In today’s strip, Calvin hits the nail on the head, even though it seems like a snow job.He raises the basic question of whether we are all alike in terms of our evil inclinations and our abilities to resist temptations, and therefore whether we should all be judged equally. Now, there’s a topic for discussion.Today, Calvin is trying to justify himself by saying that he has a stronger innate inclination toward evil than some other people (presumably he thinks that he was born that way), and therefore that he shouldn’t be judged as harshly as others. But in a strip two years earlier, Calvin was trying to justify himself by saying that he hadn’t done things that were as bad as what other people had done, and therefore that he shouldn’t be judged as harshly as others. Calvin wants to have it both ways.Many of us tend to be like Calvin. If we feel that we are worse than other people, we want to look for reasons that our behavior might be beyond our control, or at least more difficult for us to control. But if we feel that we are better than other people, we want to think that it is something that we have accomplished on our own and therefore something for which we should receive credit. Like Calvin, we want to have it both ways. And like Calvin, in either case, we try to justify ourselves by comparing our behavior to that of others.Part of what makes Calvin and Hobbes such an enduring strip is Bill Watterson’s incredible insight into human nature, and his ability to express it in ways that readers can relate to, while he is simultaneously entertaining them at a high level.Today’s strip is from December 1992. Here is the earlier strip:Click here: Calvin and Hobbes (December 23, 1990)
In today’s strip, Calvin hits the nail on the head, even though it seems like a snow job.He raises the basic question of whether we are all alike in terms of our evil inclinations and our abilities to resist temptations, and therefore whether we should all be judged equally. Now, there’s a topic for discussion.Today, Calvin is trying to justify himself by saying that he has a stronger innate inclination toward evil than some other people (presumably he thinks that he was born that way), and therefore that he shouldn’t be judged as harshly as others. But in a strip two years earlier, Calvin was trying to justify himself by saying that he hadn’t done things that were as bad as what other people had done, and therefore that he shouldn’t be judged as harshly as others. Calvin wants to have it both ways.Many of us tend to be like Calvin. If we feel that we are worse than other people, we want to look for reasons that our behavior might be beyond our control, or at least more difficult for us to control. But if we feel that we are better than other people, we want to think that it is something that we have accomplished on our own and therefore something for which we should receive credit. Like Calvin, we want to have it both ways. And like Calvin, in either case, we try to justify ourselves by comparing our behavior to that of others.Part of what makes Calvin and Hobbes such an enduring strip is Bill Watterson’s incredible insight into human nature, and his ability to express it in ways that readers can relate to, while he is simultaneously entertaining them at a high level.Today’s strip is from December 1992. Here is the earlier strip:Click here: Calvin and Hobbes (December 23, 1990)