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Discordian Evangelism

Started by Cramulus, December 09, 2009, 02:53:34 PM

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The Good Reverend Roger

I disagree completely with Cram's assertion that we have become static or status quo-oriented.

This board - for one example - has done nothing but change since it started, even though the change may be too slow to notice.  Also, GASM projects have done more for getting people off their arse IRL than anything else.
" 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.

Cramulus

Quote from: Cainad on December 09, 2009, 05:39:55 PM
If exposing new audiences to Discordianism is the goal, we should definitely, absolutely look towards grabbing media attention with our antics. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster garnered a huge amount of attention when their campaign to lampoon the everloving shit out of Intelligent Design caught media attention; that's how I first heard about it. I'm not sure if they USED that attention to any great end after that, but still.

great point, this comes back to my note #4.

We've found through experience (AWS, swine flu propaganda) that piggybacking on an already hot topic always gets tons of attention.

My swine flu posters, because they're a topical issue, have gotten more hits and downloads than all of volume dingus combined.

Do you think there are any contemporary issues or topics which Discordia is particularly well suited to tackle, confuse, or intensify?

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: Cramulus on December 09, 2009, 05:37:22 PM
there we go!

talking to people directly is an effective, albeit effort intensive way to Find the Others.

could there be materials which make it easier?

Not with these guys.  At least not yet.  I'm still working on the idea of absurdism as an alternative to cynical partisan bitching.  This is gonna take time, but we should get some good recruits, even if they never become active board members.

I mean, I am under the impression that we aren't out to scrounge new members, so much as new adherents.
" 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.

Cramulus

can you elaborate on the difference?

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: Cramulus on December 09, 2009, 05:43:14 PM
Do you think there are any contemporary issues or topics which Discordia is particularly well suited to tackle, confuse, or intensify?

Health Care
Tea Baggers
Afghanistan
Militias.
" 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.

Cainad (dec.)

Quote from: Cramulus on December 09, 2009, 05:43:14 PM
Quote from: Cainad on December 09, 2009, 05:39:55 PM
If exposing new audiences to Discordianism is the goal, we should definitely, absolutely look towards grabbing media attention with our antics. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster garnered a huge amount of attention when their campaign to lampoon the everloving shit out of Intelligent Design caught media attention; that's how I first heard about it. I'm not sure if they USED that attention to any great end after that, but still.

great point, this comes back to my note #4.

We've found through experience (AWS, swine flu propaganda) that piggybacking on an already hot topic always gets tons of attention.

My swine flu posters, because they're a topical issue, have gotten more hits and downloads than all of volume dingus combined.

Do you think there are any contemporary issues or topics which Discordia is particularly well suited to tackle, confuse, or intensify?

Well, the War on Christmas is a start. Unfortunately, I am not privy to what the popular pundits and media outlets are babbling about these days (the consequences of living in a cave, ITT), so I'm not sure what we should be focused on. Basically, if it's the sort of thing that you hear on TV and also coming out of the mouths of your co-workers, it's worth considering.

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: Cramulus on December 09, 2009, 05:46:31 PM
can you elaborate on the difference?

Yeah.

Are we after new members for PD, or are we trying to "create" new Discordians in general?  They are not, of course, mutually exclusive goals, but I think the latter is more important than the former.

I mean, if I can turn just ONE normal citizen per month into a howling misfit bent on knocking shit over and squatting out a shit on the remains, I consider that to be excellent progress, even if they never even know PD exists.
" 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.

Bebek Sincap Ratatosk

I think practicing the art of Discordianism would work better than preaching or aiming to convert others.

The discordian St. Paul, who brought chaos and discord into the fledgling Christian system with his epistles made a decent comment... in addressing believers with unbelieving friends/family/mates he said that they should behave in a way that the non-beliver can be "won without a word".

We can preach Discordia from the rooftops, but I dunno if it would gain any more traction that the Sub Geniuses... who have been marketed for the past 20+ years.



If however, we pull from the Yippie playbook... they pulled in most converts through action.
One could claim the same for Anonymous during their little flash.

Staging meat space pranks of high visibility and high LOL factor seems (to me) more likely to actually draw in converts, versus maybe some pinks that click a link in some promotional material.

In fact, we may not even need to mention Eris specifically... just act. Act publicly, garner interest, act more, garner more interest etc.

Couple Examples:

(Just inspired by the skeptic discussion)

Scientific Tests on the best Pesudoscience and nonsense we can find.

For example, we could build Cloudbusters and set them up in various cities, video tape the whole process, and who knows what sort of public involvement we might be able to invoke. Either pretending to be seriously investigating the issue, or by trying to get people to "see it working" or whatever...


(Flash Mobs)
Yeah, its been done... but has a Flash Mob ever been flash mobbed? Spread the word about two different flash mobs... give them the same place and time, with opposing concepts.

(
- I don't see race. I just see cars going around in a circle.

"Back in my day, crazy meant something. Now everyone is crazy" - Charlie Manson

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: Doctor Rat Bastard on December 09, 2009, 05:52:54 PM
I think practicing the art of Discordianism would work better than preaching or aiming to convert others.

I think that all 3 together work better than any one of those.

ETA:  After all, I can't speak for you guys, but I'm not looking for people to say "I'm a Discordian", I'm looking for people to BE Discordians.
" 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.

Bebek Sincap Ratatosk

Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on December 09, 2009, 05:54:54 PM
Quote from: Doctor Rat Bastard on December 09, 2009, 05:52:54 PM
I think practicing the art of Discordianism would work better than preaching or aiming to convert others.

I think that all 3 together work better than any one of those.

Well fine, you old coot.
- I don't see race. I just see cars going around in a circle.

"Back in my day, crazy meant something. Now everyone is crazy" - Charlie Manson

Cramulus

Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on December 09, 2009, 05:51:30 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on December 09, 2009, 05:46:31 PM
can you elaborate on the difference?

Yeah.

Are we after new members for PD, or are we trying to "create" new Discordians in general?  They are not, of course, mutually exclusive goals, but I think the latter is more important than the former.

I mean, if I can turn just ONE normal citizen per month into a howling misfit bent on knocking shit over and squatting out a shit on the remains, I consider that to be excellent progress, even if they never even know PD exists.

yeah I'm with you there.

My goal is to see more discordian thought in the world, not more members for an internet forum. If it happens to get us more members here, cool, but that's not the primary goal. That's small potatoes.


Quote from: Doctor Rat Bastard on December 09, 2009, 05:52:54 PM
I think practicing the art of Discordianism would work better than preaching or aiming to convert others.

most likely yes, though there's something to be said for a 5-pronged approach.

basically, I think the major thing is continuing to build the discordian society through fun participatory activities.


It's stating to sound like the vector of all these ideas is a poignant group-prank.

Captain Utopia

Quote from: Cramulus on December 09, 2009, 05:37:22 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on December 09, 2009, 05:34:48 PM
Quote from: FP on December 09, 2009, 05:30:54 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on December 09, 2009, 05:23:10 PM
Quote from: FP on December 09, 2009, 05:14:00 PM
If we want other people to follow us

Is that what we want?   :?
In the sense of "follow us into discordianism, or discordian lines of thought", rather than "follow us and obey our every whim".


Okay.  What's a discordian line of thought?

I think what he's trying to say is that we want more discordians in general, but we don't want to make ourselves the Authorities on the matter. Let's not get into the "what's a discordian" shtick.
I think there is a contradiction here - we make ourselves the authorities/leaders by the very acts of recruitment and of determining the best ways to infect their minds with our philosophies. Propaganda is a form of mastery over someones mind. It's both a role and a burden -- but I'm not sure we can fully succeed in that role without embracing it and playing all aspects of it.

I mean, we've identified groups ripe for the picking, refined techniques for mindfucking and grabbing attention, but after the dust settles, what is in it for them - what is their payoff - what do we want to lead them towards? The joy of slack? The wisdom of trolling? The fun of all-out internet warfare? Hmm.. maybe unique selling point is the concept I'm struggling to find here.

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: FP on December 09, 2009, 06:08:26 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on December 09, 2009, 05:37:22 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on December 09, 2009, 05:34:48 PM
Quote from: FP on December 09, 2009, 05:30:54 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on December 09, 2009, 05:23:10 PM
Quote from: FP on December 09, 2009, 05:14:00 PM
If we want other people to follow us

Is that what we want?   :?
In the sense of "follow us into discordianism, or discordian lines of thought", rather than "follow us and obey our every whim".


Okay.  What's a discordian line of thought?

I think what he's trying to say is that we want more discordians in general, but we don't want to make ourselves the Authorities on the matter. Let's not get into the "what's a discordian" shtick.
I think there is a contradiction here - we make ourselves the authorities/leaders by the very acts of recruitment and of determining the best ways to infect their minds with our philosophies. Propaganda is a form of mastery over someones mind. It's both a role and a burden -- but I'm not sure we can fully succeed in that role without embracing it and playing all aspects of it.

I mean, we've identified groups ripe for the picking, refined techniques for mindfucking and grabbing attention, but after the dust settles, what is in it for them - what is their payoff - what do we want to lead them towards? The joy of slack? The wisdom of trolling? The fun of all-out internet warfare? Hmm.. maybe unique selling point is the concept I'm struggling to find here.


I want to lead them towards thinking for themselves and realizing their situation.  Because I hate them.

I don't particularly care about slack or trolling, or any of that shit.  I want to wake them up, not give them a new woobie.
" 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.

Bebek Sincap Ratatosk

FP,

That's why I'm not pro-evangelism. I used to do that shtick and it sucks.

Personally, rather than conversion, I'd rather we behaved like Children of Eris very publicly and then people would want to figure us out... rather than us telling them what we are.

Conversion seems good for grabbing sheep that you can win with witty words... but those kind of people are often just followers. However, being public enough that people start googling for "Discordian Society" or "Eris" or "FOO Prank" might lead them to us.

Though, it might be fun to promote a huge public, visible schism in the 'religion'... fighting over something completely innane (the Golden apple Peelers vs those who find pealing golden apples sacrilege, for example).
- I don't see race. I just see cars going around in a circle.

"Back in my day, crazy meant something. Now everyone is crazy" - Charlie Manson

Captain Utopia

Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on December 09, 2009, 06:11:15 PM
I want to lead them towards thinking for themselves and realizing their situation.  Because I hate them.

I don't particularly care about slack or trolling, or any of that shit.  I want to wake them up, not give them a new woobie.
9/11 woke people up and what happened? Wiping the haze from their eyes they simply followed the loudest shouting yokel, and once back in line fell back asleep.

People, unless motivated otherwise, want to sleep.. it's the most comfortable condition and offers the path of least resistance.