thread: 2006-09-08 : Ben on breaking tradition
On 2006-09-11, TonyLB wrote:
I think I agree with Ben more than most here.
The best, the very best I would ever expect from breaking traditions is extreme mental discomfort, bordering on pain. Uncertainty, nervousness, defensiveness, all that jazz. And, of course, all that same uncertainty from anyone who chose to support me. And that's if nobody chooses to say "You twit! You can't eat Ramen on alternate tuesdays! It's against tradition!"
Pointing out that it can do more good than it does harm seems, to me, to dodge the main point. The main point is that the very act of breaking tradition hurts us. Not the consequences, not the feedback, not the fear of consequences or feedback, but the immediate visceral reaction of our own ... uh ... viscera. We're wired that way, and I think it's healthy to recognize it and move on.
I hated needles in my youth. Still do, in fact. But I hate hate hated needles when doctors kept telling me "Now this won't hurt a bit!" $@^*ing liars.
In college I went in for a tetanus booster, and I asked the poor beleaguered med-school student delivering it (who was, what, three years older than me) "Is this going to hurt?" His response was "Of course it's going to hurt, you moron. I'm using a sharp sliver of metal to puncture your flesh and pump foreign chemicals into your bloodstream. Now hold still!"
I honestly have been easier in my mind about needles since that day. I can go in and be ready to quietly curse and wince, and know that ... yeah ... of course it's going to hurt.
For my money, the same thing applies to breaking tradition.
