The problem with only liking things we find relatable
The social media culture of “likes” is contributing to our conformity, says novelist and creative writing teacher Charmaine Craig. Instead of trying to empathize with the unfamiliar, we...
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WOODRUFF: In the age of social media, there is an elevated emphasis on so-called "likes". Novelist and creative writing teacher Charmaine Craig sees a disturbing trend. She explains in tonight`s "In My Humble Opinion". (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHAIRMAINE CRAIG, AUTHOR, "MISS BURMA": In addition to being a novelist, I teach fiction at a university. And something that drives me crazy is students rejecting a piece of writing because it`s not relatable," or because its characters aren`t likable. Recently, I was teaching "Anna Karenina," and one of my brightest graduate students wrote off the novel because she found the characters` thinking to be too different from her own. Well, maybe literature isn`t here to hold a mirror u...
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WOODRUFF: In the age of social media, there is an elevated emphasis on so-called "likes". Novelist and creative writing teacher Charmaine Craig sees a disturbing trend. She explains in tonight`s "In My Humble Opinion". (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHAIRMAINE CRAIG, AUTHOR, "MISS BURMA": In addition to being a novelist, I teach fiction at a university. And something that drives me crazy is students rejecting a piece of writing because it`s not relatable," or because its characters aren`t likable. Recently, I was teaching "Anna Karenina," and one of my brightest graduate students wrote off the novel because she found the characters` thinking to be too different from her own. Well, maybe literature isn`t here to hold a mirror u...
