Elizabeth Cobbe

Happy fall season, readers! In the grand tradition of explaining why one hasn’t posted in several weeks, I offer up that I have been devoting every spare minute to finishing the draft of my next novel, a glowing ember of a story about what it means to choose joy in the face of evil.

Finally, a little over a week ago, I reached the end, and I sent it off to my critique readers.

Wooooooooooooooooooooooo! Hoo!

Writing is hard for everybody. It’s also not easy holding down a demanding day job, caring for a family, and building a writing career. Since sending off the book, I’ve done basic catch-up things like laundry, visiting the eye doctor, and exercising. Great stuff, all around. I also want to leave some thoughts here like birdseed.

I recently finished listening to the audio version of How to Be Perfect by Michael Schur, the guy behind the show The Good Place. It’s a smooth, fun, approachable read that compares different strains of thought in the subject of moral philosophy, and yes that sentence does make sense. Audio book even includes some actors from The Good Place read passages here and there, which is fun.

Bonus: my kid was having trouble falling asleep one night, and the chapter on existentialism did the trick in under five minutes. Camus and Sartre don’t fare well with the grade school crowd, it seems. Didn’t even last long enough to get to any of the mildly adult content.

I, on the other hand, found the book totally interesting. One of the nuggets that’s stuck with me is his explanation of the Overton window, or the range of ideas deemed acceptable at a given time. It’s a thing that shifts over time. For example, in 1995, the idea of marriage between two people of the same gender was outside that window for many mainstream Americans. By 2015, it had moved well within that range for most folks. It’s not hard to think of other social movements that have followed a similar path.

It can go the other direction, too. Where violence might be at one time considered unthinkable, the window can shift. Whole societies can arrive at a place where violence is not only acceptable but encouraged.

The concept of the Overton window has stuck with me because over the last several weeks, I have observed a widening of the window among people I otherwise respect that feels – how do I say this? – wrong.

First: I don’t care to plant a flag in my online discourse. That’s not the audience I’m trying to reach, and it’s not the way I seek to make change. As it happens, I do have very strong opinions, but I don’t feel that my values are best served by screaming about them on social media, or here.

Second: That begs the question of how should I live out my values, if those values do not include “sit by and do nothing”?

I am setting a standard for myself that I will at all times recognize the shared humanity of others. Disagreement happens, sure. Debate and even arguments, okay. But a recognition of shared humanity ought to be the fundamental and most basic standard for any discourse, online or otherwise.

Meanwhile, I am seeing fellow members of our SF/F – including respected friends – choose otherwise. In their online discourse, and occasionally in person, folks have reached a point where they no longer recognize the shared humanity of whole categories of people. That’s frightening.

Recognizing shared humanity does NOT mean that we ignore wrongdoing.

Recognizing shared humanity DOES preclude advocating violence. It DOES preclude dismissing the impact of violence on other humans.

The Overton window is widening within our community. It is widening to include an acceptance of violence against groups and individuals as not just unavoidable, but good and righteous. We use all manner of hurts to justify this shift, both personal and vicarious. There is no endpoint to that cycle, however.

The shift is happening, and it should make all of us uneasy.

In Other News…

• My story “Prometheus and the Pit Master” is featured in the Dragon Gems Fall 2023 collection, now available in print and in Kindle format.
• My friend P. H. Low’s book These Deathless Shores is available for pre-order. I got to read an early version as a critique partner, and trust me, it’s wicked fun.
• The editor of the anthology in which my story “Justice Turns the Balance Scales” appeared has nominated the story for a Pushcart Prize. That’s pretty nifty, even if the judges are unlikely to take notice of a smaller anthology project. I am legit Pushcart-nominated now!