My dear boy,
Many a time, we ignore the power of storytelling. Heck, that we somewhat live in denial of its varying effects on us further proves that a story well told becomes reality. In the past couple of days, I’ve taken some time off to see “Ted” and “Ted 2.” I am in awe of how sublime the storytelling is. I wouldn’t watch that movie twice in a row. Nevertheless, I acknowledge the subtlety in the attempt to stretch our imagination while sandwiching ideas and definitions contrary to established moral norms.
Patrick Meighan, a civil rights lawyer in “Ted 2,” cites anthropologist and ethicist Dawn Prince-Hughes, an advocate of “Great Ape Personhood,” in his quest to establish the personhood of Ted. “The standards for personhood include self-awareness, an ability to understand complex emotions, and a capacity for empathy.” By this definition, we stretch personhood to include animals, pets, and when we do that, we flatten the dividing wall protecting the human identity of our species.
Dogs, for instance, have demonstrated a semblance of self-awareness; they appear to understand complex emotions, and seem to have a capacity for empathy. Certain dogs, by a stroke of rigorous, tireless training, can mutter words. Littered all over TikTok are videos of dogs and cats supposedly showing self-awareness, an ability to understand complex emotions, and a capacity for empathy. In fact, we have dogs that can do math. Just because a loose definition has been given, does this then make them a person, a human?
See, if we stretch the band enough, we can blur the lines and peel off the liberating skin of truth. Thus, truth becomes only but a construct sufficiently fluid to take any shape and size anyone with the required patience can design. Little wonder Obinna Ukwueze, sharing in a tweet a slightly edited quote from renowned British economist Ronald Coase, agrees that “If you torture data long enough, it’ll confess to any crime.”
Hence, the most dangerous man in the 21st century is the man who can tell stories well. Jordan Peterson supports the foregoing when he says, “If you can think and speak and write, you’re absolutely deadly.” As such, you find that conglomerates are more than willing to spend billions of dollars in a bid to have the best of their stories out there, and we simply call this “PR.” However, any story contrary to their agenda they call “propaganda.” In the end, we have two names for the very same thing.
Son, this is not the society for the Okonkwos. I welcome you to the world of the Unokas, where art trumps all through carefully knitted words splurted out on papers or cast against screens. Here, the storytellers, whatever form their stories may take: memes, animation, hyper-realistic art, music, movies, stage plays, urban development documents, data, figures spread across sheets, have a field day. It is why you must beware of he who pays you to tell stories about yourself. I dare say the devil is in the fine print.
For this reason, you must pay very close attention to not just who is telling the story, but the story that is being told. My dear boy, pay attention to stories, and tell your stories through animations, through cartoons. When you successfully master the art of telling stories through cartoons and animations, you can tell any story and get away with it, because any idea can be consumed if presented as a cartoon. Again, “Ted” opens our eyes to the profound influence of storytelling. The man who tells the stories and the story he tells must be put on the balance, always. You should “Not believe every spirit, but test the spirits.” Talk soon.
Dad.
PS: The image is from: https://images.app.goo.gl/ebSwwGrZFh6569yr9
