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The Erisian Hook

Started by Cramulus, January 03, 2012, 06:43:08 PM

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Cramulus

THE BACKSTORY

Christmas / New Years. Everybody's asking what you've been up to. I've been self-publishing! I show them the sexy hard copies of the Chao Te Ching.

They ask, "What's Discordianism?"


I'm asking my office building manager if I can hang a sacred chao and a golden apple from the office x-mas tree. He tells me that I can, but he wants to know what Discordianism is.


Somebody asks me why my car has a Hail Eris bumper sticker. Who's Eris, and what's that mean?


in all of these situations, I come up blank.


How can you describe something like Discordianism, in short form? We've got a "Discordianism is [sic!!] one sentence" thread, but one sentence is too short.




WHAT I'M SEARCHING FOR:

A quick way to explain what Discordianism is to somebody that's never heard of it.

It must have a punchline.

Preferably it would include a way of including the listener in the group of Discordians, sort of how hearing about the pope card makes you a pope.



Cramulus

Here's a great example - can anybody come up with something like this?




A PRIMER FOR ERISIAN EVANGELISTS by Lord Omar

The Good Reverend Roger

"Discordianism is the philosophy that says chaos embodies every portion of human society that isn't covered by stupidity.  Chaos includes both order and disorder, which is a concept many people have trouble with.  While not everyone agrees that this is the best way to run a universe, most people accept it at one level or another.  Including you.  Welcome to our little cult (I'd stay away from the Koolaid)."
" 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.

LMNO

You know how you see bumper stickers that say, "Shit Happens"?

Have you ever stopped and thought to yourself, "Well, sure.  But then what?"

Discordia answers that question.

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on January 03, 2012, 06:49:01 PM
You know how you see bumper stickers that say, "Shit Happens"?

Have you ever stopped and thought to yourself, "Well, sure.  But then what?"

Discordia answers that question.


Nice.

"Discordia, alone among religions, will not grant you salvation.  It will, however, tell you the punch line to the cosmic shaggy dog story of which you are a part."
" 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

#5
I was at this party the other week, hanging out with a buddy of mine. He had seen the Chao Te Ching on my facebook wall, and he really likes the Tao Te Ching you know, and so I found myself in the unfortunate position of having to "explain" Discordianism.

WELL, I said, We're a disorganized religion. Or maybe we're a joke. We reject dogma and definition. The Discordian hierarchy is reversed... the most informed people about Discordia are at the bottom. The people who have no idea what it is [the popes] are at the top. So the fact that I'm even explaining this to you means that you get Discord better than I do.


My friend said, "So the point is to stop the mind?"


and I said, "Well, yes and no... some people treat it that way, but it's hard to pin down a singular thing that it's about."


He said, "You missed it. You can't tell me what it is or isn't about, I'm the fucking POPE, MOTHERFUCKER!"



fucking BRAVO,
he got it immediately

The Good Reverend Roger

That goes in the win column.   :lulz:
" 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.

LMNO

EPIC.



"Have you ever gotten into an argument with someone over something you were sure you were right about, but after an hour or so of shouting, it turns out you were completely wrong about everything?  Discordians feel that way ALL THE TIME."

Cramulus

Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 03, 2012, 06:48:24 PM
"Discordianism is the philosophy that says chaos embodies every portion of human society that isn't covered by stupidity.  Chaos includes both order and disorder, which is a concept many people have trouble with.  While not everyone agrees that this is the best way to run a universe, most people accept it at one level or another.  Including you.  Welcome to our little cult (I'd stay away from the Koolaid)."

I like this.  :lol: It's funny that it tells them what they think. I feel like the expected response would be that they argue against it, try to explain how they're NOT a Discordian. I wonder if there's a way to phrase it so that their triggered reaction makes them argue for something they don't actually believe. This would hit them with the double-bind, the essence of the mindfuck.


Like "Discordians (like you) enjoy getting into verbal sparring matches over semantics and identity."

then they say, "No I don't!"

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: Cramulus on January 03, 2012, 06:59:34 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 03, 2012, 06:48:24 PM
"Discordianism is the philosophy that says chaos embodies every portion of human society that isn't covered by stupidity.  Chaos includes both order and disorder, which is a concept many people have trouble with.  While not everyone agrees that this is the best way to run a universe, most people accept it at one level or another.  Including you.  Welcome to our little cult (I'd stay away from the Koolaid)."

I like this.  :lol: It's funny that it tells them what they think. I feel like the expected response would be that they argue against it, try to explain how they're NOT a Discordian. I wonder if there's a way to phrase it so that their triggered reaction makes them argue for something they don't actually believe. This would hit them with the double-bind, the essence of the mindfuck.


Like "Discordians (like you) enjoy getting into verbal sparring matches over semantics and identity."

then they say, "No I don't!"

It's already there.  If they claim they aren't a Discordian, then they're in the part that's run by stupidity.

Evangelism is all about framing the debate.
" 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.

LMNO

Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 03, 2012, 07:00:59 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 03, 2012, 06:59:34 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 03, 2012, 06:48:24 PM
"Discordianism is the philosophy that says chaos embodies every portion of human society that isn't covered by stupidity.  Chaos includes both order and disorder, which is a concept many people have trouble with.  While not everyone agrees that this is the best way to run a universe, most people accept it at one level or another.  Including you.  Welcome to our little cult (I'd stay away from the Koolaid)."

I like this.  :lol: It's funny that it tells them what they think. I feel like the expected response would be that they argue against it, try to explain how they're NOT a Discordian. I wonder if there's a way to phrase it so that their triggered reaction makes them argue for something they don't actually believe. This would hit them with the double-bind, the essence of the mindfuck.


Like "Discordians (like you) enjoy getting into verbal sparring matches over semantics and identity."

then they say, "No I don't!"

It's already there.  If they claim they aren't a Discordian, then they're in the part that's run by stupidity.

Evangelism is all about framing the debate.

:peedee:

:pwned:


Cramulus

#11
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on January 03, 2012, 06:49:01 PM
You know how you see bumper stickers that say, "Shit Happens"?

Have you ever stopped and thought to yourself, "Well, sure.  But then what?"

Discordia answers that question.


I like this because it's kind of like a koan. It doesn't tell, it suggests. It doesn't say outright what Discordia is, it points to something outside of the conversation. It does beg for an answer though - what do you say when the person says, "....So then what?"

I wonder if there's some metaphorical story that might capture it too...


like


Five monkeys live in the world tree.

The first one is a jittery monkey - every time he gets scared, he hides. When he finds a place where he's comfortable, he'll sit there for days.

The second one is a territorial monkey, he's paranoid because he thinks the other monkeys want to steal his bananas.

The third one is the thinking monkey, he has all sorts of interesting things to say about the tree.

The fourth one is the sex monkey, if he can't find another monkey to put his dick in, he just fucks the tree.


The fifth monkey just laughs and laughs all day because the other monkeys are more entertaining than anything else in the world. He is the Discordian.

LMNO

I was thinking of framing it in a conversational style, because that's the situation you're usually going to find yourself in.  You're at a party, or club, or office meeting, and someone's going to ask you -- but more out of politeness or mild confusion, rather than honest curiosity.

And they're not going to stand for some riddle, or koan, or short story.  It has to sound "natural".

So, when they ask, "...So then what?" you can go a little deeper.


"We think there's no such thing as order or disorder.  It's just points of view, like seeing a face in the Moon, or how a cloud becomes a pony."

And then see if they take the bait.

The Good Reverend Roger

As you may remember, I spent some time & effort a while back, writing a guide for rounding up a Cabal.

I failed to finish it, not because I was steamin' mad at someone or other (Trip, maybe?), but because I had written myself into a corner trying to set up guidelines for something that should and must be spontaneous.  Needless to say, it was easier to take a wobbler I'd thrown over something totally unrelated, and use that as an excuse for backing out of a project that couldn't be finished.  Ook.

However, "Witlessing" to people is an entirely different story, and the best way I can think of to do that is by posting multiple examples (Cram's above is priceless), and maybe a short set of time-proven does & don'ts.

Lemme see.
" 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.

El Sjaako

One of the basic tenets of Discordianism is that it changes depending on who's looking and how he/she looks at it. On the surface it appears to be a religion, but taking this seriously would be sacrilegious. Some people see it as just a joke (though these people are probably missing the punchline). You could easily see it as a meme or set of memes, a late 50's injoke, or a variant on zen thinking. According to Jim Garrison it's a CIA front. It's a long distance culture, a set of ideas and jokes to work from, and a rebellion against Christian thinking. Possibly the most pretentious interpretation is that it's a coherent philosophy.

All of these ways of looking at it are, in some sense, true.