ATTN: Actual Discordians RE: Hodge and Podge

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

They clearly say that the Apple represents the Podge, and the Pentagon represents the Hodge.  And instead of swapping bits of either for the other side, the two sides are represented in balance.  Remember, Discordia isn't Taoism -- they just stole a lot of the symbology.

Going further, if you didn't have the symbols clearly indicating which side is which, you'd never know what was being represented; all you'd have would be dichotomy.  So we also are able to show how we can only distinguish between order and disorder by LABELLING them as such; without the labels, we would only have swirling Chaos.

I didn't say discordia was taoism. My point was basically what you said: the 'sides' of the Chao have no inherent difference, only a label that arbitrarily differentiates between them.

Yes, most depictions of the Chao have both sides shaded in the same way, the thin part of the teardrop-shape darker than the round part.

Of course, just because they're shaded the same, and there's two of them aligned all point-symmetrically, doesn't mean they're the same side. After all, one side got an apple, the other a pentagon. But even without those symbols, they'd be two separate shapes in one symbol, that just happen to be isometrically congruent.

Just because they're 'separated' doesn't change that they are only part of the same symbol. Without Apple and Pentagon (or whatever symbols you substitute), what I take away from this symbol is that What we call Order and Chaos are indistinguishable, making their division meaningless. Adding the additional symbols only gives you a point of reference, a legend for the map, if you will.

[TL;DR: LABELS]

For my bit, I've always preferred "organic/abstract" as the false dichotomy in the chao.

And so it is that we, as men, do not exist until we do; and then it is that we play with our world of existent things, and order and disorder them, and so it shall be that Non-existence shall take us back from Existence, and that nameless Spirituality shall return to Void, like a tired child home from a very wild circus.

I don't see the division as meaningless. Absurdism states that the meaning of life, is the meaning we give it. I see Omar's "Ordering and Disordering" &  "Hodge and Podge" as the Discordian metaphor for making our own meaning in this life. By our subjective view of what is ordered and disordered we find meaning in the chaos of existence. The Sacred Chao also wobbles back and forth which reminds me of Crowley's Solider and Hunchback "every Solider (!) should be followed by a Hunchback (?)" ; every answer brings about more questions... every subjective view of order can be broken down further into disorder and every subjective view of disorder can be broken down into order.

Rather than the philosophy defining that there IS Order/Disorder, Good/Bad, Yin/Yang its up to the observer to create their own Reality Tunnel/BiP/Perceptions/Hodge-Podge view of existence.

In the end though its important to keep in mind the Discordian Revelation by Omar:

And what is all this shit about who does or does not understand Discordianism? Who the hell cares? If Discordianism was meant to be understood it would be like Zen Buddhism. The greatest of all Discordians, Malaclypse the Younger, doesn't understand anything whatsoever about the religion he co-founded.

Part 1 http://youtu.be/yF_lKdqyu5o
Part 2 http://youtu.be/nJHHDQ2i0kE

[Triple Zero]

Aren't the Hodge and Podge sides the same, except for the apple and pentagon? I'm fairly sure that the first several Sacred Chaos I've seen are the same color/shade on both sides, even though a lot of the depictions are more like the Tao.

Yes, most depictions of the Chao have both sides shaded in the same way, the thin part of the teardrop-shape darker than the round part.

Of course, just because they're shaded the same, and there's two of them aligned all point-symmetrically, doesn't mean they're the same side. After all, one side got an apple, the other a pentagon. But even without those symbols, they'd be two separate shapes in one symbol, that just happen to be isometrically congruent.

Just because they're 'separated' doesn't change that they are only part of the same symbol. Without Apple and Pentagon (or whatever symbols you substitute), what I take away from this symbol is that What we call Order and Chaos are indistinguishable, making their division meaningless. Adding the additional symbols only gives you a point of reference, a legend for the map, if you will.

No, really? If you just wanted to make an argument, next time don't phrase it as a question, so I'll know not to bother replying.

[LMNO]

I might be totally out of my mind wrong on this but as a symbol of Apparent order:

I kind of like that, because although it LOOKS ordered, that model is horribly wrong. Which makes for a good second-level metaphor.

[Iron Sulfide]

Aren't the Hodge and Podge sides the same, except for the apple and pentagon? I'm fairly sure that the first several Sacred Chaos I've seen are the same color/shade on both sides, even though a lot of the depictions are more like the Tao.

Yes, most depictions of the Chao have both sides shaded in the same way, the thin part of the teardrop-shape darker than the round part.

Of course, just because they're shaded the same, and there's two of them aligned all point-symmetrically, doesn't mean they're the same side. After all, one side got an apple, the other a pentagon. But even without those symbols, they'd be two separate shapes in one symbol, that just happen to be isometrically congruent.

Just because they're 'separated' doesn't change that they are only part of the same symbol. Without Apple and Pentagon (or whatever symbols you substitute), what I take away from this symbol is that What we call Order and Chaos are indistinguishable, making their division meaningless. Adding the additional symbols only gives you a point of reference, a legend for the map, if you will.

No, really? If you just wanted to make an argument, next time don't phrase it as a question, so I'll know not to bother replying.

Sorry if I offended you. Just offering my perspective.