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Plastic Epiphany

Started by Brotep, December 29, 2009, 07:40:27 AM

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Brotep

What does not protrude from nonexistence into the imagination, cannot be created, cannot be done.

Like good little puppets we learned our choreography--which is to say, surrender--to the rectally inserted hand of the Goetia.  The inexorable indigestible chittering of pop culture has defined the scope of human action for the individual and therefore the species.

Modernity came and shat mightily its torrential diarrhea upon our grinning hopeful faces.  We became disenchanted, and disenchantment became something noble because it was what we felt.  We looked to the past and tried to recast the spell that never was.

Movies were all about the return to the body from the mind, the return to the emotions from the thoughts.  Only one way out of the labyrinth was proposed: into the dirt, the freedom to not have to be anywhere else.  And that wasn't really out of the labyrinth at all.

The furious binary flip-flopping took and takes place because the map was and is not right for us.

Reason proved insufficient.  Blind emotion will not save us either.  Emotion and reason are divorced, and we are their poor opportunistic children, fleeing from one to the other when they displease us.

You can disagree with Kierkegaard, but as soon as you add something or take something away, it is no longer Kierkegaard.  Johannes de Silentio was a dream, and pop culture is a dream.  In dreams you can give some shape to things, but ultimately you must accept them or reject them.

In order to truly reject a dream you must dream something else.  Take the same strands and weave a different cloth, or weave the same cloth from different strands.  Hate and love are not opposed but complementary; indifference is their opposite.  So long as you are responding you are not calling.

You really dropped the ball on that one.  Given your history, you'll get so caught up in the rules that you'll forget you invented the game.  Again.

To be fair, it was quite a long time ago when you started this.  Or maybe it was just a moment ago.  Hard to say, really.


It's up to you now to dream better dreams.

Bu🤠ns

You must know this rings true for me in numerous ways-- I couldn't possibly add anything to this but it reminds me of Arthur O'Shaughnessy.

We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;—
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.

Brotep

Yeah man, life is art.

What kicked this off was the furious realization that an indie flick I had just watched, a novel I had recently read, and a thousand other bunches of media all had the same moral to their story:
"Don't think...Feel."


I wanted to punch the filmmaker-protagonist in the face and tell him that if he weren't so oblivious, thinking might be helpful.

I don't know how to explain what it is I stand for, but destructive delusions really piss me off.  I'm all about people believing whatever they want, but when those beliefs are harmful and they try to spread them, it's hard for me to keep my mouth shut.

My dad and his new age friends have this thing they do, where they each draw some kind of tarot card and assume whatever is on it applies to them.  Apparently they take this very seriously.

Yesterday as I sat with a guitar in my lap trying to keep quiet, one of them picked up a card that said you shouldn't be surprised by anything that happens because you have invited it to happen.  I couldn't help but say something: you could easily end up blaming yourself for all kinds of things that aren't your fault.  Life is messy, sure, but is it worth crucifying yourself to preserve a sense of order?

They didn't get it.  The game of pretend-life-is-simple would not be so easily disrupted, and I was bombarded with nonsensical explanations and objections.  There was no way to keep going while keeping it civil, so I fell silent.  Disgusted.

Bu🤠ns

That sucks.  New Agers like that seem to have this insufferable drive to try and one-up the universe.  Holding on to ideas like that...turning a deck of cards into an idol just fucks everything up.  It'll come around though...I'd imagine a model like that will crash pretty quickly.

NotPublished

Brotep, I understand your ideas all too well. I reached the conclusion that some people are just happier off like that, if they want cards to have an influence over their life, then let them. As long as they don't drag you down with them.
In Soviet Russia, sins died for Jesus.

The Wizard

Aye, is true. Most folks would rather believe in bullshit than face the truth. It's all wackiness, and that can be a hard idea to grasp. Hell, I still choke on it sometimes. The illusions are damn comforting.
Insanity we trust.

Brotep

That's the thing...These little stories we tell ourselves can provide shelter against the harshness of the real world.  One person doesn't have the right to take that away from another.

It's just difficult, when it's so obviously self-destructive, not to say anything...

NotPublished

#7
It is hard .. but who is to say what is self-destructive? Are they truly happy? Or are they just lazy?

I see this value in a very close friend of mine, I am trying to find a way to help her understand that she is the one who makes the rules and uses them, but its hard .. and I'm beggining to believe she was more comfortable like that. May have good intentions to help someone change, but what harshness will they have to deal with?

You may act as a catalyst for some form of change, but they will need many over view points before they can support themselves fully.
In Soviet Russia, sins died for Jesus.

Brotep

It's not that the stories we tell ourselves are always self-destructive, but it's a good idea to look at the consequences of our beliefs and consider whether they're worthwhile.

Bu🤠ns

Brotep, maybe you should go check their tarot deck for any swords.

Brotep

And Burns wins.


Anyway guys, it's not just about truth vs. falsehood.  Sometimes it's just a matter of blind belief or explanatory style.  If you're going to believe something, it's sensible to look at the implications.

People can believe whatever they want, and if it makes them happy without hurting people, great.  But what if they're hurting themselves in order to get it?

NotPublished

Some people are just soo damn used to living on the edge like that, can't blame them. Perhaps this is how they know they are alive?

But hurting themselves in what way exactly? f a belief is blocking someone from peforming a physical action, like they need medicene but because Baba Yaga doesn't believe in Doctors they won't go - then their fucked. THAT is dangerous. If they are going to hurt an innocent kid over that, may furbies rape their brains.
In Soviet Russia, sins died for Jesus.

P3nT4gR4m

Do nevar knock people who are prepared to die for their beliefs. They're an excellent source of fertilizer.

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