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Salvation is Free

Started by AFK, April 12, 2012, 02:09:32 PM

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AFK

QuoteIf you can master nonsense as well as you have already learned to master sense, then each will expose the other for what it is: absurdity. From that moment of illumination, a man begins to be free regardless of his surroundings.  He becomes free to play order games and change them at will. He becomes free to play disorder games just for the hell of it.  He becomes free to play neither or both.  And as the master of his own games, he plays without fear, and therefore without frustration, and therefore with good will in his soul and love in his being.


And when men become free then mankind will be free.
May you be free of The Curse of Greyface.
May the Goddess put twinkles in your eyes.
May you have the knowledge of a sage,
      and the wisdom of a child. Hail Eris.

From early times Man has burdened itself with bullshit.  It has taken its existence far too seriously.  Even as it has gained the knowledge proving that mankind occupies but an insignificant blink of time, he has not come to the obvious conclusion.  Let's live the hell out of this brief time that we have.

Instead, man instantaneously became obsessed with seeking and tapping into an obsolete and improbable idea of immortality.  Obsessed with taking whatever steps necessary to extend its lifespan and authority over mortality.  This invariably has lead to strife and conflict as man scrambles to control every nook and cranny that contains life-fueling resources. 

And so the Curse of Greyface has endured.  It is now seemingly inextricably entrenched.  It seems particularly hopeless that it can go in any other direction. 

Yet Salvation is always right there before us.  Man simply needs to reach out and grab it.  To cast off the self-imposed shackles that has held Man back in the name of Progress.  Progress that has been measured by ALL of the wrong benchmarks.  Quantity over Quality.

Eris, Discordia, and the Discordian Society are mankind's QA department.  The problem is no one will pay attention to us, even though we bear a painfully simple message and warning:

"Snap the fuck out of it!  Don't you see what you are doing?"

You are trying to create a better world for your children and grandchildren but you are just making it worse.  You are dooming them to the same failed rat race you've been running.  Not only that, you've made the race longer and more grueling.  You were able to bail out at 55 or 65.  Your grandkids won't get to leave until they are in the ground in a box.  What fucking kind of existence is that? 

Let them have Salvation.  Let them hold onto that Joyful Anarchy of youth as long as they can.  You can't keep them from growing old but you can keep them from "growing up".  Because in our society "growing up" means becoming a Super Serious Adult.  It means leaving games behind.  It means forever servitude to The System.  It means shirking any real kind of Individuality for institutionalized imagination.  Straying outside of the paradigm is not an option.  Not if they want to be "respected" and "regarded". 

Let them have Salvation. 

Let them remain Free.

Let them know that it is okay to be Weird.

Let them know that it is okay to be Strange.

Let them know that it is okay to walk around with that silly grin on their face.

Let them know that they can march to any goddamned beat they want. 

Fuck the rest of the world if it can't and won't dance. 

Tell the kids that they are the Dance Commanders! 

They are the Dr. Dementos!

They are the Rock and Rollers!

They can resist The Curse of Greyface!

Nonsense is their Salvation! 

And it is, as it always has been, fucking Free!

Preach it!  Spread it!  Live it!

And fuck anyone who gets in the way!

That's the Word,

Reverend What's-His-Name?
Cynicism is a blank check for failure.

LMNO

That was awesome.  Good to see your writing again.

AFK

Cynicism is a blank check for failure.

Doktor Howl

Molon Lube

Mangrove

Progress that has been measured by ALL of the wrong benchmarks

Especially love this. Reminds me of a discussion I was having on Tuesday which went along the lines of:

"When we say someone is 'successful', what are the criteria? Why is money/fame/power the only metric that we tend to recognize?"

What makes it so? Making it so is what makes it so.

LMNO

Quote from: Mangrove on April 12, 2012, 08:11:04 PM
Progress that has been measured by ALL of the wrong benchmarks

Especially love this. Reminds me of a discussion I was having on Tuesday which went along the lines of:

"When we say someone is 'successful', what are the criteria? Why is money/fame/power the only metric that we tend to recognize?"

Yeah.  Why isn't "HAPPY" worth a damn these days?

Doktor Howl

Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on April 12, 2012, 08:13:08 PM
Quote from: Mangrove on April 12, 2012, 08:11:04 PM
Progress that has been measured by ALL of the wrong benchmarks

Especially love this. Reminds me of a discussion I was having on Tuesday which went along the lines of:

"When we say someone is 'successful', what are the criteria? Why is money/fame/power the only metric that we tend to recognize?"

Yeah.  Why isn't "HAPPY" worth a damn these days?

It is, to the right people.
Molon Lube

LMNO

Quote from: Doktor Howl on April 12, 2012, 08:13:59 PM
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on April 12, 2012, 08:13:08 PM
Quote from: Mangrove on April 12, 2012, 08:11:04 PM
Progress that has been measured by ALL of the wrong benchmarks

Especially love this. Reminds me of a discussion I was having on Tuesday which went along the lines of:

"When we say someone is 'successful', what are the criteria? Why is money/fame/power the only metric that we tend to recognize?"

Yeah.  Why isn't "HAPPY" worth a damn these days?

It is, to the right people.

Welcome to PD.com.

Mangrove

We need new definitions of 'success'.

What makes it so? Making it so is what makes it so.

Doktor Howl

Quote from: Mangrove on April 12, 2012, 08:28:41 PM
We need new definitions of 'success'.

I can look at the mirror when I shave every day.

I have a nice home life, and people who for some reason love me.

I may be a vicious bastard at times, but I don't pick on people without reason.

I have irresponsible fun almost often enough.

I'm good at what I do.

That's all the success I need, really.
Molon Lube

Anna Mae Bollocks

Quote from: Doktor Howl on April 12, 2012, 08:30:39 PM
Quote from: Mangrove on April 12, 2012, 08:28:41 PM
We need new definitions of 'success'.

I can look at the mirror when I shave every day.

I have a nice home life, and people who for some reason love me.

I may be a vicious bastard at times, but I don't pick on people without reason.

I have irresponsible fun almost often enough.

I'm good at what I do.

That's all the success I need, really.

This.

The definition of "success" should come with these stipulations.
Scantily-Clad Inspector of Gigantic and Unnecessary Cashews, Texas Division

AFK

Quote from: Mangrove on April 12, 2012, 08:11:04 PM
Progress that has been measured by ALL of the wrong benchmarks

Especially love this. Reminds me of a discussion I was having on Tuesday which went along the lines of:

"When we say someone is 'successful', what are the criteria? Why is money/fame/power the only metric that we tend to recognize?"

It's all part of that American Dream fallacy that's been handed down for ages.  And if you say that the American Dream, is a stupid shallow goal, the implication is that you are encouraging people slacking off.

No, we are encouraging Slack.  If my kids decide they want to be taxi drivers, and it makes them happy, good on them.  I'm not going to fill them with bullshit like, "You should become a doctor so you can take care of us".  If they want to be doctors I will support them.  If they want to be Rock and Roll Baristas, I'll support them. 

I of course want them to be able to take care of themselves which invariably gets into money.  My wife and I have managed to carve out a humble existence.  We aren't raking in the dough hand over fist but we aren't drowning in debt and we are able to take our kids out and do things.  We're happy. 

It certainly feels like success to me. 
Cynicism is a blank check for failure.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: Anna Mae Bollocks on April 12, 2012, 08:39:57 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on April 12, 2012, 08:30:39 PM
Quote from: Mangrove on April 12, 2012, 08:28:41 PM
We need new definitions of 'success'.

I can look at the mirror when I shave every day.

I have a nice home life, and people who for some reason love me.

I may be a vicious bastard at times, but I don't pick on people without reason.

I have irresponsible fun almost often enough.

I'm good at what I do.

That's all the success I need, really.

This.

The definition of "success" should come with these stipulations.

yes yes yessss.

I was thinking about this recently, in connection with the discussion on IQ... there is a success curve with IQ, and most "highly successful" people have an IQ that is in about a 20-point sweet spot above average but below genius.

Problem: The way "highly successful" is defined deals almost exclusively with the collection of green pieces of paper.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Mangrove

My personal successes:

1) Got married and stayed married. Have known Mrs Mang since 1996, got married in 2004.
2) Money is tight a lot of the time but, we're not up to our ass in debt. We live in a modest home in a decent town.
3) My business is small but I've helped a lot of people. Every now and then I hit a really good 'life changer' result with a client.
4) The worst thing I can say about my health is that I have a little too much tension in my neck (right side), sometimes.
5) I've met all sorts of interesting people.
6) I have lived in and visited different countries.
7) No police record!
8.) I have tons of fucking books....RAH!
9) We own one car. [I don't drive. My carbon footprint is fairly small & I can walk to & from work every day.]
10) Thankfully raised without religious or political ideologies - was left to figure shit out for myself.
What makes it so? Making it so is what makes it so.

AFK

A fine model of success for sure. 
Cynicism is a blank check for failure.