Jamie Marchant's Blog

Scholars have often debated why humans gave up their hunter/gather ways and settled down to farming. In many ways, the change is hard to explain because hunting/gathering provided a more reliable standard of living with less work. Experts suggest that hunter/gathers worked fewer hours per week than most people do today.

So why did we do it? According to a University of Pennsylvania anthropologist, the answer is beer. Yes, that’s right. We started cultivating grain, so we could get drunk. Our ancestors took up the back-breaking work of farming, so we could waste away in Margaritaville, so to speak.

The oldest recipe we have discovered is a Sumerian recipe for beer. The UPenn anthropologist theorizes that some ancient person in making gruel left wheat and barley soaking in water for too long and, thereby, discovered the wonders of beer.

Is anything that is happening today more absurd than taking up farming for beer? If civilization is founded on our desire to drink, doesn’t that prove we have always been an absurd species?

This is the first in my series of Absurd Past Event Stories (#APES) in which I’m seeking to answer the question, “Can the Humans still Win?” To participate in this experiment and be eligible for Awards and Prizes, answer in the comments below whether you think this story is true. Or did someone in the past merely write this as fiction? Or have I possibly made it up myself? Along with your opinion, include how you came to this opinion? Did you merely guess? (This is perfectly acceptable. Just say so.) Or did you do research? How did you do research, and what is your source? For the first 48 hours after posting this story, comments will be held in moderation so that you can post your answer without influencing others. See Rules for a full explanation of how to participate.

If you believe the number of points you have been awarded is inaccurate or unfair, you may submit an appeal, using the form below. Note: all portions of the form must be thoroughly filled out. No one will read or respond to your appeal, but you may feel virtuous about having appealed, and you may award yourself honorary bragging rights. Honorary bragging rights have the same relationship to bragging rights as an honorary PhD does to a real PhD.

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Now, this is the real question. I’m done struggling with how to approach my own writing in this era of political instability. I’ve decided no more of this doom and gloom and writing at the end of an era nonsense. Yes, the rise of right-wing authoritarianism and the spread of AI have made this an absurd era. So should we just lay down and die? No, we will thwart them all by answering the question: “Can the Humans still win?”

How will we answer it? By looking to the past. Every generation tends to think they’re special, and I am no different. I think my generation is especially fucked up. But are we really? If you’re like me, you may want to shout, “Of course, we are! Everywhere you look its absurdity after absurdity.” But are we really living in a particularly absurd point in history? Or have humans always been absurd creatures? Have we lost our connection to reality? Or did humanity never have a solid grasp on the dividing line between fact and fiction? Possibly, we’ve never been able to tell the difference between uncovering a conspiracy and believing a conspiracy theory.

To answer this profound mystery, I will delve into the annals of the past for the most absurd things that have ever happened, have been believed to have happened, or have been written about happening. Notice, I said I will use the annals of the past. If you don’t know what annals means, we can pause a moment for you to google it? Once you have, come back.

As you knew, or found out, annals means books.* It doesn’t mean googling or asking ChatGPT. All of the research, and I mean 100%, for this experiment will come from actual physical books that I have held in my hands. Real books. Made out of paper and everything. Not only will AI do none of my writing, the computer itself with play no role in my research. Does this mean that the books I use or the same information from another source isn’t available on the internet? Of course not. To determine what percentage of human knowledge has been made available online, you’d have to ask some kind of data engineer, but I know it’s pretty high. However, my source will not be the internet. I will find these absurdities and write them up on my blog as Absurd Past Events Stories (APES) on a weekly or bi-weekly basis depending on time and interest.

You can participate in this experiment and help me discover if the Humans can still win against absurdity and AI by reading the APES and correctly (or incorrectly, as the cause might be) identifying whether the event or belief is real. Did the event I recount happen? Was it a belief humanity truly held? Or was merely rumored to have happened: an urban legend, folk tale, or myth? If it is fictional, was it produced by one of the literary greats of the past? Or by an upstart Crow beautified with our feathers or a scribbling woman? Or did I just make it up myself?. Will you be able to find the correct answer with a simple google search? Maybe, I make no promises.

If you identify the APES as a true historical event, let me know if you think it is more or less absurd than what is happening today. For the rules of how to play, see Rules. Awards and prizes will be given. See Awards and Prizes for more information on how awards and prizes will be handed out.

After hearing about the rewards and prizes, I’m certain you will not want to miss out on your chance to participate in this historic experiment. The first APES is scheduled to appear on July 14. Keep your eyes peeled for my information, or subscribe to my newsletter with the form in the sidebar to make sue you don’t miss an important update. Pass the word to friends and family. Be sure to use the hashtag #APES.

Note: The above post contains several allusions. To get a head start on earning awards, you can earn 1 point by correctly identifying any allusion and its source.

* Can the word “annals” be used to refer to something other than books? Of course, it can, but do you really want to argue definitions? When I say, annals, I mean books.

Coming soon.

Coming soon.

Coming soon.

Coming soon.

Disclaimer: As expressed in my first post in this series (see here), I’m struggling with how to approach my own writing in this era of political instability. I don’t have an answer, so I’m writing this series to explore possible answers. The arguments expressed aren’t necessarily my opinion, but possible opinions on the issue. I’m hoping to spark dialogue to help me find my own answers. Please comment with your own reactions to these opinions. Do you agree or disagree with this opinion? Why? All polite replies are welcome.

I had a couple of interesting replies yesterday. My favorite included this quote: “The most radical thing we can do is not allow ourselves to be downtrodden. In the face of pain, we have spite and hope. If we have the ability and the will, I think we owe it to ourselves to be self indulgent.” (See responses to this post for the full comment). I like this sentiment. How often has a book taken us out of our own problems and allowed us to breathe free and happy if only for a few hours? How many of us have found joy not only in reading the stories of others, but in writing our own? Grabbing for and spreading joy in the face of negative events we can’t control can be a radical act.

Sometimes I think that continuing to write my fantasy stories in the face of this political instability is an irresponsible act. That I should be doing something, anything, to combat what is happening to my country. But am I thinking about this all wrong? Is there anything wrong with writing fiction that brings joy to myself and others, even in a time like this? Is laughing in the face of pain the radical act I should be engaging in? Does the writer who takes us out of this world and into other do us a favor or does it encourage escapism in a world falling apart?

Again, I’m not writing this series because I have the answer, but because I’m searching for it, or at least for an answer that works for me. I would love to hear the thoughts of other writers on what, if anything, is our responsibility of writers in this time? Have you found any answer to these questions that has worked for you? Or are you untroubled by them? Or as a reader, what do you want from writers at this time? I would love to spark a dialogue on the topic, as I search for an answer of my own.

Disclaimer: As expressed in my first post in this series (see here), I'm struggling with how to approach my own writing in this era of political instability. I don't have an answer, so I'm writing this series to explore possible answers. The arguments expressed aren't necessarily my opinion, but possible opinions on the issue. I'm hoping to spark dialogue to help me find my own answers. Please comment with your own reactions to these opinions. Do you agree or disagree with this opinion? Why? All polite replies are welcome.

Literature should explore timeless themes rather than comment on the current political climate. As a recently retired teacher of literature and creative writing, I can see at least two arguments to support this claim: 1) politically motivated literature encourages bad writing, and 2) politically motivated literature quickly becomes dated and unrelatable.

Politically motivated literature encourages bad writing in the following ways:

Characters become caricatures rather than believable people. When writing to make a point, an author is in danger of creating one dimensional characters that exist and act merely to prove the author's point. Such characters are unrelatable and uninteresting. All real people are complex and don't fit easily into neat boxes.Plot is contrived. Rather than the story proceeding naturally, the plot is off forced into unrealistic directions, merely to support the author's point.Writing is didactic. Rather than being invited into a story, readers feel that they are being preached at.

 

Adding to the problem of bad writing, a story is motivated by current political events quickly becomes dated and loses relevance. Dante's Inferno is a good example of this problem. Dante's hell is full of his personal, political enemies who no longer have any importance. This makes much of the Inferno tedious. To fully understand what Dante is saying, you need to look up who these people were, and when you find out, you still don't really care. By sentencing his personal enemies to creative, eternal torture, Dante looks petty and unlikable, and the piece loses some of the power it otherwise would have.

What do you think? Are these valid reasons to avoid allowing the current political climate to influence your writing? Why or why not?

What does it mean to be an author at the end of an era? What is our responsibility when free speech and the concept of truth itself is under attack? How do we use the power of the pen when basic human rights are disappearing? What does a specifically American writer do when nearly the 250-year-old American experiment appears to be coming to an end? Are new genres or new approaches needed?

As an author and a teacher of literature, I have always believed in the power of fiction to change the world. When we enter a story as a reader, we enter a world that is often unlike our own. Not only do we see the world through different perspectives, we experience the shared humanity of those whose lives little resemble those that we know. This enhances empathy and gets us to question our previous world view in a way that emotionless facts can’t accomplish. It is this empathy, more than anything, that is dying in Trump’s America. Literature is always a causality in an authoritarian state. What does a writer do when she sees this dark new world approaching, but feels powerless to stop it?

I never remember wanting to be anything other than a writer and began writing my first stories for my older sister when I was seven or eight. While my books haven’t gotten as many readers as I would like, I am proud of what I have written. My own journey as a writer came to a screeching halt on October 12, 2020, when my 24-year-old son and only child was murdered. (I have written of this elsewhere on my blog.) I was nearly destroyed by my son’s death and strongly considered joining him. While it has taken me some time to work myself up from a dark place, I have come to the decision that if I’m not going to die, I need to live. To me, living means writing. I have long said that a writer needs to write to be happy. About nine months ago, I began The Llama Apocalypse, a dark comedic speculative fiction novel in which Native American gods get their revenge. For awhile the writing went quite well, and I was starting to feel alive again. I presently have over 77,000 words of it completed.

But as the destruction of the Trump era rips apart the very fabric of democracy, I have had increasing problems concentrating on this novel, as it seems somehow trivial when faced with my government imprisoning people without trial and attacking the right of transpeople to even exist. I temporarily abandoned in and have attempted working on numerous other projects, including the fourth novel in my epic fantasy series, The Kronicles of Korthlundia, a paranormal novel in which a drug addict sees ghosts when he isn’t under the influence, a fantasy novel in which a 21-century college student finds himself in Valhalla, a non-fiction analysis of MAGA as holy warriors, and a memoir/historical fiction exploring my deconstruction of my Mormon faith and my relationship to the great, great grandmother I was named after. But none of it seen right in the current political environment.

All of this leads to the questions I began this post with. What do I write when my country seems to be dissolving from within? Should the current political situation effect my work? Am I being too alarmist? Will the United States be able to pull back from the precipice? Or as a writer do I have some responsibility to fight or document this collapse? If so, what form does that responsibility take? And how do I do so? Or should I just relax and write as I always have?

I would love to hear the thoughts of other writers, especially American ones, but all others welcome, on your thoughts of writing in the Trump era? Has the political situation effected your writing? How? Have you found any answer to these questions that has worked for you? Or are you untroubled by them? Or as a reader, what do you want from writers at this time?