertising - telling stories about the product or why you might need it. It’s murky and not downright wrong because these stories might be true and they might be helpful. Many products are complicated and require explanation, or the need of them is remote and might seem unimportant. Sometimes the product itself is actually life saving or essential, or if not those, actually really inherently virtuous. In such cases it seems good to tell stories, good to explain why you might need it.

But often times that’s not the case, or in any rate it’s difficult to say when it is or it isn’t, but it seems clear that marketers over each. They appeal to fear, rage, and greed, or some other base emotion. They try to get you to want a thing you wouldn’t or need a thing you don’t, to buy something superfluous or overly expensive.

And there’s no clear line when it’s one and not the other - that’s up to your own moral compass. Marketers can’t outright lie about what a product can do, so instead we settle on little lies that encore myths about who you’ll be if you buy it. You’ll be a patriot who is doing the right thing, or a responsible parent, or a happy person, or more appealing to the opposite sex. You’ll be successful. You’ll be handsome. And the most abstract, most ridiculous, most American myth of all: you’ll be you, an individual, your own self fully expressed and fully alive, if only you self-actualize through this dr. Pepper.

This seems wrong because these big myths or dreams of your life seem beyond the reach of products. Products are all simple fixes, and these dreams are complicated to achieve and never the result of a single action, and certainly not a purchase. Achieving success or happiness or self-actualizarion takes many decisions over a period of time, and the path is never written, and if it were it certainly wouldn’t be written by the marketing major who spent four years in college watching movies and two getting and mba while interning at an agency getting coffee and being condescended to by his boss. That person isn’t happy. They’re not successful. The prototypical ones drink a lot and have unhealthy sex lives and very few friendships of note or extended duration. They are ironically the last people one would consult about any of the things they promise and the ones most in need of the promis’s fulfillment. If success were a 12 step program chances are good that the average product marketer inventing a success-focused campaign is living at least 3 or 4 steps behind the target market they’re trying to reach.

So maybe marketing isn’t a lie for our benefit so much as it is for the marketers themselves. They sell a purposefully fake oath to success to cover their own lack of it, to see if the con works well enough to continue bringing in the money needed to fuel their juvenile and destructive unhappy life habits.

[rjowen]

Treachery

There are many things in life which a person cannot trust - the weather, whether someone is going to have your back in a fight, whether or favorite teacher will be sick, whether you’ll remember everything you need to do, whether your pants will be buttoned appropriately when you arrive at the big meeting. There are so many things. So many casual betrayals that the uncaring universe might impose upon a person; so many unthinking and unfortunate eventualities that could spill forth upon any of us, at any time, for any reason, or more likely for no reason, which is worse.

It’s for this reason that a person must take comfort, where they can, in the few things that seem to be relatively dependable. Eyesight, while it lasts. The benefits of drinking coffee. The joy of listening to a child laugh, but not whether the child will be laughing, because they cry as often as they laugh. The pleasure of drinking water that is appropriately chilled.

As a child, there are some things which may be trusted that turn false and prove treacherous in adulthood. Masculine prowess in the sheets, for example, or so I’ve been told but not yet arisen to such an age as to worry, though this jackal may be flitting around the horizon of my future, and I mean this not as a boast but because it’s something I’m genuinely worried about. Anyway, there are more: your ability to recover from bruises, recover from alcohol, recover from just about anything, other than the loss of a pet or a pen or anything, because adults can’t heal as quickly physically but are emotionally blunted enough to not experience loss as loss except in the most extreme of circumstances, and then they act exactly like children. And also your ability to reinvent yourself. Children can do this pretty easily - 4th grade you doesn’t need to carry the problems of 3rd grade on. Or maybe they do. I don’t know, we changed schools a lot.

Another one of those things, perhaps the worst, is farts.

As a child a fart is almost always just a fart. Sometimes smelly, but not too much. Within the average range of smelliness. And just about never diarrhea, unless you have diarrhea and then you usually know it in advance enough to not shart yourself often. As an adult, farts are a total wild card. They might be the worst thing anyone has ever smelled, especially if you’re taking some kind of weird probiotic or have made weird changes to your diet, which adults are doing all the time. They might be sharts. Or they might not actually come - that gas bubble might just keep building up in your belly, making you feel like you’re going to die, or more like you’re already dying, just being ripped to shreds from the inside out. And the reality is that you’re probably not dying and it’s like 2 ounces of gas - something really small - but you’d never know. You sit there wondering when you should go to urgent care, or when you should call a doctor, but it’s just gas. And if it smells bad, you wonder if you’re dying inside - some kind of rotting stomach cancer and you’re smelling your own death, because it does smell like death either way, and what should you do about this? Do you call up a doctor and say, my farts smell like death and feel like death? Do you say this to a trusted friend? Do you post it on the internet? There’s no way of knowing, no protocol for it. You can joke with your bros, but that’s purposefully superficial, and the topic of farts is chosen to exhibit that purposeful stupidity - not because anyone actually has the knowledge or interest to discuss real intestinal struggles. In fact admitting that you had them would completely kill the conversation and you’d have to start talking about boobs or something instead. Your options are limited. You can do some googling, but beware, because there’s all sorts of weird shit on the internet and who knows what kind of weird fetish forum you’re going to arrive at. Instead you just mostly suffer in silence and try to remember what you ate and try not to eat it again, or to eat more of something else, and see what happens, and hope it doesn’t happen to much.

Another one is wearing cool underwear. Kids get to do it all the time, but adults just wear a solid color, and no one really remembers what they put on in the morning unless it’s got some kind of cool texture.

And caring about playing with pets. Who gives a damn about gerbils? Why did you ever? I guess this isn’t really a betrayal, unless the betrayal is you and your adult heart - betrayal to some promise you made to pet owners, and breeders of small rodents, by extensions, and those small mammals themselves, but I guess there are always other kids to pick them up and have them as class pets.

No, the worst by far is gas. A true treachery and ultimate betrayal. Tantamount to treason. Worthy of the gulag, if only we could find the culprit who festooned this tragedy upon us.

[rjowen]

Unnecessary

On the inability of perfunctory prefects to perfect their fetid fickle feckless freckles

Imagining images of immaculate immersions

His ebullient expression evoked an image of immaculate immersion in imported impotence

Importing the improper compote caused the pouncing of the pawns prawn

Prawns plan to preen before playing prone on the lawns

[rjowen]

Commencement 1

Graduates, honored guests, distinguished faculty, persons of interest, people of note - welcome, and congratulations. Congratulations on making it to this moment, in this place, on that particular plastic chair. For those of you who are graduating, well done - you have achieved something spectacular. For those of you who are attending to support a graduate or just because you had nothing else going on this morning, welcome, and I hope the coffee was good, not because I had anything to do with providing it but because it is a shame to have to drink bad coffee on any morning, but especially on a morning like today, when you are celebrating something. That thick black tar taste from bad coffee lingers in the back of your mouth, and it makes it impossible to really enjoy the moment or brunch after this. If it wasn’t good, be sure to get some seltzer water before you try to eat anything you want to taste. Anyway, welcome.

Graduates, commencement is normally a time when you get to glaze over and try not to fall asleep. If the graduating class is large enough you may actually be able to fall asleep, or at least check your cell phone. I hope you won’t do that this morning, because what I have to say to you this morning is incredibly important and perhaps the most valuable advice you’ll ever receive.

Most commencement addresses are boring because they focus on abstract ideas and big rallying cries. People tell you to do it, to go for it, to keep getting up when you get knocked down. They tell you a little bit about themselves and their story and encourage you that you can do it too, whatever it is, but mostly they focus on something like being true to yourself or not giving up. All of that stuff is important, sure, and probably true, but you’ve heard it before, I hope. I hope you heard it at home, or from at least one teacher, or from Mister Rogers if no one else. Why the heck did you go to art school if you didn’t hear it? This is a stupid profession to seek out if you haven’t already been given a lot of encouragement and lectures on how difficult it will be. No one says “starving engineer” or “starving accountant” - there’s a reason “starving” is always followed by “artist”, and I’m sure either your parents or grand parents or aunts and uncles or guidance counselors have already told you all about that. If not, you’re probably already wealthy - rich parents like having artistic kids and there’s no shame in that, but anyway you don’t need to hear much of that stuff because you’re going to be successful no matter what you try, because rich parents don’t let their children fail in the spectacular life-destroying live-under-a-bridge-in-winter way that others can.

Anyway, the point is that you don’t need a rallying cry. You need some straight up advice that’s practical and to the point, and here it is. Are you ready? Write this down. Go ahead: pull out your phone and make yourself a reminder or a note or something. I’ll wait. Ready? Here it is:

Invest in a good pair of headphones.

Yup.

Headphones are the key to happiness. As an artist you’re going to need to block out thew world, and a good pair of headphones lets you do that with ease. As an artist you’re also going to need to look busy. Nothing makes you unavailable and busy-looking more than starring off into the distance with your headphones on, and if I’m wrong about this, at least you won’t be able to hear whoever is interrupting you.

Good headphones are essential for getting the music in, which is a way you can get the inspiration and the focus in. As an artist, your life now runs on inspiration and focus. It’s also a way you keep the world out, and as an artist, that’s something you’re going to need to do professionally from time to time. Not all the time - you’re also going to need to be a remarkably good communicator and marketer and advocate for yourself, or have someone else who is that you communicate. But when you’re not doing all that junk, you’re going to need to rock out while you paint or sculpt or wireframe or whatever, and then you’ll need some good headphones.

Whatever headphones you have now are a fine starter pair, but probably won’t cut it for long. Keep them around, sure, but get ready to get something better. Start saving up for it. A few bucks out of each paycheck. And then get some of those really fancy ones that do all the good things.

They should have the best sound around. They shouldn’t have wires, because you’re paying too much to need wires. They should connect to everything, because your music will come from different places. And they should be very, very, very big. Small headphones are great for jogging but not for doing art. You’re not an athlete. You probably never were, because those people were getting laid in high school and frustration at not getting laid is the core struggle that drives every artist into art school in the hopes that you’ll meet someone there who understands what it’s like to be ugly and thus have sex with you. Big headphones. You’re a real artist now, and this is your moment. High school was for the jocks. Life after high school is for the artists with big headphones. 

Keep them on you all the time, but don’t keep them on. Wear them around your neck, visible but not distracting. It lets people know that you have something else you could turn to instead of talking to them, and it makes them feel privileged that you don’t exercise that option. Serious artists have to pick and choose how they spend their time, and everyone knows that much of it is spent in isolation doing The Work™ that makes you a Great Artist™. The headphones around your neck are a symbol of your participation in this guild and a constant reminder to everyone else that you are doing them a favor - or possibly depriving the world of great art - by talking to them. This is a key part of getting laid.

A lot more is riding on this than you think. Bad headphones lead to distraction and frustration. You’ve already got enough of that. You’ve got it in spades. And if you don’t have kids, you’ll never hear the end of it. The human race might just end of under-population, and your stupid headphone choices will be to blame.

Graduates, when you leave today you will get a diploma. You’ve got this hat and that gown. You’ve probably got a few other things. Spend the weekend looking for anything you can sell or pawn, including the cap and gown and diploma, and start saving for those headphones. You’ll thank me later. Also, get up when you’re knocked down, persevere, be true to yourself, you can do it. Congratulations on graduating.

[rjowen]

Resolution to write every day

Here’s the game: Start with five minutes spent coming up with what to write about, max. Jot down as many / any ideas that come into your head. After five minutes, pick one - spend one minute max on this. Then spend 15 minutes writing it out. And be flexible with all the timing, but don’t sweat it, just write something. No one is going to read it anyway, probably.

[oeming]

Powers Playing cards I designed for the #powers  @PowersTheSeries show- I think they appear in episode 2 where things really kick off. Would you want these? Let us know!

[rjowen]

Very yes.

[brianmichaelbendis]

Hey Brian (or Mr Bendis, whatever is more appropriate) I love your comics and especially everything you do for the comics industry- this page for example and the ability to ask you questions! I have trouble writing stories for a younger audience and was wondering if there were story beats that I am missing? Is there a way to write to a younger audience without feeling like your pandering to them? Keep up the great work!

do this…

PIXAR TIPS: ‘Brave’ artist Emma Coats shares her storytelling wit and wisdom on Twitter (#FollowHer)

Coats, 26, was storyboard artist on Pixar’s new hit movie, “Brave,” and is also a director in her own right. In recent months, she began tweeting some of the lessons she’s learned from working with such Pixar masterminds as Pete Docter and Lee Unkrich and “Brave” directors Brenda Chapman and Mark Andrews . Her observations and insights aren’t some formal Torah of official received Pixar wisdom, but rather — shared in an engaging manner — what she gleans day to day inside those Emeryville campus walls.

EMMA COATS’s 22 “STORYBASIC” RULES FOR STORYTELLING:

■NO. 1: You admire a character for trying more than for her or his successes.

■NO. 2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.

■ NO. 3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about till you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.

■ NO. 4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

■NO. 5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff, but it sets you free.

■ NO. 6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

■NO. 7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard — get yours working up front.

■NO. 8: Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.

■NO. 9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what wouldn’t happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.

■NO. 10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.

■ NO. 11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.

■ NO. 12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

■NO. 13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.

■NO. 14: Why must you tell this story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.

■NO. 15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

■NO. 16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.

■ NO. 17: No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on — it’ll come back around to be useful later.

■ NO. 18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.

■NO. 19:Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

■NO. 20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?

■ NO. 21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make you act that way?

■NO. 22: What’s the essence of your story? [The] most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there

[hb-lettering]

Using reference tutorial by Shattered-Earth

[lsank]

commit to memory banks.

[dshalv]

EXCELLENT step-by-step showing how to use reference to INFORM your drawing and not DICTATE your drawing.

[suprchnk-archive-deactivated202]

[alexsegura]

In the midst of a hostage situation in downtown Sydney, Australia, Ayn Rand’s favorite car service, Uber, turned on its wildly expensive surge pricing for customers trying to get away from the armed siege. And lest you think this was the fault of an insensitive algorithm that detected high demand, the company tweeted that it was aware of the attack and had raised prices for the fleeing people’s own good.

Uber Turned on Surge Pricing for People Fleeing Sydney Hostage Scene (via alexsegura)

WHAT.

(via scottfogg)

[stunningpicture]

500 years of walking up the marble stairs of The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

[thecomicsvault]

[brianmichaelbendis]

Batman vs. Guy Gardner Justice League #5 (Sept. 1987) Art by Kevin Maguire & Al Gordon Words by Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis

[kristaferanka]

here is a time-lapse of the Emma Frost warm up

[noosphe-re]

A single ray of light from a distant star falling upon the eye of a tyrant in bygone times, may have altered the course of his life, may have changed the destiny of nations, may have transformed the surface of the globe, so intricate, so inconceivably complex are the processes of nature.

Nikola Tesla

(via elucipher)

[ayjay-deactivated20161206]

The odds of computers becoming thoughtful enough to decide they want to take over the world, hatch a nefarious plan to do so, and then execute said plan remain exquisitely small. Yes, it’s in the realm of the possible. No, it’s not in the realm of the probable. If you want to worry about existential threats, I would suggest that the old-school Biblical ones — flood, famine, pestilence, plague, war — are still the best place to set your sights.

Nick Carr (via ayjay)

[heiwu-deactivated20150706]

Wildest art tutorial ever