I was looking through some old bookmarks yesterday when I fell across a Wikipedia page about The Porcupine Dilemma. After reading into the subject for the second time, I decided this was exactly what I wanted to talk about today.
Although this concept mostly touches the subject of philosophy and sociology rather than literature, I still feel as though it is still a fine post to properly begin my blog with, to give note to views and outlooks of human iteration as a whole. By seeing Wikipedia's description of this dilemma, I think the reason for my choice will be clearer:
"The hedgehog's dilemma, or sometimes the porcupine dilemma, is an analogy about the challenges of human intimacy. It describes a situation in which a group of hedgehogs all seek to become close to one another in order to share their heat during cold weather. However, once accomplished, they cannot avoid hurting one another with their sharp quills. They must step away from one another. Though they all share the intention of a close reciprocal relationship, this may not occur for reasons which they cannot avoid."
The way I see this is by imagining a couple of people (porcupines) forming a relationship with each other but ending up too close in search of more compassion (warmth). Naturally they must endure a lot of emotional distress to keep warm (being in pain with the spikes of their quills), thus being unable to decide how much compassion is worth the suffering. The pain is not a metaphor for only bad relationships, what is more. It is a reflection on inevitable actions and reactions in any correlation.
In the subject of a single person, this concept naturally triggers a lot of questions about the pros and cons of social interaction for any individual, bringing to mind how much of a struggle it can be for one to decide whether the pain is worth it, whether there is a way to get the maximum amount of warmth with the least amount of suffering, and whether old wounds would be best left alone in the cold rather than to be at risk of being reopened.
I don't believe that staying on one's own in the best solution, however, even if it spares some discomfort all in all. I believe that taking a slow approach to seeking comfort is the best way to go about relations in general, to avoid rogue quills if possible when they become slowly apparent.
Thanks for reading,
-Light
