Dr. John Gartner makes a terrifying prediction 😵‍💫

[ShazzieB]

[3catwoman3]

1. "Omnipotent destructiveness" - there's a terrifying term.

[Starbeach]

2. Dr. Gartner

Is a hero. Along with Dr. Bandy Lee. They've been shouting from the rooftop for years.

[PCIntern]

3. I like him a lot:

He’s competent, cogent, experienced, and obviously extremely bright and telegenic.

He HAS to stop laughing as he talks about Trump. I gather it’s a nervous habit. What he’s saying is not funny.

I have posted about our side talking about this stuff and smiling and joking incessantly. Tell the families of the kids who were forcibly removed why you’re smiling/laughing. While you’re at it, tell the people whose vote has been nullified by this Administration what’s so funny.

This is as serious as a heart attack.

The next funny thing will be how they’re converting factories and storage facilities to concentration camps. 😂😂😂

[wnylib]

4. Dr. Gartner's laugh might be a nervous reaction,

a way of coping with the terrible reality of what he is saying. When people see a disaster coming that they are powerless to stop, they react in different ways. Some freeze up in fear. Some go into an angry rage. Some laugh, like the saying, "If I don't laugh, I'll cry." They laugh as a release of the emotional intensity of being helpless when facing a disaster.

[PCIntern]

5. Yes, I alluded to that

People need to understand that this is DEADLY SERIOUS. You don’t convey import of an issue like this by smiling

Imagine Peter Jennings, reporting live as 9/11 occurred, nervously laughing as the towers came down. Nope. I can’t either. This…is a WORSE situation in which we find ourselves.

And as I said, I think this doc is terrific in all other respects.

[ShazzieB]

6. I agree that it's a coping mechanism.

I also agree that it can come off a little oddly, especially when you're not used to him, but that is how some people cope with horrible realities. There's a name for this phenomenon: gallows humor, a term that refers to the idea of laughing in the face of death.

It's not everyone's cup of tea, and it can be taken too far, but it can be an extremely effective stress relief mechanism and is said to be quite common among those who have to constantly confront the dark side of life, including soldiers fighting a war, medical professionals, and first responders of all types. I see Gartner as one of those people. Not only is he up to his neck in closely following Trump's craziness and warning people about it, his "day job" is listening to people talk about their worst traumas and deepest fears as a practicing psychotherapist.

Sometimes a person a person like Gartner can get so used to using dark humor as an outlet for stress and a shield against despair that they don't even realize they're doing it, or that it can make some people uncomfortable. That can lead to some awkwardness for those whose sense of humor doesn't run in that vein, but for those who "get" it, there's nothing like it.

Satire is a popular form of dark humor, and so are political cartoons and the sarcastic memes some of us like to post here at DU. I'm a fan of both myself.

[wnylib]

7. I am familiar with dark humor.

A good example of it in war time was the TV show (and the movie), Mash. It was fiction, of course, but based on real life situations.

And yes, satirical literature and cartoons are full of gallows humor. Even some adventure movies show the hero laughing in the face of death.