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#1
09-02-2007, 06:25 PM
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Does everything that\'s interesting in life merit discussion?
In response to this OOT thread Ask me about Adolf Hitler I made this thread On trying to understand Hitler. It got 3 responses that offered no insight and then was locked. I PM'd and IM'd the moderator who locked it and offered him the main concept of my thread which is the title of this post. He said "yes, without a doubt." but I'm not sure I agree.
To use the example of Adolf Hitler (or anything else you might like): Should we study Hitler because he is interesting, although it leads to the detriment of our minds as shown by A_C Slater's admittance (without any feeling of negativity about it) that he "understands Hitler." 
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#2
09-02-2007, 06:29 PM
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Re: Does everything that\'s interesting in life merit discussion?
We should study people like Hitler so that we can understand what he was all about. History always repeats itself because we never learn from our mistakes. The more educated we are as a whole, the better the chance we have of not letting another person like him get into power.
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#3
09-02-2007, 06:32 PM
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Re: Does everything that\'s interesting in life merit discussion?
I thought this thread was dumb when I read it the first time, and it's still dumb now. Since when did the Lounge become a dumping ground for failed OOT posts?
Go ask the guys at the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust if we ought to stop studying Hitler...
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#4
09-02-2007, 06:41 PM
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Re: Does everything that\'s interesting in life merit discussion?
People are fascinated by psychopaths. One of the more bizarre rituals in the US is the super profiling of someone who goes on a shooting rampage. People want to know everything about him, what he was like, did he have any friends, was his childhood happy, where there any signs, as if they can somehow spot their own suburb's psychopath before it's too late.
AC's reasons for learning about Hitler seem strange to me. He noticed that the adults were always impressed/silenced by Hitler talk as child, and felt he could get to the core of human psychology and power by understanding the guy. But there's nothing remarkable about Hitler's personality that gives him that power - it was entirely his murderous acts that make him noteworthy. Any generic man who does such a systematic slaughter of millions, and plunges the world into war, is going to become infamous and taboo. Somehow AC got very confused there, and presumably never grew out of it. To actually answer your OP, I don't see anything inherently wrong with the study of any person, but I agree it's probably more productive for people to avoid such topics and focus on people who were dedicated to more positive things. I really struggle to find value in that analysis apart from a cautionary tale.
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#5
09-02-2007, 06:49 PM
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Re: Does everything that\'s interesting in life merit discussion?
You really need to just give it up.
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#6
09-02-2007, 06:50 PM
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Re: Does everything that\'s interesting in life merit discussion?
[ QUOTE ]
there's nothing remarkable about Hitler's personality that gives him that power - it was entirely his murderous acts that make him noteworthy. [/ QUOTE ] I think that's where you may be wrong. This world is packed with people who would love to command armies to go on murderous rampages. They just never have the chance. What Slater said he found interesting was that this one raving maniac who was near homeless for years at a time became (at least for a while) the most powerful man in the world, that his name remains synonymous with evil to this day. What allowed this one megalomaniacal whackjob to take power through sheer force of will when so many others were rooting through garbage for scraps of food?
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#7
09-02-2007, 06:50 PM
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Re: Does everything that\'s interesting in life merit discussion?
I think that's an easy excuse out. Do we really need history to tell us that someone like Hitler is a sicko? Should we stop people from rejecting all people applying to art school? We need to do better than that.
Edit- I also mentioned in my OP that if your perrogative was to stop future murderers than I believe your quest for knowledge is alright.
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#8
09-02-2007, 07:03 PM
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Re: Does everything that\'s interesting in life merit discussion?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] there's nothing remarkable about Hitler's personality that gives him that power - it was entirely his murderous acts that make him noteworthy. [/ QUOTE ] I think that's where you may be wrong. This world is packed with people who would love to command armies to go on murderous rampages. They just never have the chance. [/ QUOTE ] Why study Hitler and not Churchill? Both were great orators, Churchill more so. I'm sure plenty of people would like to be Prime Minister too. Why not Saddam or Qaddafi or Mandela? All fascinating men with powerful personalities. The answer: None of them had the opportunity to systematically slaughter millions. Are you suggesting there is something else remarkable about Hitler that separates him from these people as a character worthy of study? I'm not saying his rise to power isn't noteworthy, but it seems most people are more interested in the personality than the events and circumstances that allowed him to get that power, which seems curious to me. [ QUOTE ] What Slater said he found interesting was that this one raving maniac who was near homeless for years at a time became (at least for a while) the most powerful man in the world, that his name remains synonymous with evil to this day. What allowed this one megalomaniacal whackjob to take power through sheer force of will when so many others were rooting through garbage for scraps of food? [/ QUOTE ] I wouldn't characterize Hitler as any of those things you call him. If you haven't read Mein Kampf, you'll find it interesting, thoughtful, quite rigorous, and not at all the work of a madman. And from the accounts of his life he seemed quite sane and rational to me, compared to your average person from that time.
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#9
09-02-2007, 07:11 PM
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Re: Does everything that\'s interesting in life merit discussion?
[ QUOTE ]
We should study people like Hitler so that we can understand what he was all about. History always repeats itself because we never learn from our mistakes. The more educated we are as a whole, the better the chance we have of not letting another person like him get into power. [/ QUOTE ] Agreed. While AC Slater`s may be a bit on almost-hero-worship-bordering-on-creepy side, I don`t think trying understand Hitler is a bad idea at all. Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it - George Santayana
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#10
09-02-2007, 07:22 PM
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Re: Does everything that\'s interesting in life merit discussion?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] We should study people like Hitler so that we can understand what he was all about. History always repeats itself because we never learn from our mistakes. The more educated we are as a whole, the better the chance we have of not letting another person like him get into power. [/ QUOTE ] Agreed. While AC Slater`s may be a bit on almost-hero-worship-bordering-on-creepy side, I don`t think trying understand Hitler is a bad idea at all. Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it - George Santayana [/ QUOTE ] I'm in this camp, too. There's a difference between understanding someone and forgiving them or wanting to emulate them.
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