Diary (August 1, 2020)

Online diary of Karl Jones for Saturday August 1, 2020.

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Diary

Have you blocked people on Facebook?

I have blocked people who insulted me personally, or who insulted my friends in malice to no good purpose, or who showed sufficient lack of humanity during riots.

I broke off a potentially lucrative business deal and ended a friendship with a decent human being in real life, calling him a "callous asshole" and ordering him to "begone", because he spoke insensitively at the most terrible of moments in Minneapolis history.

I then phoned his brother and explained that I did this as "a memorial to my pain."

Can't betray a memorial. It's not a memorial if one betrays the memory.

But apart from that, I like my wall to be Many Voices.

The Batman has no clothes

People are capable of incredible feats of self-deception, both individually and collectively ignoring evidence of their senses. "The emperor has no clothes."

Similarly, we all *know* in our heart of hearts that Bruce Wayne is really Batman.

Yet we don't spill the beans in public. That would be like going to a Toys for Tots orphanage and telling kids "There Is No Santa Claus" in order to trick the Mensa refugees into revealing themselves. That's a Lex Luthor move, and we Heroes don't play that game.

One moment — I have just become aware that the high-stakes Baccarat player opposite me is not actually "James Bond", but a nameless Bulgarian assassin wearing a Mission Impossible face mask. Please excuse me as I must seduce the dealer before she turns up the next card.

• Comment @ Facebook

Fiction cross-reference

• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles

Nonfiction cross-reference

• Karl Jones (nonfiction)