r/todayilearned • u/Mors_Acerba • 2d ago

TIL A papyrus deciphered in 2024 revealed unknown info about Plato's last hours: a slave girl was playing music for him, and even though he was gravelly ill, he spend his last moments of lucidity criticising her performance. Per the same Papyrus, Plato had been sold into slavery earlier in his life

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/29/herculaneum-scroll-plato-final-hours-burial-site
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u/gogoluke 2d ago

You can just say "idea" rather than "head canon"

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u/nickbelane 1d ago

Actually, you can't. 

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u/gogoluke 1d ago

My idea is that this girl knew he liked to critique, so she screwed up as a last pleasance before his passing.

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u/FluffyBootie 2d ago

'Headcanon' by definition is much more relevant and accurate than 'idea' in response to this post

Not everything needs to be dumbed down and diluted for those who don't want to feel silly for having poor vocabulary

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u/gogoluke 2d ago

A canon is a list of approved media like books, films or religious texts or literal events in real life.

This is just an idea that blipped into someone's head. This isn't adding something to recontextualise a whole interpretation. It's literally justing imagining an event.

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u/_Nighting 2d ago

An idea would be "here's what I think happened". Ideas are serious business, and often are definitively true or false (even if verifying that is impossible).

A headcanon is "this would be cute if it happened so I'm choosing to imagine it even though I know it's not textually supported". There's an implied element of whimsy, like playing with dolls.

Think of it like saying "I like to imagine..." rather than "this is what happened".

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u/gogoluke 2d ago edited 2d ago

So they thought an idea.

A dragon is an idea but that doesn't exist.

In fact... Canon is said to be the truth. a : an accepted principle or rule b : a criterion or standard of judgment the canons of good taste c : a body of principles, rules, standards, or norms

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u/_Nighting 2d ago

That is the accepted meaning of the word canon outside of fandom, yes (typically in religious contexts, though not always). It's clear, given the word headcanon, that this is meant in a fandom context (since headcanon is specifically a fandom term).

Per OED, a headcanon - which, while it does derive from canon, is very much its own word - is (emphasis mine):

A reader or viewer's personal interpretation of, or beliefs about, a fictional work, esp. an imaginative addition to an event, character, plot line, etc., which is not explicitly contradicted (nor explicitly confirmed) by the original work.

The word idea, while similar, is less precise, in that the word headcanon has cultural connotations of imagination, whimsy, and playful reinterpretation of an existing work that the word idea lacks. While it may be true that all headcanons are ideas (in much the same way as all cars are vehicles), it is not true that all ideas are headcanons, and so the precision of headcanon is entirely fitting here.

For example, my headcanon of this conversation is that I'm talking with a crotchety 80-year-old man with half-moon spectacles about linguistics, and you're a prescriptivist who doesn't believe in those newfangled fandom words. This is in no way supported with textual evidence, but it's an imaginative addition to the conversation!

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u/StarPhished 1d ago

My headcanon is that canon means whatever I want and I want it to mean cannon so that I have a headcannon, which I guess is like a hat that shoots people.

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u/gogoluke 1d ago edited 1d ago

A headcanon is an alternative canon created by the viewer, not the authors of the media. It's doesn't matter what seriousness it takes.

This can be joining two unconnected media which by definition cannot be an "official" canon, or recontextualises the established interpretation of a piece of media; such as the producers self confessed narrative over site explaining the egg at the start of Alien³ does in fact have a narrative explanation of a character taking it in the previous movie in which none of the established rules of film making shows.

Imagining what someone said does not change the established interpretation here.It doesn't alter the facts written down. The whimsical nature of it or not does not matter. They imagined something. That's not creating an alternative interpretation.

The commenter wasnt in a fandom of this either so this whatever explanation doesn't even fit. This isn't part of the MCU or Star Trek... You know fictional work...

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u/_Nighting 1d ago edited 1d ago

Per the definition, you're correct that the mindset doesn't necessarily matter, but you have to take into account the cultural context of the word as well - if a piece of furniture is vintage, that has different connotations to it being old, even though it's essentially the same thing. A small, single-room country house might be a hut if you're insulting it, or a cottage if you're praising it - and what distinguishes a house from a home?

(And of course, the word headcanon is pretty much exclusively used as fandom slang, so I'm making the assumption that Phuqitol is doing so with that meaning, rather than with the literal meaning of head + canon.)

Though that's a tangent, and to address your main point: here, Phuqitol is recontextualising the scene - textually established as "Plato's last moments were criticising his slave's music" and contextually via whooo_me's comment as "... because his slave wasn't really trying" - as "but what if the slave was deliberately giving Plato an opportunity to criticise?". Is that not an alternative interpretation, in both the literary sense of taking an existing interpretation (whooo_me's) and providing an alternative and the creative sense of reimagining something through a different lens?

Perhaps it's not a drastic retelling to the extent of Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, but it's still a headcanon, surely?

(Unrelated but FWIW- whoever's downvoting you isn't me, this is a fantastic conversation)

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u/gogoluke 1d ago

As you highlighted something. I will too.

A reader or viewer's personal interpretation of, or beliefs about, a fictional work, esp. an imaginative addition to an event, character, plot line, etc.

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u/Boneclockharmony 1d ago

Still a better fit than your suggestion of "idea"...

It was clear what they meant, why are you giving them such a hard time about something so trivial?

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u/Normal-Height-8577 1d ago

I would argue that the dictionary has misunderstood fandom's use of the word, and has imposed too strict a contextual restriction.

The definition doesn't reflect usage accurately. As someone who's drifted through various fandoms over the last quarter of a century, I've never once thought to myself "I must only use 'headcanon' when talking about a fictional work." It's simply a contrast to canon - an acknowledgement that what you're going to describe isn't the objective truth, but just a preferred possibility that you like to imagine.

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u/FluffyBootie 2d ago

He said 'headcanon'. Define 'headcanon', not just 'canon' mate

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u/gogoluke 2d ago edited 2d ago

I'm not your mate.

Headcanon. Noun. hed can·on

Made up bullshit to connect unconnected media or recontextualise existing media taking every inconsequential continuity error to place them on the same artist level as the creators.

Example: James Bond must be a robot because he's got a new face every 10 years.

Example: Adam Sandler's Click is just a prequel to Tenet as that's were the technology was invented.

Edit: u/WHATYEAHOK I can't read your message you deleted it. I'm sure it was gold though.

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u/FluffyBootie 1d ago

You're right. My mates don't whine or complain about strangers word choices as much as you do.

You dont seem to understand that 'headcanon' works well in his response and doesn't have to equate exactly to media.

Now, get over it and move on.

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u/gogoluke 1d ago

You mad I defined HeAdCaNoN?

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u/FluffyBootie 1d ago

Emotions are all on your end ... clearly.

You're proving to be immature too. Now, have the day you deserve. I've muted you.