Sunday in Outer Blogness: Your Brain is Playing Tricks Edition!

chanson,

We had some really interesting discussion of memory and the mind this week! Now I’m sure you’re all familiar with discussion of the incredible fuzziness of Joseph Smith’s memory of the first vision. But here’s a new funny one: it seems that Brigham Young and Lorenzo Snow had a little difficulty remembering which of them it was that came up with the infamous “couplet” revelation!

In a similar vein, the modern LDS leaders seem to have trouble remembering whether they’re for or against domestic partnerships. Or whether they’re for or against ideological fudging. No wonder G.A.s can get so spooked by having to address a general audience (see this funny story) and don’t like people reading the Internet because a searching soul will usually find both sides of an argument on the Internet quite readily. (On a may-or-may-not-be-related note, Aerin comments on an interesting article about aging and the mind.)

Time for a little glitter! Just check out the celebrity sparkle from Emily’s trip to Sundance! And speaking of gorgeous, check out Tom’s latest photos! Also, Leah gave a talk at the NDSU’s Science, Religion and Lunch Seminar — see the video! And remember Mr. Diety, who came so close to winning the 2009 William Law X-Mormon of the Year award? Well, as a consolation, he at least got an interview on the Mormon Expression podcast. (Update on the “Brodies”: I’m planning to post the nominations and voting tomorrow, so get those last-minute nominations in ASAP!)

Even daily life can be an adventure! Richard Wade gives advice to an exmo dad whose son is going to have a “worthiness interview” with the Bishop. The Urban Koda also had an uncomfortable interview and made a connection with his own son while weeding out the bigots. Leah had a dispute and reconciliation with her bishop.

Let’s wrap up the week with some not-lds-related political updates: Frighteningly enough, there’s a bill in the Utah legislature which allows that a woman who miscarried could be prosecuted if she cannot prove that the miscarriage was the result of an illegal abortion. A group of Baptists from Idaho botched their humanitarian mission to Haiti since they apparently didn’t realize that you can’t just round up a bunch of kids and take them home with you and keep them. Susana lost her job when her visa got stuck in the bowels of the immigration bureaucracy. Daniel Midgley reports on religion in the 2011 Australian census. And Making Light explains the Amazon vs. Macmillan battle.

Have a great week everyone!

Sunday in Outer Blogness

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Comments (24)

  3. Mormondom has done away with Mormonism. At this point, the same twenty people account for 80% of the traffic in the bloggernacle – minds teetering like insecure luggage and fingers bumping together, f-a-c-u-l-t-i-e-s not entirely intact – as with J.D., all that remains now for those of us left behind are the obituaries.

  6. It’s a trainwreck, wry. Not the first, but – my sense – it’s probably the last. Nobody who matters can be bothered to care about their latest demarcations. It’s time to start paying proper attention to these weekly updates from chanson and appreciating the fact that we’ve got more good writing than we know what to do with right here in the DAMU. Bring on the Brodies.

  8. Question to Andrew S and anyone else who enjoys “meta” … Isn’t it supremely silly that our counterparts are so utterly invested in an aggregator? Seriously? Haven’t aggregators been pass since, well, whenever it was that the rest of us began relying on better technology to receive our daily fix?

    That said, I get why the Mosquito Coast, erm, I mean, Mormon Archipelago approach is hard to let go …

  9. What’s even sillier still is that everyone who matters from the bloggernacle is already reading along at this point, but they don’t dare comment. *Wave*

  10. re 8:

    What do you mean, “better technology”? The abortion that is RSS is an abortion.

    An aggregator allows them to aggregate only what they want people to see/read and nothing more.

  12. 😉 Not that I hold any clout in the bloggernacle, as I am a self-proclaimed apostate.

  13. About time some idiot finally tried to pass a miscarriage bill. I’ve been telling people for 20 years that, if abortion is murder, miscarriages should be investigated by the police.

    And I’ve been told for 20 years that “no one would ever assume that a woman with a miscarriage had aborted their child.” The Right likes their rhetoric, but they hate seeing it in action.

    I’m just surprised the bill took so long to happen.

  14. DAMU (Disaffected Mormon Underground) has been in the Urban Dictionary since 2006.
    e.g.: You run one of those DAMU blogs, don’t you?

    It’s alongside seven other definitions for Damu as “a member of a blood gang.”
    e.g.: Sup damu nigga?

  15. Its time to start paying proper attention to these weekly updates from chanson and appreciating the fact that weve got more good writing than we know what to do with right here in the DAMU. Bring on the Brodies.

    Exactly. 😀

    You have to appreciate that the Bloggernacclers are in a difficult position. A big part of being a good Mormon is accepting the one-way flow of information: from your leaders. No matter how righteous a message the Bloggernacle wants to be giving, in reality they’re already treading in dangerous Sunstone/Dialogue territory merely by talking out of turn (without going through the proper channels).

    Meanwhile, the LDS church leaders are giving them a schizophrenic message (Stay away from the Internet! No, wait, post about your faith online! No, wait, don’t blog! etc.) because the SLC gerontocracy can’t deal with the chaotic information flow online.

    So if the keepers of the word Bloggernacle have decided that we’re not in the Bloggernacle — it’s unfortunate, but hardly surprising. We are, however, part of a greater community of discussion with them.

  17. I can’t believe Mme. Curie just called me “Chico.” Bummer, because I used to enjoy reading that chica’s blog.

    Talking about appreciation, the leadership of almost any other denomination would be absolutely thrilled to have the equivalent of a b’nacle. Instead, the Mormon Times rips off all their ideas w/o a single thanks and the only time they attract their co-religionists’ attention is whenever they award Harry Reid a prize.

    For the DAMU’s part, going forward, I think we need to take Lakoff’s advice, figure out our own lingo for referring to the bloggernacle, and start using it.

    For example, instead of the MA (Mormon Archipelago), refer to the MC (the Mosquito Mormon Coast). And, yeah, that’s just an example, so don’t bother telling me how lame it is. I just think we need to rename everything over there and stick to our own terminology.

  18. Or, another example: When discussing the broad category of Mormon-themed blogs, we should refer to it as the Biggernacle, e.g.:

    While the old-timers over at the Mormon Coast wage endless discussions over who’s in and who’s out on their clubby patch of sand, in the rest of the Biggernacle, readers tend to flock wherever siteowners allow preeminence to stand taller than partisanship.

  19. When discussing the broad category of Mormon-themed blogs, we should refer to it as the Biggernacle

    That’s a good one!

    I’m actually a little hesitant to embrace creating our own separate dictionary of terms because that can end up looking clubby and cliquish, which is what we’re trying to avoid. A handful of clear and obvious terms like “Biggernacle” (that don’t require much explanation) would be great, though.

    Regarding the archipelago, their name is already perversely appropriate in the sense that they’re an island unto themselves, protected from the rest of the Biggernacle by an enormous barrier of ocean. Can we really improve on this metaphor that they’ve created for themselves?

  20. the SLC gerontocracy cant deal with the chaotic information flow online

    .

    David Dollhite at BYU has talked about Mormons and the Internet as otherwise. He says: “What other religionists may see as a dizzying, out-of-control, technological revolution spurred only by human creativity and greed, Latter-day Saints typically see as a divinely inspired and guided process designed to aid the spread of Mormonism (and other good works and worthy influences) throughout the earth.” So, apparently good Mormons know how to rightly use the Internet and not let the chaos seep in, or worse yet, be the source of it.

  22. AGREE, chanson. They’ve named it perfectly already.

    Also, this: “I cant believe Mme. Curie just called me Chico. Bummer, because I used to enjoy reading that chicas blog” was an actual lol for me. Dunno why, just hit my funny bone this Monday mornin.

  23. Yeah, sounds like Dollahite’s bringing some real keen insights there. Gah. Here’s my experience with good Mormons between June and October of 2008:

    1) Umpteenth cut-and-paste “Yes on 8” post-cum-testimony goes up on ten thousandth cookie-cutter LDS family blog.

    2) Somebody leaves a civil but contrary opinion in comments.

    3) Blog owner totally freaks.

    According to the ‘nacle elite elite, they’re bringing something way more sophisticated than your typical family blog, but I wonder if they even see how that’s exactly where their vibe is headed …

    Insider-itis (noun): The possibility for participants’ shared personal histories and genuine mutual respect to alienate others in the room. It’s no one’s fault, and it comes from a real and human place. This writer is certainly guilty of it. But on the last night, a couple of my fellow attendees did tell me that to them, as conference newbies, the acknowledged familiarity had the tendency to come across as isolating at certain points, and counterproductive at others. It’s something I’m certainly going to be more aware of from here on out.

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