Bumper sticker philosophy

Piece of mind

I have opinions. I try to base them on evidence.

The thing about bumper sticker philosophy is that it sounds right, but rarely makes it past even a superficial analysis.

By this I mean some pithy statement about life or history or politics — basically a zinger — that scores a point but doesn’t really further the actual agenda espoused. From my experience it’s more of way of identifying someone’s in-group than actually making a thoughtful argument.

I could give countless examples — literally just look at bumper stickers you see on cars and especially, yes especially over-muscled pickup trucks (and I say that having a pickup myself).

But one in particular really bugs me, and I bet it’ll surprise you. There are variations, but it’s basically, “I don’t trust people who don’t have lots of books on their shelves.” It’s a variation on a quotation by John Waters — forgive me for not quoting it here, which you’ll understand if you click the link. It made me chuckle, for sure (I like John Waters and I think the world needs more people like him to shake things up) but I have issues with it.

I get the idea, implying that people who don’t read may be less curious, less well-informed, have less well-rounded opinions, and may in general not be as interesting and smart and open to new things as people who do read a lot.

For many cases, no doubt, it’s even true. And as a bumper sticker quote it’s cute. It’ll certainly make you feel better about yourself. And by “better” I mean smug and superior.

But I also think it’s clearly not true. At least not always true. It’s not hard to think up counterexamples. Maybe someone doesn’t have a lot of money and reads books from the library. Maybe they spend a lot of time on the internet thoroughly reading up on topics that interest them. Hell, maybe they have a Kindle*.

See what I mean? It sounds true, but really it isn’t. And if you adhere to it you’ll wind up ignoring some voices that should be heard.

I also give myself as a counterexample. If you come to my home you won’t see many books. Why not? My wife reads a lot but uses her Kindle. I’ve read hundreds of books over my lifetime, probably thousands, but they’re not on my shelves. That’s because when I’m done reading them, I give them away. Years ago I’d sell them to used bookstores, but these days I donate them to libraries or local schools. Unless they’re useful as a reference or have some special meaning to me, once I’m done with them I’d rather share them.

I feel this is especially important for books that could make a difference in the world. By giving them to a library, someone else, maybe a lot of someone elses, will get that same chance I had to be changed by them.

If you love a book, set it free. There’s a bumper sticker for ya.

So if someone judges me because I have fewer than a hundred books on my shelves behind me, well, maybe they need to rethink their opinions. I’ll also add that my wife pointed out to me that having books was once considered a status symbol, since books were difficult to make (hand written!) and obtain, so having many of them in a room on display was considered a way to ostentatiously show off wealth. So there’s that kinda icky side to it too.

I pick on this one pithy quote because the irony of it irritates me — othering someone because they don’t keep books is antipathy to the core progressive attitude that reading books broadens the soul — but you can find a dozen more just like it without trying too hard. It’s easy to find lots of political ones on social media, which is engineered for this kind of thinking, but they exist for many, many topics.

I’m guilty of repeating them or making them up myself, but my hope when I do is that it starts a thought process in the reader. Bumper sticker ideas have their place, if they make you think on a topic, or more importantly find a different way to think about it.

But they are a sign on the doorway to wisdom, enticing you to enter, not the hall itself.

* Yes, I know Waters said this before the advent of e-readers, but people still repeat this quotation today.

News Cues

I choose a few to imbue clued views

NASA’s InSight lander is a sessile platform equipped to study the guts of Mars: It has a seismometer to measure marsquakes to get an idea of what’s happening inside the planet, as well as other detectors. It’s actually done an amazing job learning about Mars despite some difficult setbacks. It’s been understood for some time that the mission’s days are numbered; it’s getting to be Martian winter at its location and given that it’s solar powered that means less juice to run it on. Martian winters are cold, so it’s unlikely to survive the season. But now it’s actually gotten worse: A big dust storm is plaguing the planet’s southern hemisphere, and lofting so much dust in the air that sunlight is diminished globally. InSight isn’t getting enough sunlight to charge back every day, so it’s losing power and may only last a few more weeks. I always hate it when we lose a mission, but I always love knowing that we have learned so much from it.

I recently wrote about Babcock Ranch, a town where solar panels and batteries help the citizens weather through Hurricane Ian. As it happens, my friend Pru Foster wrote about what you can do to help your own locale be more energy-wise. Her Substack newsletter, The Prudent Lifestyle, is quite good, and you should sign up for it.

Et alia

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