In Episode 4, Season 3 of The Orville, Gordon takes a version of the Rorschach test. His interpretations add up to good comedy as he sees in each image, we assume from his responses, “dirty pictures”—as in porn dirty. It’s a good example of how we carry our emotional baggage, biases, and personal interests with us wherever we go. In the case of Gordon, sexual innuendo lies in the eye of the beholder.
Rorschach tests come in many forms. Images in the news outlets and online also serve to reveal underlying baggage, the most recent example coming to my mind is imagery associated with Donald Trump’s visit to the Bronx. The “Gordon” responding in this instance was no less than the governor of New York. Upon being asked to comment on what she saw in the Bronx gathering, she responded “clowns.” Really. Kathy? “Clowns”? You looked at political opponents and saw “clowns”? Well, I guess if you had used Hilary Clinton’s eyes, you might have seen “deplorables.”
“Rorschaching”
Reducing what we see in others to “what first comes to mind” reveals little about others and much about ourselves. Surely, neither Hochul nor Clinton would want to be summed in a single word, especially a derogatory term chosen by a political opponent.
“Rorschaching” opponents because their opinions or perspectives differ is a mark of a simple mind either too lazy or too wrapped in bias to give a reasoned and detailed perspective. Unfortunately, most of us at some time “Rorschach” others.
Both sides of the political aisle have “Rorschached” members of the other side, but I believe there is a subtle difference in their motivations. Members on the Left “Rorschach” from an unwarranted hubris and elitism steeped in actual ignorance but hidden behind a veil of pseudo-omniscience. Members on the Right do so from a frustration born from observing not only the hubris and elitism, but also from the repetition of failed and wasteful policies that, regardless of both the waste and failures, the Left clings to rather than admitting the realities of their policies, such as “sanctuary cities and states” that give away citizens’ resources to noncitizens.
Maybe, Kathy, just maybe, those “clowns” in the Bronx look at the images of illegal aliens with “free stuff” provided by the state and the City of New York and see them through a lens of practicality and realism.
Rorschach tests come in many forms. Images in the news outlets and online also serve to reveal underlying baggage, the most recent example coming to my mind is imagery associated with Donald Trump’s visit to the Bronx. The “Gordon” responding in this instance was no less than the governor of New York. Upon being asked to comment on what she saw in the Bronx gathering, she responded “clowns.” Really. Kathy? “Clowns”? You looked at political opponents and saw “clowns”? Well, I guess if you had used Hilary Clinton’s eyes, you might have seen “deplorables.”
“Rorschaching”
Reducing what we see in others to “what first comes to mind” reveals little about others and much about ourselves. Surely, neither Hochul nor Clinton would want to be summed in a single word, especially a derogatory term chosen by a political opponent.
“Rorschaching” opponents because their opinions or perspectives differ is a mark of a simple mind either too lazy or too wrapped in bias to give a reasoned and detailed perspective. Unfortunately, most of us at some time “Rorschach” others.
Both sides of the political aisle have “Rorschached” members of the other side, but I believe there is a subtle difference in their motivations. Members on the Left “Rorschach” from an unwarranted hubris and elitism steeped in actual ignorance but hidden behind a veil of pseudo-omniscience. Members on the Right do so from a frustration born from observing not only the hubris and elitism, but also from the repetition of failed and wasteful policies that, regardless of both the waste and failures, the Left clings to rather than admitting the realities of their policies, such as “sanctuary cities and states” that give away citizens’ resources to noncitizens.
Maybe, Kathy, just maybe, those “clowns” in the Bronx look at the images of illegal aliens with “free stuff” provided by the state and the City of New York and see them through a lens of practicality and realism.
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