All Fiction

(Warning: Perhaps one of my more controversial opinions follows!)

Let’s say you watch a popular fictional television show, one that features a large cast of characters. One of these characters does something you don’t like. How upset should you be about it?

My answer: virtually zero. While watching the show, go ahead and make a shocked face and enjoy the narrative, of course. But then the show is over, and you shouldn’t still feel upset. It isn’t real! It doesn’t actually affect you! And if you find yourself remaining very upset for a long time after you’ve seen it, then I suggest that you should not watch the show. It’s purely for entertainment, and you aren’t being entertained – you’re being upset. You should have the mental fortitude to not get upset by it, but if you don’t, then the next best thing is not to watch it at all.

Okay, by itself, that opinion is maybe only a little controversial. It shouldn’t be controversial at all, but I can imagine several people arguing with me about it, so I suppose it is. But here’s the much more controversial view: 99% of “news,” pop culture, or current events is indistinguishable from fiction as far as you’re concerned.

Do you watch the news and get upset? Why? Those people are no more real to you than the characters on the fictional television show. You’ve never met them and never will. You couldn’t prove they’re real by touching them, interacting with them, etc. Every aspect of them could be an elaborate hoax and you’d never know. So why let it bother you?

I adopt the view that everyone I can’t interact with in a real way is fictional. Their exploits are fictional, their pagentry is spectacle for entertainment only. And I’m not entertained by it. So I live in the world of the real, and my life is very good.