We will always be biased and here is why.

[Nakama_the_witnesser]

We are conditioned to think in a certain way. You may not like this idea. But it is true. And people’s failure to realize their own conditioning, being ignorant and close-minded towards other possible viewing angle is a great issue. It is the start of misunderstandings, drama or just outright refusal to understand the other side of the argument.

And bringing this to writing a fictional story, every writing standard has been created by a certain someone. Certain people who call themselves experts or just certain youtubers or mobs on the internet. And those people have their own biases attached to them. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t read these people’s opinions but you just gotta remember that opinions are never the truth and never can be.


Because a lot of the times, people forget. People think plot holes, plot convenience and random power-ups ruin a show. But that’s not the truth. If its ruining your enjoyment then you are simply conditioned into believing that plot holes matter. Of course, there has to be some logic in a show. Otherwise, how will you understand anything? But something like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Almost every fight is won with an asspull and there is so much crazy illogical shit that’s happening in the finale. But you don’t care because the show is just so cool while doing all this. And the power system is entirely dependent on how much you want to drill the heavens. So applying logic to the combat of TTGL is completely nonsensical.

And most people tend to be easily influenced by what others say. That’s why hate and love bandwagons exist. There are so many people who naively think that if a person I respect says this thing or if a lot of people say this thing and if they kinda sound logical then that has to be the truth. It’s not.

And some people are exactly the opposite of that. Some people have literally lost their ability to understand others and only cling to their own beliefs. But it’s not even their real belief. No belief can be your own because that belief has been created and conditioned you by their parents, their environment, and their society.


I love Koekaze. It’s a very well written incest show about a 27-year-old man fucking his 15-year-old sister at the end. I know people who literally despise the show’s existence because it has incest or because of the age difference of the cast. The show itself heavily focuses on the incest aspect of the relationship and how it’s affecting the two character’s relationship as well as how the society sees them.

But the funny thing about Koekaze is that it doesn’t focus much on the age difference. I think it’s because the age of consent is 13 in japan. But every person I talked to about this show was disturbed more about the age gap than the actual incest. And some people seem to think that any controversial act under any circumstance is bad even if it’s a fictional story trying to explore and depict the situation in an interesting way. Which is just another proof of how different cultures, way of thinking influence the viewers and how they judge a show.


And recently I wrote an essay about how I thought Sword Art Online was actually a decent show that many have hated on for reasons that could easily be counter argued. And just by the idea of the title or how I phrased certain points people either stopped reading altogether and started commenting on why I was wrong.

To sum up my main points on that essay. An overpowered character isn’t necessarily worse than a character who is weak. Having lots of time skips and insanely fast pacing is not an objectively bad thing. Because by weeding out all the boring parts of the story, you make a story that is so hype and binge-worthy. And that was also one of the reasons SAO’s first season succeeded.

Really, the whole point of the post was to tell you how nothing is inherently good or bad. Everything is what it is. And everything depends on your viewpoint. Your own mindset and how you were conditioned matters above all. You create your own good and bad and you divide the world with those beliefs. But just to live we have to choose between multiple different choices. And in order to prove a point quickly, we label certain things as good or bad. But that label of good and bad is not the universal truth. It’s just me or others being lazy to explain themselves.

And I like to be the “unpopular opinion guy” because when you see clearly that all opinions are nothing but one shallow window to see something, you tend to appreciate extremely unique opinions and unique way of thinking. Because a unique way of thinking is a method to get out of this conditioning. Being aware of almost all the possible viewpoints and ultimately realizing that all opinions are useless.

 

[Tejoka]

Interesting post. I don't agree with everything you said, but you make some good points. We're all heavily influenced by the culture and circumstances we live in, both the actual culture and the media and tropes we've read or watched when it comes to fiction. (Plus there are a number of cognitive biases that exacerbate that or add to it, like the just world bias or selection bias and many more.) We too often don't realize that and subconsciously assume that everyone sees the world the same way we do.
Does that mean every opinion is useless? I wouldn't go that far. If almost everyone hates or loves something, there is probably a compelling reason for that, besides it just being a bandwagon. Of course, the standards are subjective and can change over time, like when something becomes a classic later. But for people who live in this particular time and setting, those opinions can still be worthwhile guidelines.
Besides, when it comes to moral or ethical issues, I believe concepts like "good" or "bad" have meaning and value. Of course how they're defined can change, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to act morally. Even if that only means not writing a story that, for example, spreads hate and calls for discrimination of minorities. Well, if morals are absolute or not is a different discussion, but still.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

You are quite late to this party, my friend.

This is well-known since Gustave Le Bons laid 1895 the fundamentals of modern mass psychology, later refined by Max Weber and Sigmund Freud. Nietzsche was also on something when he theorised his famous will to power and the concept of the superhuman.

So tell me something I don't know already.

 

[Deleted member 29316]

I'm a simple guy.

If I like a story, then I hit 'like'. If I don't, I simply message the author why (in a polite way, of course), or shut up.

 

[Xiaoshen]

It's not really an idea, it's just reality. We are entirely our opinions and impressions of the sensations that are interpreted by our senses, it's just a fact. You touch a stove, it sucks. You no longer like touching stoves. The impression sticks with you and makes you biased against the decision of grouping stove-tops. We are simple creatures that enjoy making ourselves seem extremely complicated... Your whole post could be summed up as "I like what I like, you like what you like."?‍

I disagree with you though, that "no belief can be your own."Because that's silly. Who are you to decide what a person really believes in? That's pretty arrogant. It doesn't matter if someone else comes up with a 'belief' if you agree with it's tenants and how it affects you and your life. We don't have to own it, we can be it. Although we are surrounded by all kinds of different information, agendas and such, we have the ability to pick and choose, to evaluate and eventually decide what we choose to ascribe to in our lives in most situations. Nothing is entirely independent, but so what?

 

[Nakama_the_witnesser]

You are quite late to this party, my friend.

This is well-known since Gustave Le Bons laid 1895 the fundamentals of modern mass psychology, later refined by Max Weber and Sigmund Freud. Nietzsche was also on something when he theorised his famous will to power and the concept of the superhuman.

So tell me something I don't know already.

Okay. You smart boy. But do you know that you can go above psychology, above your mind by observing your body/mind/feelings for 24 hours and continuing this practice for months and years? Its called meditation.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

Okay. You smart boy. But do you know that you can go above psychology, above your mind by observing your body/mind/feelings for 24 hours and continuing this practice for months and years? Its called meditation.

Knowledge gain = 0.