Althouse: I resist Glenn Loury's label for — me — "contrarian," explain why, and offer an alternative label, which he then readily slaps on himself.

March 28, 2017

I resist Glenn Loury's label for — me — "contrarian," explain why, and offer an alternative label, which he then readily slaps on himself.

The label is...

... "sly trickster."

21 comments:

Sebastian said...: Yeah, we got it the first time. Not that there's anything wrong with that, allowing for a bit of Dunning-Kruger.; 3/28/17, 7:33 PM
Henry said...: To have some mischievous idea in your mind is sometimes very agreeable. Shunryu Suzuki

Suzuki has a high opinion of mischievousness. He often counsels against the effort to be good or to try to make others be good. Mischievnous is better.; 3/28/17, 7:35 PM
Henry said...: sic; 3/28/17, 7:43 PM
JackWayne said...: So Loury sees himself as Loki? Not buying it.; 3/28/17, 8:03 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Professor Loury needs to lose a few pounds.; 3/28/17, 8:43 PM
Richard Dillman said...: Coyote, Raven, or Loki? Or Nanaboujou?; 3/28/17, 8:44 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Professor Loury needs to lose a few pounds.

We all need to lose a few pounds.; 3/28/17, 8:51 PM
traditionalguy said...: Trickster I can do. But I can't do the sly part compared to The Professor. She is magnificently sly.; 3/28/17, 9:20 PM
n.n said...: With a spirit yearning for a dawn where principles are internally, externally, and mutually consistent.; 3/28/17, 10:23 PM
Lawcruiter said...: Sly trickster sounds a lot better than "annoying"; 3/28/17, 10:29 PM
Luke Lea said...: You may have told Glenn you were a "sly trickster" but you were only being a sly trickster when you did. I think you could more accurately be described as a perceptively independent observer who enjoys pointing out where a generally accepted opinion is, if not wrong necessarily, at least questionable. Contrarians are more indiscriminate. Maybe the word you were looking for was impish.; 3/28/17, 10:38 PM
Henry said...: I quoted a Buddhist above, but given the canyons and red-rock spires, the other reference that comes to mind for "sly trickster" is "coyote."; 3/28/17, 11:18 PM
Inga said...: I think Loury was right about Althouse being a contrarian. I've thought so myself many times, but we both could be wrong, who knows. For her to take a position that isn't her own, she defends it ferociously. I tend to think it is her position but she doesn't like being buttonholed in that position.; 3/28/17, 11:53 PM
sparrow said...: Odd, why would you want to be known as a trickster? Sly or not I read it as an unalloyed negative.; 3/29/17, 7:29 AM
bagoh20 said...: The sly trickster is as vulnerable to manipulation as most others, but uniquely immune to noticing it.; 3/29/17, 7:52 AM
Roughcoat said...: Better the sly trickster than the tar baby.

Sparrow: Trickster-and-tar baby myths are thought by anthropologists to be the first and oldest stories that humans told themselves, predating religion, shamanism, etc., appearing at the very dawn of language and the development of the cognitive faculties that made language possible.; 3/29/17, 8:18 AM
Jaq said...: Funny how many people throw around Dunning Kruger when they don't seem to know on which side they fall.; 3/29/17, 8:50 AM
Lucien said...: Forget Coyote and go with Foxy.; 3/29/17, 8:55 AM
sparrow said...: Roughcoat,
Thanks for reminder of the tar baby history, but still don't see it as a positive just because it has ancient resonance. The choice is between clever and brutish, but the choices are tactical not moral. In our current context, I associate tricksters with liars, and we already have a vast oversupply.; 3/29/17, 9:35 AM
William said...: I listened to the discussion with interest. It's easy to have a polite, civil discussion with someone with whom you are in fundamental agreement. No need to be Loki or Brer Rabbit in such situations......I was kind of surprised when the discussion unfolded to discover that both parties were so conservative. What are the odds that two academics--one a woman with feminist leanings and the other a black man old enough to have primal scream memories--should both hold conservative opinions and should espouse them on the same day and on the same site. The odds of this happening must be astronomical.; 3/29/17, 10:01 AM
dreams said...: "Professor Loury needs to lose a few pounds."

I'm no MD, still it's my diagnosis that Professor Loury has a fatty liver.; 3/29/17, 10:17 AM