Sometimes I read incredible articles, uncertain if I will ever recall them again or if they have simply fell into that black hole I have in my mind.
Alas, my assumptions were countered.
Roughly four months ago, I read an article in The Chronicle Review called The Delights of Disgust. Today, not only four minutes ago, I sat down to write, a bowl of oatmeal from a local coffee shop next to me. Whilst eating, I found someone else’s DNA in the form of bristle in my oatmeal.
While Justin Smith does exceptional work ruminating on the idea of disgust, humor, and humanity. I would like to make an aside that’s worth noting (with less sexual and political prominence).
Oh, and here is the picture of the hair. I went to pluck it out of my food and ended up pulling and pulling and pulling. “That’s disgusting!” Right?
After putting the strand of hair to the side (as shown above), I continued to finish my oatmeal. The way I see it is this, will I let something disgusting (hair in food, smell of a fart, undercooked meat) influence my actions, but more importantly, my judgements?
For many who find themselves in a similar situation, would have complained, would have asked for a new bowl, would have ranted on Twitter, and would then avoid eating oatmeal for the next few weeks until the memory fades.
Aurel Kolnai, who in 1929 published an essay “Der Ekel” (“Disgust”) saw disgust as inherently paradoxical, to the extent that it is “a genuinely passive defensive reaction of the subject, … and yet, once aroused, it seeks out its object, as hatred does, in its entire significance, instead of unfolding according to the persona’s own condition.
Curiously enough, in any dictionary, “disgust” is juxtaposed with “humor.”
Since when did the demand of “smell my finger” become the force of what is disgusting, rather than the actual act of smelling the finger? And to the one asking, both the asking and the action of their finger being smelled is humorous. Is this not a perfect display of humanity? At the most basic level, something has an aroma, and we have the ability to sense it through smell. Then, the action of sensory perception leads to laughter. Yet, it’s not that simple, is it?
There are multiple variables attempting to dominate our lives, to make decisions for us, to dictate even. The major contributors to this dictation are morales, laws, politics, social structures and others. I’m not sure about you, but I’m not comfortable with letting disgust control me. I think the list of factors that behest our lives is long enough.
Stay Positive & Human, In Control
Garth E. Beyer
