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Common Walls

Started by LMNO, February 09, 2012, 02:46:17 PM

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Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: Cramulus on February 10, 2012, 04:49:56 PM
yeah, we're diverging a bit, which is 100% okay. After I read LMNO's piece and Roger's pieces, mine sort of tumbled out. It's in step with the first BIP pamphlet I think. Right now, during the brainstorm phase, it's best to just throw everything we can against the wall and hold nothing back.

For my part, I'm trying to avoid a trap I fall into where I write pieces that are basically passages from a self help manual. I don't want to just blast "advice" at people. Every so often I read a piece that I wrote, and it concludes with a vague phrase like "learn to swim", and I wonder how useful that advice really is when phrased that way. My current thinking is that narrative, parables, and imagery can deliver the same information as a straight "advice" piece but some of the defenses people build against persuasion techniques.

Awesome, that helps me understand the piece better! I was trying to jam it into the context of commonalities, and it wouldn't fit. I absolutely agree that we should proceed without caution, full speed ahead, TO THE WALL, and then see what sticks to it.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Mesozoic Mister Nigel

I really dig that last one, Charley.

One thought: Maybe change "Catholic Church" to "Organized religion"? Most of the births on the planet are in countries where Catholicism is rare.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


The Rev

Quote from: Nigel on February 10, 2012, 08:18:06 PM
I really dig that last one, Charley.

One thought: Maybe change "Catholic Church" to "Organized religion"? Most of the births on the planet are in countries where Catholicism is rare.

Thanks! Let me think on that change, it was written with the current political climate in the US in mind.

The Good Reverend Roger

I am currently smacking my brain around, working on a piece called "Discordia is Not a Brand".

I expect to finish it either today or Monday.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

LMNO

I'm halfway through part two.  I'm getting distracted by work.  :lol:

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Hot damn, you guys are prolific!
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


The Rev

#36
"We The People..."

Famous words, indeed, potentially powerful words, even.

Has the intent and meaning of those words been lost? Are we now We The Lawyers, We The Workers, We The Poor, We The Rich, well, you get the idea.

It seems that nearly everyone these days has an agenda, and if you don't agree with that agenda, then you are an outsider, one of "them". Someone to be ridiculed or reviled and dismissed.

We, the inhabitants of the planet, are fractured into billions of pieces, unable or unwilling to realize what we have allowed to happen. I can't place the blame on politicians or banks or corporations, after all, they have only done what we have allowed them to do. We have allowed ourselves to become followers, blindly following whomever has the spotlight at the moment. We have stopped formulating our own thoughts and opinions and have become like a ship with no course and no anchor.

What we do have, in many cases, is a vague concept that hasn't been properly nurtured. When this happens, someone can make a comment that may strike a chord within us and we begin partly listening, without thinking it through. We are responding to tribalism when this happens. We then begin to gravitate towards that person and allow them to formulate out opinions.

Then it gets worse, we start looking at others who simply can't, in our minds, see the brilliance our new guru is spouting. Now, because we haven't thought it through, is that we become suspicious of the "others" and we may even attempt to convert them, to help them see the light that is shining down on us from our new leader. If we aren't successful then we can start talking louder, because volume always helps, right?

When that fails, then it's time to start distrusting or hating the "others", because they have become a threat to our new found knowledge and sense of 'rightness'. How can they not see and what are they going to do to try to destroy this light?

Then, of course, the "others" decide to fight back, defending themselves and attempting to show their attackers just how wrong they are for following such a silly guru. The "others" then go on the offensive and the situation escalates. Then new others show up and say that they are both wrong.

QUIET PLEASE!!!

What has now happened, is that we have allowed ourselves to become divided. Not just a division that can be compromised around, but a huge and terrible wall between us.

Military history buffs will tell you that successfully dividing your enemy is the first step towards victory. In the scenario above everyone has allowed themselves to be completely manipulated by an unknown source. They are blissfully ignorant that there is an invisible enemy who is now perfectly poised to conquer them all. There is still time to set aside those petty differences and join together to fight a greater, common enemy, but have we become so caught up in the unbeliever directly in front of us that we forgot to watch our flanks. I fear that we have, our doom may be well sealed.

Picture a few trees, each tree filled with primates, each from a different tribe, each screaming and fling shit at each other. The noise is so deafening that it is impossible to make any sense of any of it. The shit continues to fly.

This will insure that every day will be a shitty day.

Wolfgang Absolutus

Charley when you say a source poised to conquer us all to you mean one internal that affects all of us, or some external entity. I think we should be wary of "some external entity trying to conquer us all" rhetoric because it really starts sounding like some kind of conspiracy theory. It paints an us vs them in a different but equally destructive, and vacuous, way. 

Also I liked the other lines about Big Brother holding all of our attention with magic tricks and illusions but I think it might  fall into the thing I said previously.
Thinking and Breathing are my main occupations.

Wolfgang Absolutus

Some of these could also be linked to the Chao.
There is only people. Distinctions like us and them and distractions, illusions.
We are what we have allowed ourselves to become. Which could also tie into a greater notion of responsibility for one's own life and actions instead of blaming others or nebulous entities. Saying "I just work here." isn't a sufficient excuse. If we all 'just work here' then we are responsible for our own problems societal or otherwise.
Thinking and Breathing are my main occupations.

The Rev

Quote from: Wolfgang Absolutus on February 12, 2012, 02:37:28 PM
Charley when you say a source poised to conquer us all to you mean one internal that affects all of us, or some external entity. I think we should be wary of "some external entity trying to conquer us all" rhetoric because it really starts sounding like some kind of conspiracy theory. It paints an us vs them in a different but equally destructive, and vacuous, way. 

Also I liked the other lines about Big Brother holding all of our attention with magic tricks and illusions but I think it might  fall into the thing I said previously.

Internal. Tribalism, bigotry, hatred, all of these things come from within.

Wolfgang Absolutus

Quote from: Charley Brown on February 12, 2012, 03:04:18 PM
Quote from: Wolfgang Absolutus on February 12, 2012, 02:37:28 PM
Charley when you say a source poised to conquer us all to you mean one internal that affects all of us, or some external entity. I think we should be wary of "some external entity trying to conquer us all" rhetoric because it really starts sounding like some kind of conspiracy theory. It paints an us vs them in a different but equally destructive, and vacuous, way. 

Also I liked the other lines about Big Brother holding all of our attention with magic tricks and illusions but I think it might  fall into the thing I said previously.

Internal. Tribalism, bigotry, hatred, all of these things come from within.
Then I have no criticisms. Good work.
Thinking and Breathing are my main occupations.

The Rev

Quote from: Wolfgang Absolutus on February 12, 2012, 03:05:47 PM
Quote from: Charley Brown on February 12, 2012, 03:04:18 PM
Quote from: Wolfgang Absolutus on February 12, 2012, 02:37:28 PM
Charley when you say a source poised to conquer us all to you mean one internal that affects all of us, or some external entity. I think we should be wary of "some external entity trying to conquer us all" rhetoric because it really starts sounding like some kind of conspiracy theory. It paints an us vs them in a different but equally destructive, and vacuous, way. 

Also I liked the other lines about Big Brother holding all of our attention with magic tricks and illusions but I think it might  fall into the thing I said previously.

Internal. Tribalism, bigotry, hatred, all of these things come from within.
Then I have no criticisms. Good work.

Thanks, I forgot to add fear as well.

Cuddlefish

This is a great thread! I want to participate, but I can't just do this on demand and expect it to be good. Here's hoping inspiration strikes soon. In the meantime, guys, keep up the good work!

Edit: It also doesn't help that Nigel took the words right out of my brain. Seriously, lady, that first post of yours was AWESOME!
A fisher of men, or a manner of fish?

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


The Good Reverend Roger

There is No Discordian Brand Name

You hear it all the time, anywhere where Discordians meet..."What is Discordian Music/Movies/etc?".  In a religion in which the only commandment is "Think For Yourself, Schmuck", this has got to be the absolute nadir of irony.

Of course, there IS Discordian literature.  That is to say, there are books and articles on Discordianism (you're reading one right now), but you can't point at a work of fiction and say "that is or is not Discordian".  By its very definition, Discordianism is what YOU want it to be.  You are not required to get consensus, or to maintain lists of what is or is not Discordian.  You CAN, of course, but people will point and laugh.

There are no set rules, for example, for having a Discordian wedding.  For one Discordian, the wedding might involve Harley Davidsons and assless chaps.  For another, it might involve a full Catholic ceremony, done with an entirely straight face.

If you want an Official Discordian™ List O' Reading Material or whatever, than you have in fact found the ONE way to DO IT WRONG.  If you want church members to tell you what is and what is not canon, then you are in the wrong religion.  You could try Catholicism, or maybe Scientology or even the Moonies.  They will tell you what to do, and how to do it.

So will I, come to think of it, but religious consultation can get a little pricey.  Write me a line detailing your questions, and I'll send you an estimate.  Once we have all the financial monkey business out of the way, I'll tell you what you need to listen to, watch, read, have sex with, whatever, in order to be a REALLY REAL DISCORDIAN FOR REALNESS. 

However, all sales are FINAL.  Cash UP FRONT.  No personal cheques, please.

There.  That's settled...So no more asking what's "Discordian", unless you are willing to dig DEEP, brother/sister/etc.  I mean, you wouldn't go to the doctor and ask for advice without expecting to be billed, right?  You wouldn't ask a plumber to blast out that enormous fossilized turdball stuck down in the pipes for free?  What kind of person ARE you?  Apparently, some sort of COMMUNIST or perhaps even a TERRORIST, and we have PLACES for people like you, and big, corn-fed brutes from Alabama to tend to your rehabilitation.

So knock it off.

Or Kill Me.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.