Our Philosophy about Philosophies and Whether our Philosophies are Really Philosophies at All 

Our philosophy on the website is important to us even if it can’t really be called a philosophy at all. We’re actually not interested in a semantic argument on that issue (which we think would qualify as irony). We love it when people tell us their thinking behind what they’re doing. That’s the royal we, * you understand, not the all inclusive we that pertains to the entire human race. We’re not so naive to think that all humans love to hear what other people think. In fact, some humans positively hate to hear it as you can see by watching any news coverage of the 2016 election in the U.S.A. which has come to set the standard in why Churchill was right when he said that the best argument against democracy is some time with the average voter. * For the most part though humans appreciate honesty and that’s what we aim to provide. We believe it’s right and proper to state upfront what we’re about on this website. We’d like to build an audience of tolerant, thick-skinned, with a good sense of humour and a common interest in putting the world to rights. We want our readers to be people who enjoy film and TV as much as we do. We want to inform people who like to hear about new technology such as Elon Musks latest world-saving product or the next big thing in computing.

Our Review Philosophy

If you disagree with our reviews, that’s fine and to be expected. No reviewer or blogger will perfectly match your taste in technology, film and television, books, wallpaper, fly fishing techniques, humour or politics. We believe very strongly in free speech and our own right to say that we love something or felt it was awful. Equally, we believe you have the right to disagree with us. Our own preference is to look for reviewers that offer a fresh and informed perspective and if we need to make a really important decision, we look for multiple points of view.

For instance, when you choose your next smartphone it’s a decision that will haunt you for around 2 years. It’s an expensive purchase if you’re buying a flagship model and it’s important that you know that you’re getting the right product for you. You don’t want one that’s too big or is missing a vital feature. You don’t want to buy last years model a month before the new one hits the shops. So in that case you really should read a review and if it covers all the aspects that you care about, sounds like it’s unbiased and you feel you can trust their recommendation, don’t! It’s a classic mistake of making a big purchase that we look for information that validates our own desire (in this case to get a shiny new phone). Look for the counterpoint, find a review that doesn’t say nice things about the product. See why that reviewer didn’t like it. Are they biased? Was the first review biased? Keep reading until you are sure that you have all the information you need to make an informed decision.
Other buying decisions aren’t so hard. If you’re reading a film review of the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe outing you don’t need so many recommendations. It’s helpful to get a feel for a reviewer who likes the same type of content as you do but if it isn’t a two-star review and you like Marvel films, you’re going to go and see it, aren’t you?
We hope you’ll find our reviews helpful. We hope you’ll find them interesting and informative. We hope you won’t find any spoilers (and if you’re a big enough Marvel geek, that you won’t send any to us). We hope that they’ll be correct. With any luck you’ll agree with our judgement more often than not. But we also hope that you’ll check other reviews as well unless you have developed confidence in us.
As with any part of the site, we want your feedback and if you find any errors please let us know so we can correct them (if we dislike a film that you love though that’s a matter of taste).

Our Philosophy about Rants and Bad Language and Opinions

Please be aware that this site is not for small children, some content may contain rude words and whilst we’re not obsessed with vulgarity we’re not bothered by a bit of it either. If we want to write about the scene in The Wire where an entire crime scene is investigated using only variants on a hugely popular expletive we will. If that bothers you, then you’re probably not our type of persons. To be honest, if you’re that bothered by swearing you’re probably not anyone’s type of person and perhaps you should work on that.
On occasion we will be publishing Rants about a topic of the day such as “Why is it still illegal for women to choose to have an abortion in Northern Ireland?”. Or “Why do people think letting of air horns outside the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff is acceptable behaviour?”. There are a few reasons for us to do this. Firstly our doctor told us that it would help us deal with stress-inducing matters if we vent our spleen all over the internet in colourful language.** Secondly just because it’s a rant doesn’t mean it’s not informative or that we’re wrong. Thirdly we hope it’ll be an amusing way to talk about some uncomfortable subjects (such as politics which is making even our skin crawl at the moment). Fourthly it’ll save our personal Facebook feeds from being spammed with our disapproval of world events. Feel free to suggest a topic if you want.
We don’t seek to offend people unless they are deserving for of such things. For instance, there’s a certain tiny handed horror show spewing vile hatred all over the place in the U.S.A. at the moment. We don’t like him and don’t think anyone should. We’re sorry if you’re an American and a Republican, we’re sorry if you’re one of the good ones but we’re not interested in whether or not our dislike of him upsets you. It shouldn’t, we’re entitled to our opinion and to be decent human beings even if some people don’t like it.
We think that Stephen Fry summed this up best:
“It’s now very common to hear people say, ‘I’m rather offended by that.’ As if that gives them certain rights. It’s actually nothing more than a whine. ‘I find that offensive.’ It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. ‘I am offended by that.’ Well, so fucking what.”
[I saw hate in a graveyard — Stephen Fry, The Guardian, 5 June 2005]

* It’s really just me at the moment (Jon). I live in hope of guest bloggers and using the word ‘we’ could reduce the need for future changes….

** Churchill did not favour an alternative to democracy in case you’ve never heard that. He was just funny as well.

*** Please note that not all facts presented in this piece may, in fact, be entirely true. Sometimes people say things that are deliberately untrue in order to be humorous.

 

Amazon Links

 

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