I may watch too much television

[slemslempike]

[Poll #1084483]

I think the main thing that would make teaching immeasurably better is if the students didn't. to a woman, have much better skin than me. I demand a return to spotty eighteen year olds!

When I was younger and watching Fist of Fun on TV, I thought Stewart Lee was the most beautiful man who ever lived. Then a few years later, watching This Morning With Richard Not Judy, I still liked him (obviously) but decided that it must have been a childish infatuation and he was perfectly normal looking. In the last few weeks I watched the FoF live video, and I wasn't wrong, I wasn't. He was heavenly.

Comments

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

Warning: I do write for a dictionary.

How about "confounding" as a synomym, in the combined sense of discomfiting, disordering, and confusing?

[wonderlanded.livejournal.com]

I think the "confusing" connontation of "confounding" is what's not right -- it just doesn't quite fit. It's more: "I was confronted with this idea. I found in confronting" -- where "found it confronting" is "it took me out of my comfortable bubble" or "it made me think twice about my worldview" or similar.

[yiskah.livejournal.com]

I'd agree with this. A closer synonym I think would be 'challenging'.

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

Fascinating.

I'm especially interested in the way "confronting" appears to put the emphasis on the idea/person being reacted to and takes responsibility away from the person doing the reacting.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

Yes - this has provoked a reaction, rather than I am reacting to this?

I've seen it used both approvingly and disapprovingly - like the The Age review that wonderlanded quotes, where it is appreciated that it's confronting, and that people should be shaken out of themselves. And for disapproving, where I would actually think it's being used more in the sense of confrontational.

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

Challenging/challenged has rather different connotations for me than confronting/confronted would. The latter would seem, to me, easier to use for/imply responsibility-shifting. Interesting.