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unprompted/Notes/absurdity.md
Stephen Donahue da6c857c29
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[notes] - bell curves
2026-04-10 02:17:24 +00:00

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Absurdity column.njk column /notes/absurdity/

Rough Notes

Quotes

Questions

  • What makes a good story?
    • the situation?
    • the narration?
    • what are the rules?!
    • Rules are about as compelling as a yield sign
      • It doesn't even have the gravity of a full-on stop
      • It's just a non-committal suggestion that you might have a better time if you don't do the thing right away
    • Rules pave over context. They omit the story by design.
      • Betty got hit by a semi on this corner. Her parents sued, so they installed some flashing lights, and added safety paint.
    • So seeking out rules feels like paving over the ground: it might make the drive easier, but it leaves less room for the plants to grow
  • What does it mean to be tragically normal?
    • Can you still be considered normal? The tragic part seems to put you into into some kind of exceptional bucket.
    • It's like being painfully average. I feel like it's taken a sharp edge from dead-center.
    • But if there are so many categories of 'not-'average, then being dead center starts to feel more exclusive.
      • How many people do you know who grew up with 2.5 kids?
        • What did they do with the half?
        • Or, where did it come from?
    • So if being average is actually quite rare, then its more common to not be?

{% include "bell-curve.svg" %}

Synthesis