People call me names in spurts. Last week, I was dubbed a contrarian about three different times by three different people. It struck me as peculiar.
I knew the term but only ever heard it applied to stock brokers – those who look at what everyone is doing and invest in the opposite. But it also means someone who takes a contrary position simply to disagree.
It’s a much nicer word for those people than what those people might otherwise be called. “Contrarian” almost sounds like a job. Or an excuse. “You really must forgive the chap for shitting in the salad bowl, he’s employed as a contrarian.”
Although I love a good get out of jail free card, I must, ironically enough, disagree with the title being applied to myself.
I can see why people might like to call me a contrarian. It’s much better to act as if I always disagree than to admit they’re wrong. That the salad bowl, perhaps, deserved to be shat upon.
Yet my opinions are not formed to agree or disagree with you. That they do either is a mere side effect. I suspect people believe I’m just being contrary because I take issue with the premise and the details of their argument, both of which they either take for granted or believe irrelevant. (Same thing, really.)
Other people have perhaps argued with their content, I’m just as likely to go to the foundation and/or ask them what they mean, exactly, when they say something like “spiritual” or why they are serving salad in the morning.
It seems like I’m being difficult –and I am- but I’m also being honest. No matter where I might do it, I cannot invent the need to shit. And the great bulk of what people say to me sounds like complete gibber-jabber.
If I’m to proceed into a debate about God, Karma or Astrology, it’s quite important that I know just what the hell the person means when they say it. Too often, they don’t know what they mean and their definitions are vague, useless or in direct opposition to the point they were trying to make. Whether in detail, premise or the premise of their details, they have a shoddy foundation.
The best example of ostensibly contrary behaviour is the long-standing debate between good friends Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein about quantum theory. Albert would often propose thought experiments to make his point and Bohr would often keep asking for details.
Albert: “Let’s say you have a motorcycle and it–”
Niels: “What kind of motorcycle?”
Albert: “What? It doesn’t matter. Anyway. . .”
Niels: What do you mean it doesn’t matter? Have you ever actually had a motorcycle? It matters.”
Albert: “Okay, it’s a Triumph. And the Triumph motorcycle is going at the speed of light, then it–”
Niels “No.”
Albert: “What?”
Niels: “A Triumph cannot travel at the speed of light. It can hardly get up a hill.”
Albert: “Well, this Triumph can. It’s imaginary.”
Niels: “So it has nothing to do with reality at all?”
Albert: “Yes. I mean, no. Er what was I talking about?”
This sort of thing drove Einstein mad and lead him to shout nonsense like “God does not play dice with the universe.“ Yet the evidence has judged that Bohr was correct about quantum theory and Einstein was wrong. The details do matter.
Was Bohr being contrary? Certainly. Was he doing it for it’s own sake? Certainly not. He was making a valuable point. He was simply being rigorous.
Just as the term cynic often describes a person who does not share your belief in the nobility of your character and purity of your intentions, a term like contrarian is just what you call a person who disagrees with what you know to be right.
It’s politely pejorative.
A person will always seem unduly contrary if they question what you have not thought to question. You will wonder how they could possibly disagree with what is so patently self-evident. The easiest answer can be found in their character.
Instead of engaging on that act of imagination that creates a window into other people’s s motivations, you could do better and benefit more from a careful examination of your own ideas. Perhaps what you know is wrong.
And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go to the toilet.
5 comments
1 ping
Lady Amelia
June 3, 2009 at 10:07 pm (UTC -5)
Lovely little running metaphor, there.
And I understand – it’s almost as if words like cynic and contrarian are merely there to make the offender more justified in being as ignorant as they are. That people consistently argue a point that they’ve no way of proving, and in fact are proven is incorrect is something I find rather disconcerting about humans. Not to say that all of them do, but enough to bother me. Especially in religion — lots of people like to argue about it, and yet don’t really understand the details of what they’re discussing. It makes what could be an intellectually stimulating conversation into a pointless debate that leaves both parties frustrated and argumentative.
Love your post, as always.
~Lady K
Mariana
June 4, 2009 at 4:58 am (UTC -5)
This censorship thing is starting to get personal. Please let us know if WordPress continues to be a dick. I’d be happy to extend you an invitation to write your posts on my blog for as long as you like. It only gets around 300 visits a day, but I haven’t been censored (yet).
Ryan Oakley
June 4, 2009 at 2:16 pm (UTC -5)
Well, everything is back to normal now. Seems it was a screw up. Given the choice between foul play and incompetence, I usually suspect incompetence. Most people aren’t competent enough to commit foul play.
Thank you for the offer.
(And for anyone reading this in my future, which I guess is your present, Mariana is referring to a bug that shut down this site due to a concern about content. And I hope you have robots by then.)
shawnee
October 15, 2010 at 3:34 pm (UTC -5)
Someone tried to insult and hurt my feelings today by calling me a contrarian simply because I argued the validity of a fluff piece on Fox News. I wasn’t exactly sure what they meant by Contrarian so I looked it up and it lead me to your brilliant bit of writing, which has left me feeling proud to call myself a contrarian.
Ryan Oakley
October 18, 2010 at 2:30 pm (UTC -5)
Glad I could help.
client karma - Ryan Oakley | final fashion
July 2, 2009 at 11:07 am (UTC -5)
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