Face-blindness PSA

As I'm working my way through Arrested Development season 4 (which, once you get past the first episode -- which might be the worst thing Mitch Hurwitz has created in his entire career -- is actually pretty solid), I feel the need to note that the creators here do not, any more than the Royal Pains folks do, understand face-blindness, at least as far as I experience it and anyone I've compared note with does.

Face-blindness is not actually the inability to see faces; it's the inability to recognize them. So yes, I know if someone has blue eyes or a big nose. I can tell if someone's attractive (based on my personal aesthetic), and I know where their mouth and ears are. What happens is that I won't be able to process that face later, so without other cues (context, voices, clothing, hair, etc), I'll have a lot of trouble figuring out that you're the same person I met the other day.

Perception, incidentally, is the one show I've seen that kind of got it right.

Face-blindness PSA

As I'm working my way through Arrested Development season 4 (which, once you get past the first episode -- which might be the worst thing Mitch Hurwitz has created in his entire career -- is actually pretty solid), I feel the need to note that the creators here do not, any more than the Royal Pains folks do, understand face-blindness, at least as far as I experience it and anyone I've compared note with does.

Face-blindness is not actually the inability to see faces; it's the inability to recognize them. So yes, I know if someone has blue eyes or a big nose. I can tell if someone's attractive (based on my personal aesthetic), and I know where their mouth and ears are. What happens is that I won't be able to process that face later, so without other cues (context, voices, clothing, hair, etc), I'll have a lot of trouble figuring out that you're the same person I met the other day.

Perception, incidentally, is the one show I've seen that kind of got it right.

Gordon Van Gelder Misses the Point

"The recent Beale-Jemisin exchanges left me wondering if some of the people who have expressed concern about how SFWA looks to the outside world are also members who are blogging about SFWA matters."

There are (generally) two reasons someone might be concerned with how SFWA (or any organization they're a member of) looks to the outside world. One is the type who wants to ensure that no one outside the organization sees any problems, because that would be embarrassing. That's clearly the only definition Van Gelder's familiar with.

The other type wants to shine a light on awful behavior, because that behavior hurts the organization whether one or a thousand people know about it.

Gordon Van Gelder Misses the Point

"The recent Beale-Jemisin exchanges left me wondering if some of the people who have expressed concern about how SFWA looks to the outside world are also members who are blogging about SFWA matters."

There are (generally) two reasons someone might be concerned with how SFWA (or any organization they're a member of) looks to the outside world. One is the type who wants to ensure that no one outside the organization sees any problems, because that would be embarrassing. That's clearly the only definition Van Gelder's familiar with.

The other type wants to shine a light on awful behavior, because that behavior hurts the organization whether one or a thousand people know about it.