Society is an abused child.

[Doktor Howl]

I apologize for my reference to blacks like that. I was in the heat of the moment, and wasn't thinking straight. Looking back on it, it's probably not the best hyperbole to use, as Nigel said.

Okay.  Then perhaps you'd better re-examine what you really believe, not what you want us to think you believe.

As for the rest of your post, you're digging in your heels and screeching like a monkey.

Stop being a monkey.

[Doktor Howl]

I was under the impression that most Discordians were, in fact, Anarchists. Maybe I'm crazy.

Where in the hell did you get THAT idea?

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

20 yard penalty for bad usage of the term anarchist!

[Doktor Howl]

20 yard penalty for bad usage of the term anarchist!

10 yard penalty for any usage of the term anarchist!

[E.O.T.]

short version:

Anarchists are self-deluded idiots who are in denial both about the nature of primates and about their own capabilities.

[Doktor Howl]

Jackalope, your responses leave me thinking that you are not willing to truly dissect the criticisms and use them to further your own learning, as you have only used them as an enemy against which to lodge a defense, rather than think.

This.

Kid's got potential, but he's still trapped.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

short version:

Anarchists are self-deluded idiots who are in denial both about the nature of primates and about their own capabilities.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I apologize for my reference to blacks like that. I was in the heat of the moment, and wasn't thinking straight. Looking back on it, it's probably not the best hyperbole to use, as Nigel said.

It's "not the best hyperbole to use" because it's COMPLETELY INCORRECT and reinforces only that you completely swallowed media misrepresentation hook, line and sinker without thinking. Your refusal to simply admit that wow you totally had your head up your ass is simple monkey pride, and yet another indicator that you don't fucking GET IT.

You seem to want to spread the word of Discordianism, but you don't understand it yourself. Please don't try to spread it until you understand it. I will give you a hint:

Think For Yourself, Schmuck.

When you can read your entire OP and really understand the areas in which you failed at that critical task, perhaps you will get it.

[Doktor Howl]

I think the opening post in this thread may be one of the most valuable things written so far this year, if only as a demonstration of how knowing you're in a trap isn't the same as escaping from that trap, and/or how putting on the trappings of a philosophy is by no means the same as understanding it.

As I said, Jackelope has potential, but he's too busy eating the menu to enjoy the meal (yeah, I hate that phrase, but in this case it applies), and digging his heels in rather than examining what he wrote and what he thinks in light of new (to him, in this case) information.

Jackelope:  Put your ego off to one side for 30 minutes, and re-read this entire thread.

[Cramulus]

You seem to want to spread the word of Discordianism, but you don't understand it yourself. Please don't try to spread it until you understand it.

ehhh I don't know about that, what makes you think anybody understands it? I've been hooking up with Eris since 98 and I still don't think I'm doing it right.


anyway Jack,

The Machine is driving, to some extent, but the thing is that we're driving the machine. We build it through everything we do. When you see somebody acting in a way you don't like, and you put social pressure on them to change, you are acting as part of the machine. It's not inherently evil or anything, it's just the consequence of living in a gigantic fucking tribe. 

I see the Machine as the series of expectations we create through our expectations. If society seems heartless and sterile and bureaucratic, it is because people made it that way. There are no Illuminati puppetmasters; the government is fucked up and dysfunctional not because it was specifically designed to screw us, but because it is made of greedy shortsighted monkeys. But yo, everything is made of greedy shortsighted monkeys who cannot overcome their base instinct. I've always thought the key is to anticipate that and roll with it - that way, it's not a shock when something really fucked up happens, it's actually kind of funny.

[Doktor Howl]

You seem to want to spread the word of Discordianism, but you don't understand it yourself. Please don't try to spread it until you understand it.

ehhh I don't know about that, what makes you think anybody understands it? I've been hooking up with Eris since 98 and I still don't think I'm doing it right.

There's some truth to that.  I've been doing this shit for 29 years, and I'm still clueless.

But yo, everything is made of greedy shortsighted monkeys who cannot overcome their base instinct. I've always thought the key is to anticipate that and roll with it - that way, it's not a shock when something really fucked up happens, it's actually kind of funny.

Also this.  For every Gandhi that becomes enlightened and goes on to a spectacular career in pit-fighting, there's 10 million screeching monkeys that can't see past the nose on their face.

[Golden Applesauce]

Basically, the idea that everyone should think for themselves, rather than simply blindly believing what anybody, even members of Authority tell them. And, considering the subjective nature of each individual's reality, one should always be willing to question ANYTHING, especially their own beliefs and views about the world.

Are you starting from the assumption that your friends are not thinking for themselves?  It's entirely possible that your friends are already thinking for themselves (at least as much as you are) and find being told what to think by some kid who found his "philosophy" while screwing around on his laptop during class obnoxious at best.

[LMNO]

I'd also like to point out that not believeing anything people tell you is an absolute pain in the ass when you finally take calculus.  The quadratic equation works - trust me.


LMNO
-don't be too hard on Jack.  He's got drive and ambition. 

[JackALope2323]

@ LMNO: Not necessarily not believing anything people tell you, but taking it with a grain of salt, at least. Be willing to accept that they MIGHT be wrong, not necessarily that they ARE.

And thanks. I was afraid I was being Pineal, and it seems that this entire thread has only confirmed my fears.

@ Satzanfang: I'm starting from the assumption that most people don't think for themselves.

And no, I didn't find the Principia during school time. I found it at home, after ranting elsewheres about the inherently fucked political system in this country. Somebody pointed me to the PD, and said I might be interested.

And then I got all pineal on ya'll. =D

@ The rest of you: Thanks for the criticism. As it is, I'll be honest that I have no idea how to respond to most of it, so I'm not going to try and just end up making myself seem more like an idiot than I already have. At the moment, I'm going to go get some ice cream.

Oh, and thanks, to all of you. Seriously.

[LMNO]

As far as the OP, where it seems hard to show people their BIP, think about it this way:

No one likes to admit they're deluding themselves, and everyone likes to kill the messenger.



Now consider what role you're trying to play.

It soon becomes apparent what problems you're going to face.