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Dissidence are often associated with positive characteristics.

They're brave, self-sacrificing.

They're people who stand up for their ideals.

Less positive attributes might come with the territory, but they tend to fly under the radar.

In telling any story, it's helpful to make the hero consistent.

I think Guangchung understands this too.

We called him up last summer for a final conversation,

and he said something that stuck out.

It came up when he was talking about a disagreement he had

with his son's position on environmentalism and eating animals.

They say, oh, you should protect the environment, protect nature.

And I say, yes, certain things need our protection, like animals and plants.

But this is not absolute.

Guangchung then gave an example.

Imagine, he said, that you're drawing a picture of a farm.

You say the painting should reflect reality.

That's correct.

You paint a beautiful lawn with flowers on the edge and

green grass in the middle, right? But if a cow pooped on the lawn, do you need to paint

that too? I don't think so.

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