You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News - Writers of Cracked dot Com [61]
They call this the appeal to ridicule fallacy. To which we would reply, “Ooh, appeal to ridicule fallacy! Well, I’ve got a phallus you can see right here, college boy.”
Professionals have more sophisticated methods, but they still know that if they can portray an idea as ridiculous, the listener usually won’t bother examining it any closer to find out if the ridicule is justified.
For instance, the UN recently released a report that found more greenhouse gasses come from cattle than the tailpipes of cars. Luckily for whichever side of the global-warming debate that information pisses off, this statistic can also be stated thusly: “So now they’re telling us that—get this—global warming is caused by cows farting! Priceless!”
And now it’s ridiculous. Why even consider a piece of information that ridiculous? That’s only something a ridiculous person would do! And you’re not ridiculous, are you?
Why it works
There are these primitive, lower parts of your brain called amygdalae that control base, emotional reactions. That’s where things like contempt and shame come from, and stimulating the amygdalae can completely shut down the analytical part of your brain. The gang calls you a coward, and the next thing you know you’re wedging a Roman candle between your butt cheeks.
You can thank evolution for that. Mockery developed as a conformity enforcer, to keep people in line. Way back when humans started forming groups and tribes, social status was everything. Making a person, idea, or behavior the target of mockery gave it a lower social position. If you were associated with the idea, you were left out of the hunting/eating/ orgies that made life worthwhile. Thousands of years later, a good dose of mockery can still shut down critical thinking and make us fall right in line.
FIVE HOLLYWOOD ADAPTATIONS THAT TOTALLY MISSED THE POINT
AH, publishing a book. It’s like getting confirmation that your time here on earth mattered, but putting your thoughts down on paper doesn’t come without risks. There’s always the chance that Hollywood will turn your book into a movie, and—spoiler alert—the studio has a few ideas about the ending. This is showbiz slang for, “We’re going to make your story say exactly the opposite of what you’d intended.”
5. FIGHT CLUB, ALLEGEDLY BASED ON THE BOOK BY CHUCK PALAHNIUK
In rebellion against the shallowness of modern life and IKEA, the narrator creates an imaginary split personality named Tyler Durden, who urges men to beat the crap out of each other and commit random acts of anarchy. As the story reaches a climax, the narrator realizes he needs to rid himself of Tyler and shoots himself in the head, because that’s where your imagination lives.
The book ending
The book makes the dubious claim that being shot in the head puts you in the hospital, and that’s where we find the narrator. The narrator describes the hospital in beatific language, calling the attendants “angels.” But alas, one of the “angels” is a Fight Club member, who ends the book saying, “We look forward to getting you back.” Thus we learn that the narrator has created a monster in the Fight Club anarchist group that is out of his control.
Moral of the book
Modern life is emasculating and can provoke a violent backlash by those feeling disconnected from humanity. This is a bad thing.
The Hollywood ending
After shooting himself in the head, the narrator naturally has sustained only a minor flesh wound. The film ends with him holding hands with his love interest while watching a massive spectacle take place in the background, which we all recognize as Hollywood shorthand for “everything is going to turn out all right.” For those who don’t get it, Edward Norton helpfully states, “Everything’s going to be fine.”
And so ends an uplifting tale of a guy who got out of a rut with a series of violent escapades learned his lesson about taking it too far, and is going to continue with life the better for his experience. Someday he will look back