False dichotomies

One of my classes this semester is History of the US West. It's actually an undergrad class, but I'm allowed to take it because it's deeply connected to my research interests. I have a few different assignments than the undergrads do.

One of my required readings for this class is a new book called Pioneers in the Attic: Place and Memory along the Mormon Trail by Sara M. Patterson (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020). It's interesting to me, because each chapter (except for one) begins with a statue or other feature at This Is the Place Heritage Park—you know, the place where I worked until the pandemic hit. In the book she mentions visiting the park in the summer of 2019. I worked there in the summer of 2019. Might she have come into one of the sites where I was working, and I talked to her, not knowing she was writing a book about the park? I do feel like This Is the Place isn't a very scholarly place. I'm one of the most scholarly people there, and yet I'm not a full-blown scholar.

Anyway, in the last chapter of the book is this quote: “Perhaps Mormons can start to acknowledge the tensions in their own collective memory. Perhaps this can also open the way for Mormons to celebrate their pioneer heritage while also acknowledging the imperial impulses of Manifest Destiny in which they participated” (235–36). 

YES. Exactly this. I get frustrated when people say we shouldn't celebrate Pioneer Day because of what it meant for Native Americans. Alternatively, it is frustrating when people pass on whitewashed, embellished stories about pioneers. We can honor the pioneers and still be aware of what their arrival meant for other groups. It's not an either-or. 

I really get frustrated with false dichotomies, where people present exactly two options and you have to pick one. Life is rarely so black and white; there are many shades of gray.

This got me thinking about other false dichotomies in life that are frustrating. Some of them are trivial, some of them are more important. But here are some other examples.

When I see people wearing University of Utah masks, I'm like, "Oh yeeaahhh, that's my school." It's easy for me to forget that I am literally a student there, since I haven't been on campus since I took the GRE more than a year ago. I grew up in a BYU family and a moronic rivalry culture. So part of me gets my hackles up when I see a red U. Which is totally ridiculous. You can like both schools at the same time!

This week I finally received the Biden/Harris t-shirt that I ordered several weeks ago. Unfortunately, we have a false-dichotomy political culture. When I hear Trump supporters' reasons, 95 percent of the time it's because they oppose abortion. But guess what? You can be anti-abortion and still vote for Democrats! When the choice is between a Christian who attends church and a bully who brags about groping women, the choice could not be any more obvious for a Christian, yet so many Christians are making the wrong choice. (Now, you might say this is a false dichotomy, because you can vote for a third party. In theory you are right, and I voted third party in 2012 and 2016. Unfortunately, the false-dichotomy culture has made third-party voting a waste. We cannot afford to waste any votes this year.)

I often see people who like older music complaining about music "these days." Whether they grew up in the 60s, the 80s, or the 90s, they tend to make disparaging remarks about Taylor Swift or other modern singers. Guess what? You can like what you like without disparaging other things. I once read an article that said since it is impossible to watch every movie, read every book, or hear all the music, we tend to dismiss certain genres or time periods as inherently inferior so that we don't have to invest time in them. But we can like what we like and still acknowledge that other genres have merit, even if we don't care to invest our time in them.

(Since I mentioned Taylor Swift, maybe this is a good place to update my ranking of her albums, now that folklore has been out for two months:

1. Speak Now (2010)
2. Red (2012)
3. folklore [clean version] (2020)
4. 1989 (2014)
5. Lover (2019)
6. reputation (2017)
7. Fearless (2008)
8. Taylor Swift (2006))

And some deeply religious people like to dismiss or criticize science (climate change, evolution) because they think it's incompatible with their beliefs. And some scientifically minded people similarly become hostile towards religion. But you don't have to choose! You can have both!

Finally, to end on a frivolous note, now that it's late September, more and more people have their Halloween stuff out, including figures from The Nightmare before Christmas, my favorite movie. And we frequently see debates about whether it's a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie. Pssh. The obvious answer is it's both. Most of the action takes place in Halloweentown, and most of the characters are Halloween characters, but most of the movie takes place after Halloween and it literally has Christmas in the title. 

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Sometimes I feel silly doing pumpkinundation roundup after less frivolous posts, but I did talk about Taylor Swift and The Nightmare before Christmas, so it's not like this is an ultraserious blog.

My sister didn't like the Jelly Belly Harvest Selection that she bought, so she gave it to me. It features maple-flavored walnut candies, chocolate balls, lemon-flavored corn candies, orange-flavored pumpkin candies, cinnamon candy corn, chocolate candy corn, and regular candy corn. The chocolate balls don't belong here. They are a different candy entirely from the rest, and they aren't even very good chocolate (probably because they were sitting in the same package as all the candy corn). But I do enjoy all the others. It's a bit strange to have orange-flavored pumpkins, since those pumpkins usually have the same flavor as candy corn, but I'm not complaining. The cinnamon candy corn is the best, though; it works perfectly. Jelly Belly candy corn is smoother than most candy corns. 7/10.

belVita Pumpkin Spice Breakfast Biscuits have been around for years. They are enjoyable cookie-like snacks. I wouldn't eat them for breakfast (I have too active of a lifestyle for such a low-calorie meal), but they have a nice flavor, even if it's not extremely pumpkiny. (But I can't help but wonder why they thought it was a good idea to give it a name that was so close to Velveeta!) 7/10.

I'm trying to support local, so I went to North Salt Lake's food trucks this week. (It infuriates me how many people bring their dogs, when dogs are not allowed at that park because of the splash pad. Entitled jerks!) I got Renee's Cheesecake Pumpkin Cheesecake, which is a strange thing to sell from a truck. It was as fine as any pumpkin cheesecake; not bad but not exceptional. 7/10.

I remembered that I haven't always been impressed with Bear Naked Pumpkin Spice Granola, but it was worse than I remembered. It's not very flavorful and it's very dense. It's almost like Grape Nuts. 5/10.

It's been a few years since I had a Bahama Buck's Pumpkin Pie Smoothie, but again, I'm supporting local. This is not like a Jamba Juice smoothie. I don't think a real pumpkin got anywhere near this drink. I think the "pumpkin" element is just pumpkin-flavored syrup. Lazy! It's a nice drink, but it would have been so easy to use real pumpkin puree. 6/10.

I gained more respect for the Caramel Almond Pumpkin Spice Kind Bar when I read the ingredients and saw that it is actually made with pumpkin. It seems like pumpkin is an afterthought, but these are relatively healthy (for the fiber-and-protein-to-sugar ratio) and satisfying. 7/10.

The Spiced Pumpkin Pie Clif Bar is enjoyable, but I also like to get the gingerbread and carrot cake  varieties at other times of the year, so it's a little hard to distinguish from those other varieties. I often buy a big box of these in the fall, but then trail season ends at the same time pumpkin season ends, and I have leftovers, which I start eating again on the trails in the spring. So Clif Bars taste like summer to me rather than fall. 7/10.

Pumpkin Pie Kit Kats came out in 2017, and I'm glad they keep returning. They have a nice pumpkin spice flavor and scent to the coating. 7/10.

Special K Pumpkin Spice has yogurt-coated clusters mixed with Special K flakes. I love the clusters, and they settle in the box, so the later bowls are better than the early ones. (This morning I filled a bowl with cereal, then accidentally dropped the milk gallon on the bowl, flipping it exactly upside down and spreading dry cereal everywhere!) 7/10.

I got the Crumbl Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie when it was fresh out of the oven and all the chocolate was gooey. 8/10.

Pumpkin Spice Cheerios is the best of all the pumpkin cereals; it has a nice, comforting pumpkin flavor. 9/10.

Of all the cookie places, Chip is my favorite, but Goodly is a close second (maybe even tied for first place). I'm sad it only has one location. Now, I consider apple pie a Thanksgiving dessert, not a Halloween dessert, so it's too early for apple pie. But I consider apple cider a Halloween treat, so I was able to get this Apple of My Pie Goodly Cookie, because it has an apple cider drizzle (and it won't be around at Thanksgiving!). It has apple pie filling in the center, and it tastes like it has oats as well. Now, as an apple cookie, I didn't think it was exceptional—but all of Goodly's cookies are amazing, including this one. 9/10.