Wednesday, March 10, 2010

A Washington Post headline that will make no sense 100 years from now

"Readers react to photo of two men kissing"


posted by John Althouse Cohen on Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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4 comments:

Jason (the commenter) said...

Really? Let's modify it slightly:

"Readers react to photo of two people kissing"

I would assume that readers sent in opinions on a photo. Perhaps it was a very beautiful photo, perhaps it violated some cultural norms. But I wouldn't say that the headline made no sense.

And even if the headline were:

"Woman burned at stake"

I would still not find it nonsensical, because I know about the behaviors of people in the past.

I know where you were going, but the only thing about the headline I think might cause trouble for people of the future is the word "readers".

March 10, 2010
Ann Althouse said...

Your faith in progress is touching.

How do you know this country won't be overwhelmed by religionists who believe in using law to impose morality and drive homosexuals underground?

March 11, 2010
John Althouse Cohen said...

How do you know this country won't be overwhelmed by religionists who believe in using law to impose morality and drive homosexuals underground?

In an incredibly short period of time, their view has been so thoroughly discredited in the eyes of the general public that it's become taboo to express openly. You can always come up with worst-case scenarios, but I look at past events and extrapolate from the trajectory. I'm sure there are still people in our country of 300 million people who think women shouldn't have the right to vote, but their views are irrelevant because they're rightly taboo, and equal rights have become entrenched.

March 11, 2010
Jason (the commenter) said...

So, a hundred years from now, if someone's mother walks in on them while they are masturbating, no one will feel awkward; the mother may even join in. Or, alternatively, the mother will be executed.

Because either outcome is an extrapolation of how things have been going over the last fifty years.

March 11, 2010

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