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Comment by gadders | Hacker News Reader

Interesting article, but doesn't this come back to the age-old question of whether you can divorce a person from their art?

Isaac Asimov, Michael Jackson, Roman Polanski - can you enjoy their work knowing what you know about the creator?

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I personally can, maybe that says something about my moral code, maybe not. Orson Scott Card's works are some of my favorite books to read, and it puzzles me how he was able to write a book like Speaker for the Dead while holding the xenophobic and racist views he did. Mel Gibson also holds some pretty reprehensible views, however that doesn't stop me from watching the Lethal Weapon films.

Contextualizing works of art is important in some cases, and moreso if the art is political. In cases where author bias either isn't present or doesn't matter, however, I don't think it matters.

I think the point about Card is particularly interesting. Card's writing can be terrific, and in particular some of it is terrific because of the nuanced way it questions religious orthodoxy and/or the role of religion in society. As an anti-religionist, I greatly appreciate how Card's writing has both acknowledged my concerns and also raised counterpoints. It is indeed hard to reconcile that with what we have heard about his personal positions. Good on him, I guess.

I note that he's not the only Mormon SF writer I've thought that about, though the other one that comes to mind has evolved his public politics over the last decade. But making that connection ("Mormon SF writer") may be an invalid cognitive bias.

I like to reframe the question. Can I divorce the person from the art? Of course. But should I?

I don't think so. There are so many books, movies, song, games, etc. that I could never consume them all so there is still a near infinite list of works for me to enjoy by creators who aren't known to be terrible people.

My philosophy is a bit different. I have found that although there are a lot of things to consume, a fraction (maybe even %1-%10) is even top shelf and worth your time (I wish I had the ability to delete books from my memory, not to re-read the book, but to never experience it ever) -- as time for those hobbies is limited and, well, why not optimize life for great works and skip the bad ones. I'm still having Foundations on my reading list but my opinion of the author is less no doubt.

For what its worth I found Foundations pretty forgettable :)

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