LA SCN
NOT drinking the kool-aid
Credit for this thread goes to Zinj. Thanks!
I ran across this concept, suspension of disbelief, in a post by Zinj in another thread. Being a new one on me, I googled it as I still am looking for ALL the pieces to the puzzle of how was I so bamboozled as to devote over 25 years of my life to a cult, one of whose main stats could be measured in years of life wasted, and given allegiance to such a con man - LRH.
Check the links below and perhaps you too can find data that will help you better understand how you got hijacked. It is a concept which I am certain Ron knew about and USED most cleverly in weaving the web of Scn.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief
http://www.mediacollege.com/glossary/s/suspension-of-disbelief.html
Interesting excerpts from wikipedia:
Suspension of disbelief or "willing suspension of disbelief" is a formula devised by the poet and aesthetic philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge to justify the use of fantastic or non-realistic elements in literature. Coleridge suggested that if a writer could infuse a "human interest and a semblance of truth" into a fantastic tale, the reader would suspend judgment concerning the implausibility of the narrative.
The phrase "suspension of disbelief" came to be used more loosely in the later 20th century, often used to imply that the onus was on the reader, rather than the writer, to achieve it. It might be used to refer to the willingness of the audience to overlook the limitations of a medium, so that these do not interfere with the acceptance of those premises. According to the theory, suspension of disbelief is a quid pro quo: the audience tacitly agrees to provisionally suspend their judgment in exchange for the promise of entertainment. These fictional premises may also lend to the engagement of the mind and perhaps proposition of thoughts, ideas, art and theories.
Coleridge recalled:
”... It was agreed, that my endeavours should be directed to persons and characters supernatural, or at least romantic, yet so as to transfer from our inward nature a human interest and a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith. Mr. Wordsworth on the other hand was to propose to himself as his object, to give the charm of novelty to things of every day, and to excite a feeling analogous to the supernatural, by awakening the mind's attention from the lethargy of custom, and directing it to the loveliness and the wonders of the world before us ...”
From mediacollege:
In the world of fiction you are often required to believe a premise which you would never accept in the real world. Especially in genres such as fantasy and science fiction, things happen in the story which you would not believe if they were presented in a newspaper as fact. Even in more real-world genres such as action movies, the action routinely goes beyond the boundaries of what you think could really happen.
In order to enjoy such stories, the audience engages in a phenomenon known as "suspension of disbelief". This is a semi-conscious decision in which you put aside your disbelief and accept the premise as being real for the duration of the story.
Suspension of disbelief only works to a point. It is important that the story maintains its own form of believability and doesn't push the limits too far. There are many factors for the budding story-writer or film-maker to consider, including the following....
The initial premise can be quite outrageous as long as the story maintains consistency within that premise. There are many things about the Star Trek universe which are basically impossible in the real world, but because Star Trek makes an effort to work consistently within its own universe, the stories become believable. For example, as long as you're willing to accept that the Galaxy is mostly populated by humanoids then there is nothing within the series that will break the believability.
The quality of special effects must be believable. It is harder to suspend disbelief in movies where the special effects appear fake.
The genre will determine the lengths to which you can push believability. Audiences will be willing to believe an action hero can perform super-human feats, but the same feats performed suddenly in a romantic drama would result in confusion and disbelief.
Some stories purposely push the suspension of disbelief to the limit. The Indiana Jones movies were a good example, where the audience was expected to find the improbable antics amusing.
One important area of belief is in human actions and emotion. People must act, react and interact in ways which are believable. In cases where such interactions do require suspension of disbelief, the normal rules of consistency apply. Audiences are very unforgiving if they think a character is behaving in an unbelievable fashion.
Comments?
I ran across this concept, suspension of disbelief, in a post by Zinj in another thread. Being a new one on me, I googled it as I still am looking for ALL the pieces to the puzzle of how was I so bamboozled as to devote over 25 years of my life to a cult, one of whose main stats could be measured in years of life wasted, and given allegiance to such a con man - LRH.
Check the links below and perhaps you too can find data that will help you better understand how you got hijacked. It is a concept which I am certain Ron knew about and USED most cleverly in weaving the web of Scn.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief
http://www.mediacollege.com/glossary/s/suspension-of-disbelief.html
Interesting excerpts from wikipedia:
Suspension of disbelief or "willing suspension of disbelief" is a formula devised by the poet and aesthetic philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge to justify the use of fantastic or non-realistic elements in literature. Coleridge suggested that if a writer could infuse a "human interest and a semblance of truth" into a fantastic tale, the reader would suspend judgment concerning the implausibility of the narrative.
The phrase "suspension of disbelief" came to be used more loosely in the later 20th century, often used to imply that the onus was on the reader, rather than the writer, to achieve it. It might be used to refer to the willingness of the audience to overlook the limitations of a medium, so that these do not interfere with the acceptance of those premises. According to the theory, suspension of disbelief is a quid pro quo: the audience tacitly agrees to provisionally suspend their judgment in exchange for the promise of entertainment. These fictional premises may also lend to the engagement of the mind and perhaps proposition of thoughts, ideas, art and theories.
Coleridge recalled:
”... It was agreed, that my endeavours should be directed to persons and characters supernatural, or at least romantic, yet so as to transfer from our inward nature a human interest and a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith. Mr. Wordsworth on the other hand was to propose to himself as his object, to give the charm of novelty to things of every day, and to excite a feeling analogous to the supernatural, by awakening the mind's attention from the lethargy of custom, and directing it to the loveliness and the wonders of the world before us ...”
From mediacollege:
In the world of fiction you are often required to believe a premise which you would never accept in the real world. Especially in genres such as fantasy and science fiction, things happen in the story which you would not believe if they were presented in a newspaper as fact. Even in more real-world genres such as action movies, the action routinely goes beyond the boundaries of what you think could really happen.
In order to enjoy such stories, the audience engages in a phenomenon known as "suspension of disbelief". This is a semi-conscious decision in which you put aside your disbelief and accept the premise as being real for the duration of the story.
Suspension of disbelief only works to a point. It is important that the story maintains its own form of believability and doesn't push the limits too far. There are many factors for the budding story-writer or film-maker to consider, including the following....
The initial premise can be quite outrageous as long as the story maintains consistency within that premise. There are many things about the Star Trek universe which are basically impossible in the real world, but because Star Trek makes an effort to work consistently within its own universe, the stories become believable. For example, as long as you're willing to accept that the Galaxy is mostly populated by humanoids then there is nothing within the series that will break the believability.
The quality of special effects must be believable. It is harder to suspend disbelief in movies where the special effects appear fake.
The genre will determine the lengths to which you can push believability. Audiences will be willing to believe an action hero can perform super-human feats, but the same feats performed suddenly in a romantic drama would result in confusion and disbelief.
Some stories purposely push the suspension of disbelief to the limit. The Indiana Jones movies were a good example, where the audience was expected to find the improbable antics amusing.
One important area of belief is in human actions and emotion. People must act, react and interact in ways which are believable. In cases where such interactions do require suspension of disbelief, the normal rules of consistency apply. Audiences are very unforgiving if they think a character is behaving in an unbelievable fashion.
Comments?
