The Golden Age (Statistically) of PD: 2008

[POFP]

Yeah, I assumed the general drop after that was due to the death of forums. I wish I coulda been here during the forum's prime. At the same time, I feel like all the fat's been cut off, if you know what I mean.

Was there ever or is there still an IRC channel for this place? I could have sworn I remember seeing one a number of years ago. I think I went to join it and it was totally empty except one dude who mocked me after one statement and I left.

[Faust]

www.principiadiscordia.com/irc

I dont like to think about it in terms of "at the forums prime", the pace is quiet, but its fertile, as I said before stuff like BIP caught peoples attention, it wouldnt take much and you could see a lot going on again.

[Cramulus]

It's funny, in 2008, everybody was going "This place was better in 2006".

I'm in that IRC channel pretty much every week day from 9-5. It's a cool spot. Burns built this awesome bot which turns our chats into awful comics. You can also play word-jumble duck hunt. Come in and type !duck to see what I mean.



Anyway, back in 08, this forum had caught the "let's re-invent discordia" bug in a big way. And that's a hot topic - volatile, contentious, wild. There was a feeling that we were doing something together, building something together, becoming something together.

I don't know if Discordia changed or the Internet changed, probably both..

As for the Internet - the medium seems to move us towards more dense and fast communication, which lends itself to the "disco" crowd of Discordians. The Legion of Dynamic Discord. Often little more than surface level dickery, seems like more of a spin-out from #chan culture than anything else.

As for Discordia... have you read Illuminatus? One of the things that strikes me about it, reading it now, is that a lot of the topics its bringing up have been explored and evolved since the 1970s. Same with Zen Without Zen Masters.. there's like 1/3rd of that book which is about Free Love... which all feels a little weird now in the AIDS / Tinder era. No longer revolutionary. The traditional sex values and conservative sex culture that Camden was pushing against.. faded away.

Anyway, a lot of Discordian topics seem like that to me these days. The Pastafarians and satantists are doing a better job satirizing religion, for example. Absurdism starts to feel old, the endless procession of novelty starts to get worn out. The Internet doesn't surprise us like it used to. What's Discordianism got for us? What's left? What could it be? How do people wake up themselves and their neighbors? What's outside of the trance I'm in right now? These questions electrified me, and our collective interest in them kept me coming back.

[Pergamos]

heh, if you think the sexual revolution is complete try having a sexuality that is outside the norm.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

What's Discordianism got for us? What's left?

Quite a bit, really.  As Faust pointed out upthread, things are really slow right now, but there's still some good stuff happening.

[Cramulus]

heh, if you think the sexual revolution is complete try having a sexuality that is outside the norm.

not saying it's complete - I'm saying that how we talked about it in the late 70s might not be as powerful anymore.


On a similar note, in Illuminatus, one of the big plot points is about breaking down the societal barriers between the races and accepting interracial relationships as okay. Today in 2016, racism sure isn't over, but the idea of a white guy dating a black girl isn't as revolutionary today as it was in '77. So if we were pitching it at a 2016 audience, maybe we'd say it differently.

The broader question is - is there anything that Discordia can give us that we can't get from another source that maybe said it better? That's the lifeblood of Discordia - not continuing the revolution that Mal and Omar lived through, but figuring out what we all need Today in 2016.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

heh, if you think the sexual revolution is complete try having a sexuality that is outside the norm.

not saying it's complete - I'm saying that how we talked about it in the late 70s might not be as powerful anymore.


On a similar note, in Illuminatus, one of the big plot points is about breaking down the societal barriers between the races and accepting interracial relationships as okay. Today in 2016, racism sure isn't over, but the idea of a white guy dating a black girl isn't as revolutionary today as it was in '77. So if we were pitching it at a 2016 audience, maybe we'd say it differently.

The broader question is - is there anything that Discordia can give us that we can't get from another source that maybe said it better? That's the lifeblood of Discordia - not continuing the revolution that Mal and Omar lived through, but figuring out what we all need Today in 2016.

Interestingly enough, the problems we faced in 2002 are still there, and the predictions we made in 2003 have more or less come true.

There's plenty of things for Discordians to do, but true to form, we're too busy to do any of them.  Which has always been the case, speaking as a movement or religion.  We didn't do the sexual revolution.  We didn't have much to do with civil rights.  When the chips are down, Discordians are either distracted by something shiny or fighting among ourselves.  This has been the case since the very beginning, the day after the bowling alley thing.

[LMNO]

And to think, some people thought this was a joke.

[minuspace]

heh, if you think the sexual revolution is complete try having a sexuality that is outside the norm.

not saying it's complete - I'm saying that how we talked about it in the late 70s might not be as powerful anymore.


On a similar note, in Illuminatus, one of the big plot points is about breaking down the societal barriers between the races and accepting interracial relationships as okay. Today in 2016, racism sure isn't over, but the idea of a white guy dating a black girl isn't as revolutionary today as it was in '77. So if we were pitching it at a 2016 audience, maybe we'd say it differently.

The broader question is - is there anything that Discordia can give us that we can't get from another source that maybe said it better? That's the lifeblood of Discordia - not continuing the revolution that Mal and Omar lived through, but figuring out what we all need Today in 2016.

What we need today is a revolution that addresses the problem at it's root.  The sex thing was/is a perfect vehicle, what with how it encodes the union of difference with transcendental bliss.  A bit crude, yes, yet wonderfully effective in part because of that "elevation" of the flesh.  The problem remains, however, in the domain of mind.  So, ideally, what we still need to focus on is a revolution that can turn people's thinking away from that which causes it to suffer.  Beyond simple de/distraction from sick patterns of thought, we may also need to formulate a solution:  A solution that engages people to actively participate in changing how they think, as though their immortal soul depended on it, because it does just that, actually.
*Like we need to come up with a new word for soul, also, or hijack the word entirely as it seems to have lost some of it's levity, barring inquiry of any purchase.

[Cain]

It's funny, in 2008, everybody was going "This place was better in 2006".

I quite liked 2007

[Faust]

[Swirls snifter of posts around in glass] Ahhhhh... A good year

[minuspace]

heh, if you think the sexual revolution is complete try having a sexuality that is outside the norm.

not saying it's complete - I'm saying that how we talked about it in the late 70s might not be as powerful anymore.


[...]

The broader question is - is there anything that Discordia can give us that we can't get from another source that maybe said it better? That's the lifeblood of Discordia - not continuing the revolution that Mal and Omar lived through, but figuring out what we all need Today in 2016.

[...]
*Like we need to come up with a new word for soul, also, or hijack the word entirely as it seems to have lost some of it's levity, barring inquiry of any purchase.

What with the whole love connection, at first glance, I might follow in the tradition of Ibn 'Arabi and use the word heart instead of soul.  And, heart also works with the whole pseudo- nostalgic tone of this thread.
[abducted by a howling pack of camels that vanishes into the moonlit desert night]

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Discordia has morphed a lot, for me. When I first found it, it was about absurdity. Then, later, it was about thinking outside the box. At some point it became about thinking outside the herd, and in a sense it was very much a way for me to hang on to a counterculture identity while being a wife, mother, and homeowner. After that it became about critical thinking, and then about taking perspectives, assuming multiple viewpoints. I'm not sure what it is for me now, although I do know that a significant component of it is a reminder that I am wrong, you are wrong, we are all wrong. Not about all of everything, but about all of some things and about some of all things. And I don't know it, because we can't see the things we are wrong about until we cease to be wrong by realizing that we're wrong.

So maybe Discordia, to me, is now about surviving paradox.

One way or the other, I am pretty sure it's whatever I need it to be.

[LMNO]

One way or the other, I am pretty sure it's whatever I need it to be.

[POFP]

It's funny, in 2008, everybody was going "This place was better in 2006".

I'm in that IRC channel pretty much every week day from 9-5. It's a cool spot. Burns built this awesome bot which turns our chats into awful comics. You can also play word-jumble duck hunt. Come in and type !duck to see what I mean.



Anyway, back in 08, this forum had caught the "let's re-invent discordia" bug in a big way. And that's a hot topic - volatile, contentious, wild. There was a feeling that we were doing something together, building something together, becoming something together.

I don't know if Discordia changed or the Internet changed, probably both..

As for the Internet - the medium seems to move us towards more dense and fast communication, which lends itself to the "disco" crowd of Discordians. The Legion of Dynamic Discord. Often little more than surface level dickery, seems like more of a spin-out from #chan culture than anything else.

As for Discordia... have you read Illuminatus? One of the things that strikes me about it, reading it now, is that a lot of the topics its bringing up have been explored and evolved since the 1970s. Same with Zen Without Zen Masters.. there's like 1/3rd of that book which is about Free Love... which all feels a little weird now in the AIDS / Tinder era. No longer revolutionary. The traditional sex values and conservative sex culture that Camden was pushing against.. faded away.

Anyway, a lot of Discordian topics seem like that to me these days. The Pastafarians and satantists are doing a better job satirizing religion, for example. Absurdism starts to feel old, the endless procession of novelty starts to get worn out. The Internet doesn't surprise us like it used to. What's Discordianism got for us? What's left? What could it be? How do people wake up themselves and their neighbors? What's outside of the trance I'm in right now? These questions electrified me, and our collective interest in them kept me coming back.

Somebody surprised me with the bot after Faust posted the link to the IRC channel. It was great 

And yeah, to not be anti-establishment or progressive nowadays is socially reprehensible, depending on where you express yourself.

This place has always been a reminder that sanity and order still exists alongside the chaos. It has always reminded me that it is possible to live through stressful times in life and still be socially or mentally productive. It reminds me that I'm not lost in my worst times, and that I am totally lost in my best times. Discordianism has always been something that cured my worst ills in life. I mean, bugged eyes and prolapsed anus are some major side-effects. But that's way better than considering voting for Trump.

Discordia has morphed a lot, for me. When I first found it, it was about absurdity. Then, later, it was about thinking outside the box. At some point it became about thinking outside the herd, and in a sense it was very much a way for me to hang on to a counterculture identity while being a wife, mother, and homeowner. After that it became about critical thinking, and then about taking perspectives, assuming multiple viewpoints. I'm not sure what it is for me now, although I do know that a significant component of it is a reminder that I am wrong, you are wrong, we are all wrong. Not about all of everything, but about all of some things and about some of all things. And I don't know it, because we can't see the things we are wrong about until we cease to be wrong by realizing that we're wrong.

So maybe Discordia, to me, is now about surviving paradox.

One way or the other, I am pretty sure it's whatever I need it to be.

I believe this clearly demonstrates Discordianism to be a religion, as this is often how it is best used. It's just a healthier religion than all the others, as long as you ignore the carbs. Discord is high in carbs.

And what I mean by that is, not that you eat the menu and live by The Book™, but that this is how healthy people in general use religion. Religion tends to be what people need it to be at different points in their lives, when used in the most healthy way. Unhealthy people use it in a way that... Well... Let's just say that Discordia wasn't the first religion to worship word-salad.