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Explaining Ourselves

Started by Al Qədic, February 26, 2019, 10:52:01 PM

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Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on February 28, 2019, 04:08:12 AM
Snip

While you're here and talking about HN, I should mention that I've been spreading it by way of proselytizing as I crossed the country. I was tenacious, really diggin up that childhood exposure to evangelism, and got all of them to at least open a tab or download it. There were at least three people in Fresno, one of whom was a mental health counselor.

It's not even the discordian messages. It's the whole package. From any perspective, for any person I give a damn about, it's a crucial read.

And ftr, my go to when someone's having a bad mental health day is to point them at There Is A Moon. And it always helps, at least a little.
"I am that worst of all type of criminal...I cannot bring myself to do what you tell me, because you told me."

There's over 100 of us in this meat-suit. You'd think it runs like a ship, but it's more like a hundred and ten angry ghosts having an old-school QuakeWorld tournament, three people desperately trying to make sure the gamers don't go hungry or soil themselves, and the Facilities manager weeping in the corner as the garbage piles high.

Q. G. Pennyworth

Oh, also you'll want A Brief Explanation, another one of Cram's https://qgpennyworth.com/portfolios/explanation/

Quote from: nullified on February 28, 2019, 04:24:42 AM
While you're here and talking about HN, I should mention that I've been spreading it by way of proselytizing as I crossed the country. I was tenacious, really diggin up that childhood exposure to evangelism, and got all of them to at least open a tab or download it. There were at least three people in Fresno, one of whom was a mental health counselor.

It's not even the discordian messages. It's the whole package. From any perspective, for any person I give a damn about, it's a crucial read.

And ftr, my go to when someone's having a bad mental health day is to point them at There Is A Moon. And it always helps, at least a little.

I really appreciate it! The facebook page has started taking on a life of its own, I'm doing my best to update here and there but even on the days where I put nothing in the likes are trickling in. Have you seen some of the post 2017 material?

Al Qədic

 :lulz: :lulz: :lulz: We'll see if they even give me the time of day about this email, then we'll see how they like things like the cards and posters and the BIP. Frankly, I think university admins will have a bigger stick up the butt about it than the prof will if I go about pan-pontificating. But hey, if they do, I can just throw the constitution back in their faces. :lol: Even if the prof likes what they read, we're close to the end of the quarter anyway, so we'll see what they do with the new, weird info.
There is no reason to,
Be ashamed of poetry. It,
Is natural. But you should,
Still do it in private,
And wash your hands afterward.

altered

Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on February 28, 2019, 04:34:52 AM
I really appreciate it! The facebook page has started taking on a life of its own, I'm doing my best to update here and there but even on the days where I put nothing in the likes are trickling in. Have you seen some of the post 2017 material?

I think I saw one piece of it. Is there a place with it all collected? I have a hankering for some good reading material and I can't sleep worth a damn lately.
"I am that worst of all type of criminal...I cannot bring myself to do what you tell me, because you told me."

There's over 100 of us in this meat-suit. You'd think it runs like a ship, but it's more like a hundred and ten angry ghosts having an old-school QuakeWorld tournament, three people desperately trying to make sure the gamers don't go hungry or soil themselves, and the Facilities manager weeping in the corner as the garbage piles high.

Al Qədic

The email is sent. Now we wait for tomorrow. Methinks I'll have a fun conversation after class with the teach.  :lulz:
There is no reason to,
Be ashamed of poetry. It,
Is natural. But you should,
Still do it in private,
And wash your hands afterward.

Q. G. Pennyworth

Quote from: nullified on February 28, 2019, 04:37:00 AM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on February 28, 2019, 04:34:52 AM
I really appreciate it! The facebook page has started taking on a life of its own, I'm doing my best to update here and there but even on the days where I put nothing in the likes are trickling in. Have you seen some of the post 2017 material?

I think I saw one piece of it. Is there a place with it all collected? I have a hankering for some good reading material and I can't sleep worth a damn lately.

Facebook's the most up to date, I posted some here and some on the tumblr, I can try and get a full dump for you tomorrow.

altered

Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on February 28, 2019, 04:41:44 AM
Quote from: nullified on February 28, 2019, 04:37:00 AM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on February 28, 2019, 04:34:52 AM
I really appreciate it! The facebook page has started taking on a life of its own, I'm doing my best to update here and there but even on the days where I put nothing in the likes are trickling in. Have you seen some of the post 2017 material?

I think I saw one piece of it. Is there a place with it all collected? I have a hankering for some good reading material and I can't sleep worth a damn lately.

Facebook's the most up to date, I posted some here and some on the tumblr, I can try and get a full dump for you tomorrow.

I'd be super appreciative. I'm sure there's some golden material worth spreading around in there too... If you can, drop me an email, the dimmekur account, when it's ready. My sleep schedule is shifting to morning through early afternoon, and the reminder will be nice.
"I am that worst of all type of criminal...I cannot bring myself to do what you tell me, because you told me."

There's over 100 of us in this meat-suit. You'd think it runs like a ship, but it's more like a hundred and ten angry ghosts having an old-school QuakeWorld tournament, three people desperately trying to make sure the gamers don't go hungry or soil themselves, and the Facilities manager weeping in the corner as the garbage piles high.

Q. G. Pennyworth

As is my wont, instead of just delivering the work already done like a sane person, I have taken this as an opportunity to add to my backlog by formatting new things.

Telarus

This thread made me smile a lot. :D

One small, tiny, plank-length metaphysics quibble. I find this is a common "rake in the grass" when first getting to know Discordia from the historical materials, and Greg Hill once sermonized on early usenet posts on the topic. Disorder =/= Chaos

[ Order --><-- Disorder ]                 <------ Chaos

Confusing these grids causes a lot more non-meaning in our holy nonsense.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled quantum static.
Telarus, KSC,
.__.  Keeper of the Contradictory Cephalopod, Zenarchist Swordsman,
(0o)  Tender to the Edible Zen Garden, Ratcheting Metallic Sex Doll of The End Times,
/||\   Episkopos of the Amorphous Dreams Cabal

Join the Doll Underground! Experience the Phantasmagorical Safari!

Al Qədic

Quote from: Telarus on March 05, 2019, 12:26:30 AM
This thread made me smile a lot. :D

One small, tiny, plank-length metaphysics quibble. I find this is a common "rake in the grass" when first getting to know Discordia from the historical materials, and Greg Hill once sermonized on early usenet posts on the topic. Disorder =/= Chaos

[ Order --><-- Disorder ]                 <------ Chaos

Confusing these grids causes a lot more non-meaning in our holy nonsense.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled quantum static.

Forgive me for my mushy newspag brain, but I'm not sure I totally understand ya here. If I had to take a stab at it, is the idea that "this isn't about order vs disorder, this is about chaos, which causes the polarity of order and disorder"? Is it that "disorder = chaos is a fallacy, the truth is that chaos = disorder and order"? Am I close? Either way, thanks for the critique. Like my icon says, I'm just tryn'a Listen and Learn, y'know what I mean?

Glad to make you smile (and have you back!) Telarus. If I do indeed understand what you're getting at (or if I don't and you teach my dumb ass), I'll be sure to mention that quibble to the prof. They've yet to respond to the email, so time will tell where the conversation goes. Cheers.
There is no reason to,
Be ashamed of poetry. It,
Is natural. But you should,
Still do it in private,
And wash your hands afterward.

altered

Quote from: Al Qədic on March 05, 2019, 02:53:19 AM
Quote from: Telarus on March 05, 2019, 12:26:30 AM
This thread made me smile a lot. :D

One small, tiny, plank-length metaphysics quibble. I find this is a common "rake in the grass" when first getting to know Discordia from the historical materials, and Greg Hill once sermonized on early usenet posts on the topic. Disorder =/= Chaos

[ Order --><-- Disorder ]                 <------ Chaos

Confusing these grids causes a lot more non-meaning in our holy nonsense.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled quantum static.

Forgive me for my mushy newspag brain, but I'm not sure I totally understand ya here. If I had to take a stab at it, is the idea that "this isn't about order vs disorder, this is about chaos, which causes the polarity of order and disorder"? Is it that "disorder = chaos is a fallacy, the truth is that chaos = disorder and order"

The latter.

Chaos is the primordial state. We, in our human stupidity, classify it into disorder and order. Change your grid often and you'll see that what is disorder can be order and what is order can be disorder, all is just facets of the same thing.
"I am that worst of all type of criminal...I cannot bring myself to do what you tell me, because you told me."

There's over 100 of us in this meat-suit. You'd think it runs like a ship, but it's more like a hundred and ten angry ghosts having an old-school QuakeWorld tournament, three people desperately trying to make sure the gamers don't go hungry or soil themselves, and the Facilities manager weeping in the corner as the garbage piles high.

Cramulus

The Ancient Greeks used the word Chaos differently than we do - this usage is what Mal and Omar meant:

Quote from: Edith HamiltonFirst there was Chaos, the vast immeasurable abyss,. Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild.

Chaos is the raw universe, before it's filtered through your perceptions and nervous system and labeled.

If you're looking at an object and say "that's a pen, it's used for writing", you've created order, you've put a label on the matter, now it makes it make sense to you. But without human perception, it's not a pen. It isn't anything. "is"-ness is a human perception, it's not present in the 'source code'.



Quote from: Cramulus
A Koan
Golden Rod approached the monk Nopants.

"Master Nopants, what can I learn by observing Primal Chaos?"

The master held up a pen. "Do you know what this is?"

"Yes, it's a pen."

The master said "I use it to scratch my balls."

Cramulus

That's why the first Discordian season is Chaos - it's the beginning state, before anything is formed. It's the source of all things.

Chaos is the stuff we cut up into segments called order and disorder so we can be comfortable with it.


Part of the rinzai-discordian spirit is recognizing that a lot of the labels we impose on the chaos (good and evil, good and bad, good and plenty) are just words. That doesn't mean they're not real (social constructs are real too). But it does make their reality mutable.

QuoteA farmer and his son had a beloved horse who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbours exclaimed, "Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!" The farmer replied, "Maybe."

A few days later, the horse returned home, leading a few wild horses back to the farm as well. The neighbors shouted out, "Your horse has returned, and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!" The farmer replied, "Maybe."

Later that week, the farmer's son was trying to break one of the horses and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg. The neighbours cried, "Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!" The farmer replied, "Maybe."

A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all boys for the army. They did not take the farmer's son, because he had a broken leg. The neighbours shouted, "Your boy is spared, what tremendous luck!" To which the farmer replied, "Maybe."

LMNO

Quote from: Chao te Ching, Chapter 4
This is Chaos: it is everything, including itself.
All of Starbuck's Pebbles come from it.
It confuses Order, it arranges Disorder.
It multiplies its opposite, it positively negates.
Lying below life, lining the world.
The origin of all patterns.
It has existed before we observed it.
Ok, that last one's not quite accurate.
You can't really observe Chaos, just the consequences.

Quote from: Chapter 25There is Something that exists,
beyond the Illusions of Order and Disorder.
It is all things, and unknowable in full.
We only see small parts of It,
but are convinced what we see is the entire Universe.

For lack of a better name, I call It "Chaos".
At dinner parties, I claim It is everything Possible and Impossible.
When asked why not call It "god",
I point out that their head is too fucking small.

Because we create the Illusions in which we live,
we are more creative than Chaos.
Because we believe in the Illusions we create,
our heads are too fucking small.
In this way, we reflect our creations.

altered

This is like the reverse of the usual order of koans and commentary.

Damn Discordians are all DOING IT WRONG
"I am that worst of all type of criminal...I cannot bring myself to do what you tell me, because you told me."

There's over 100 of us in this meat-suit. You'd think it runs like a ship, but it's more like a hundred and ten angry ghosts having an old-school QuakeWorld tournament, three people desperately trying to make sure the gamers don't go hungry or soil themselves, and the Facilities manager weeping in the corner as the garbage piles high.