What can this forum help us accomplish?

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Are your aims to accomplish something that could be implemented moreso in meatspace (ie: Postergasm material, Pirate Pass-off)
or are you leaning more toward things that are better spread across the internet (podcasts and such)?

that's definitely a good topic for discussion. If the goal is to infect people with Eris, where are our energies both spent?

social media logic suggests that we need both meatspace and digital efforts.

Speaking for myself, I like to create resources and tools that people can use in real life. One of the reasons I championed POSTERGASM is because I wanted newcomers to have an activity they could do and feel a real sense of participation. And this particular form of participation is a beacon to other likeminded weirdos.

Something I've noticed is that people who aren't in on the joke tend to be immune to things like Postergasm. While you might get a "That's so weird", the message won't go much deeper than that. How to get new ideas into people's heads, and have them actually think about it is a problem I would like to tackle.

a few of the postergasm packs are based on this exact question. It's a great question -- one we should be revisiting constantly.

Volume Dingus, for example, is based on the idea of putting up things which are subtly incongruous with the average pedestrian's expectations. My thinking was that if you see something that clearly does not belong, this would make you question what it's doing there. And if you start to think about why somebody would waste their calories putting up joke posters all around the neighborhood, it shifts you to a different frame of reference. A large part of it is resisting capitalist programming, the idea that something is only legitimate if there's money involved.

Then Calvinball followed - which is largely about trying to generate the illusion of a giant game. It suggests that maybe there is a really fun layer of reality hidden right in front of your face.

But there are certainly other ways to approach this problem. I'd love to hear more riffs on that note.

Maybe the way to approach the problem of people immediately dismissing the 'weirdness" would be to try a bait and switch. The Volume Dingus was halfway there, I think. The picture allowed it to blend in with "accepted" posters, while the text was gibberish.

Maybe if there were two part posters, or signs that, while seemingly harmless and not weird, would invite suckers people to false meetings or to other locations with increasingly stranger signs.

I'm going to fine tune this idea, and get something workable going.

A Discordian scavenger hunt! That's awesome!

[Xicked]

This post is a little redundant at this point, but this thread is what prompted me to finally sign up here, so I'll post anyway (didn't realize I'd have to wait for registration approval yesterday).

I've derived a lot of inspiration from people on this forum.  I really love the GASM projects and I've tried a few small things on my own here and there, but I end up losing interest.  I need a defined goal in order to keep interest in a project.  I don't want to only 'shake things up' –  I want to see the results of what I'm doing and know that what I'm doing is doing... well, something.  I want to help people; motivate them; open their eyes and empower them.  I want people to be more aware of the world around them and their actions within it.  I want change, and I want other people to want change.  Anyway.  I don't expect to change the world (although I really wish I could), but I am experiencing a sudden surge of motivation and I am hoping that by joining this community I will awaken some dormant creativity within myself that I haven't expressed in a really, really long time. 

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Welcome noob. Pool's on the roof.

[Triple Zero]

Awesome, xickass! Welcome

[tyrannosaurus vex]

This post is a little redundant at this point, but this thread is what prompted me to finally sign up here, so I'll post anyway (didn't realize I'd have to wait for registration approval yesterday).

I've derived a lot of inspiration from people on this forum.  I really love the GASM projects and I've tried a few small things on my own here and there, but I end up losing interest.  I need a defined goal in order to keep interest in a project.  I don't want to only 'shake things up' –  I want to see the results of what I'm doing and know that what I'm doing is doing... well, something.  I want to help people; motivate them; open their eyes and empower them.  I want people to be more aware of the world around them and their actions within it.  I want change, and I want other people to want change.  Anyway.  I don't expect to change the world (although I really wish I could), but I am experiencing a sudden surge of motivation and I am hoping that by joining this community I will awaken some dormant creativity within myself that I haven't expressed in a really, really long time. 

wait wait wait

you mean... there are people who don't post here...
watching us?

i feel so exposed.

[Freeky]

This post is a little redundant at this point, but this thread is what prompted me to finally sign up here, so I'll post anyway (didn't realize I'd have to wait for registration approval yesterday).

I've derived a lot of inspiration from people on this forum.  I really love the GASM projects and I've tried a few small things on my own here and there, but I end up losing interest.  I need a defined goal in order to keep interest in a project.  I don't want to only 'shake things up' –  I want to see the results of what I'm doing and know that what I'm doing is doing... well, something.  I want to help people; motivate them; open their eyes and empower them.  I want people to be more aware of the world around them and their actions within it.  I want change, and I want other people to want change.  Anyway.  I don't expect to change the world (although I really wish I could), but I am experiencing a sudden surge of motivation and I am hoping that by joining this community I will awaken some dormant creativity within myself that I haven't expressed in a really, really long time. 

wait wait wait

you mean... there are people who don't post here...
watching us?

i feel so exposed.

Exhilarating, isn't it?

[tyrannosaurus vex]

suddenly I feel like this forum can help us accomplish posting naked pictures of ourselves.

[Placid Dingo]

suddenly I feel like this forum can help us accomplish posting naked pictures of ourselves.

I was totally ready to offer some ideas, but I think I'm throwing all my support behind this one.

I have some thoughts though.

There's a lot of stories (main ones I've heard have been from Masons or Forresters) with basic variations on the theme;

I was [doing something] when [bad thing happened] then [person] did [something nice] after having noticed my [identifing symbol that I belonged to a certain group].

The main one was Forresters who were given a free flight upgrade from their Forrester flight person.

So I'd like to see a real movement of Discordians being really able to help eachother out in this way. The main requirement is thoguh that people become successfull in life beyond Discordianism. So this one's moot in some ways, but it's an attitude that I've already seen, and this we should foster.

ALSO

What I'd love to see is the existance of groups who produce Discordian 'stuff' in the real world. We're great at making things that are cool in production, but I'd love to see some kind of Print on Demand resource that provides Discordian texts/stuff. I know Cram's page is a bit like this, and I'm pretty sure Rev. St. Syn does too, but seeing more real world Discordian things would be a great goal; espeically as the making side of things is fantastic.

[Brotep]

A while back Cram posted a thread about a great little game called Pirate Pass-Off.

What if we put a url on the backs of those cards?

[Xicked]

Thanks for the welcomes. 

wait wait wait

you mean... there are people who don't post here...
watching us?

i feel so exposed.

I thought Discordians were exhibitionists?

[Kai]

Referring to the thing back a page or two:

The reason projects peter out around here isn't because we don't have organized goals. It isn't because there's a lack of energy. It isn't the lack of good newbies. It isn't even the occasional (or often) drama. The reason is that we're all so independent that we can't work on projects together without getting in each other's way. We're all a bunch of control freaks. Control freaks with itchy trigger fingers.

[Telarus]

  Nailed it.

If we had some way of clearly delineating a temporary leader just for the scope of a project, do you think that would help?

[Triple Zero]

Almost!

Cause even if we would always get a kind benevolent and wise temp leader for a project (not so far-fetched, we had a couple), I think it's not so much a problem as delineating the temporary leader, as well as getting the project participants to suck it up and do what she/he tells them to. Even if it's the most awesome leader.

Just plain charisma only seems to motivate participants for so long.

[Doktor Howl]

Nailed it.

If we had some way of clearly delineating a temporary leader just for the scope of a project, do you think that would help?

VOTE FOR ME!  I SHALL RETURN ALL EMERGENCY POWERS AFTER THE CRISIS!

[tyrannosaurus vex]

what we need is a travelling discordian special ops team that will come to your house and kick your teeth out if you fail to produce your assigned work. unless it's my turn, in which case that would be fascism.