Re: Once a man; twice a child!

Paul wrote:

How is not wanting to attend a social event (or even any social events)
misanthropic?

It rather depends on the person wishing to exclude himself. In some cases, I'd agree, not attending would be philanthropic.

However, if you wish to develop the desire to avoid social events then, unless you're also a masochist, being misanthropic almost certainly helps.

That was my point.

Taking the point a little further does lead to a nice circular paradox. If you manage truly to be misanthropic enough not to wish to attend any social event then your misanthropy might lead you to turn up anyway, just to piss everybody else off - and, of course, your misanthropy is likely to make you unpleasant company (not always, of course, some misanthropists are entertaining, but it is a side-effect rather than a desideratum of misanthropy).

If this is a paradox newly discovered by me (I'm perfectly happy to have it pointed out if it isn't) then I'd be happy to name it the 'mother-in-law' effect. Alternatively, because there are other effects, more noxious, that might have prior claim to the term, I'd suggest the 'Banquo' effect. Or, rather, the 'Banquo's ghost' effect, because, by all accounts, Banquo himself was a decent chap, it was just his ghost who was a source of irritation with its homespun permanent wave.






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