Disinterested Goat

Collector: Arlo

Artist: Jon Mordin

Placement: Outside Arm Between Elbow and Ditch

The Disinterested Goat is one of the sillier tattoos that I have. It is kind of a hodgepodge of ideas. The inscription in the banner, “Disinterested,” is a reference to the ideal of neutrality in science. A disciplined scientific observer should not be too invested in the results one way or the other, but rather follow the data wherever it may lead; good science is practiced dispassionately. Coming from a purely aesthetic standpoint, however, just the words themselves, "dispassionate" and "disinterested," even if you knew nothing about their meaning in a scientific context, convey a misanthropic ethos that is perfectly suited for tattoos (and Smashing Pumpkins concerts). The tattoo gets high points on the Skeptic Tattoos Meter for atheism, mainly because of the goat and its allusions to satanism and the occult.  I chose the goat, ostensibly, because it represents Skepticism; if believers are sheep who follow the flock, then Skeptics could be considered goats, stubborn and cantankerous. But, if I am completely honest, I know that the goat looks satanic and probably antagonizes believers a little bit and I don’t mind that (even if I won’t always admit it).