About Me — Chris Dungan
Our problems are different; that diversity should unite us!
My memories — and knowing what my family has done for me — are far more exciting than my bio — or at least it’s easy for me to let that compliment to my family stand, since I’m not used to talking about myself much, even in person. Long wary of online publicity, I only broke my silence because my biggest fear in 2020 wasn’t the virus, but a lockdown on free speech and freedom of association.
But especially with so much written by those with different cultures and experiences (compared to my middle-class Los Angeles upbringing), I can honestly surmise that my attitudes came mostly from intentions before birth and less from how others tried to teach or react to me (though our beliefs were sufficiently harmonious to avoid much conflict).
I sense enough Myers-Briggs fans here and online that my preference for talking about ideas over details will be chalked up to my being an INXP (that’s an INTP/INFP combination, or a designation meant to include anyone who’s an introvert, intuitive and perceiver). Would that the famous NT penchant for brevity translated into a public welcoming of densely packed writing, but I try to adapt. (The header image is an example of cramming maximum info into a small space where it can be seen without scrolling.)
My main addiction: new combinations of what exists
Maybe it’s because I never had a substance addiction that I sought the effects of new combinations of interests, skills and experiences. Besides, I was too afraid to break rules growing up, so I went where the rules weren’t invented yet (as far as I could see).
Of course, the hard part is explaining that or getting others interested. I mean, how can the surprise ending of my article on modern journalism have its full effect if I call it to the attention of potential readers by revealing that twist? That’s why it would be hard for me to be a comedian; the paying audience will need to expect humor rather than be surprised by it.
Some may say that since I check off nearly all of the (official) “privilege” boxes, I can’t really relate to the struggles of most others. I don’t think anyone can that much. I mean that not from the standpoint of having been “spared” so much, but that different formative experiences stayed with individuals. If you think about it, you can come up with many people who are so invested in goals that have little meaning or drive for you, and you can’t imagine being interested enough to make all the sacrifices they must have to make (such as attending to all the details of a documentary, for example).
Since anything intricate I thought of saying might better serve as its own story, I thought for ease of reading of presenting bullet points (if that gunnish word won’t get me canceled). But since it’s expected that I’ll be writing about myself here, I expect even those wariest of “privilege” will grant me some room to present that concept as I did, and therefore this would be the place for that story, to share my take on how we can all come together without seeming to diminish the concept when it comes to others who are affected by it. If I sound vague rather than explicit, it’s because there’s a lot one can think about there (and because of what a serious subject it can be). My point is, we all have notions that stay with us, and can respect the depth of that in each other even if not personally stirred ourselves by details that have stayed with others.
I started writing because of my libertarian take on Covid, but I tried to show I wasn’t indifferent to those whose circumstances made them err on the side of hygiene, and I made a deliberate effort not to limit my audience to readers of publications likely to be sympathetic to challenging overreach during extraordinary conditions.
A more incidental way I tried to reach out was to publish pieces (many still in progress) in Medium’s “spiritual” publications — not just to share inspiration, but to break down the stereotype that conservatism and “New Age” religion had different constituencies. Since both those groups apparently correlate with a relative lack of viral fear, perhaps we will see more of a blending of them.
I once glibly said I didn’t have the same satisfying experiences as many others, but also not the problems they did. And of course our good experiences might look like difficulties to others and vice versa. Maybe we can help each others’ viewpoints that way.
Part of wanting to try new things is to do the unexpected (in a way that doesn’t unduly inconvenience others, of course). For all its effort, you might get the following benefits:
- Meeting new people (and who wouldn’t welcome more of that in this cocoon age?)
- Foiling evil, since those with intent to hurt others stand to lose the most when good people act contrary to their cunning (I’ll have a great anecdote about that later!)
