Nowhere To Go

[Phox]

Sometimes it's difficult for me to sort through all my thoughts. Especially when my head is currently being filled with de Beauvoir, Sartre, Hegel, Lucretius, Cicero, and Hobbes, among others.

It's difficult to have an original thought in the midst of the competing ideologies. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself, when I sit and stare at the blank page sitting here in front of me.

When did thinking come with an off switch? And then it struck me. It's not that I don't have thoughts. I have a million thoughts. For instance, Sartre is a bit too stuck in his ideas to observe the practical, at times. Hobbes was one of the original advocates for TYF,S, and I think he needs to get his due. Cicero's reasoning for why literature and poetry are important is very, very different from what a modern audience would expect, and it's only a short leap to see why.

But none of those thoughts are FINISHED. How can you write, or talk, or even articulate a half formulated thought? More importantly, will people ridicule me for it? Simple, and undoubtedly. But hey, thinking is hard, and writing is even harder. If I don't have the time to do either, then why am I here? That's the question.

Nowhere to go.

My thoughts have nowhere to go, because my fingers won't let them out. Unlawfully detained thoughts don't do anybody any good, but a thought that, even half formed, is a seed, isn't it? How can it be ethical to deprive the garden of it? Hell, maybe you have one of those mustard seeds in your head. You never know.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Sometimes it's difficult for me to sort through all my thoughts. Especially when my head is currently being filled with de Beauvoir, Sartre, Hegel, Lucretius, Cicero, and Hobbes, among others.

It's difficult to have an original thought in the midst of the competing ideologies. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself, when I sit and stare at the blank page sitting here in front of me.

When did thinking come with an off switch? And then it struck me. It's not that I don't have thoughts. I have a million thoughts. For instance, Sartre is a bit too stuck in his ideas to observe the practical, at times. Hobbes was one of the original advocates for TYF,S, and I think he needs to get his due. Cicero's reasoning for why literature and poetry are important is very, very different from what a modern audience would expect, and it's only a short leap to see why.

But none of those thoughts are FINISHED. How can you write, or talk, or even articulate a half formulated thought? More importantly, will people ridicule me for it? Simple, and undoubtedly. But hey, thinking is hard, and writing is even harder. If I don't have the time to do either, then why am I here? That's the question.

Nowhere to go.

My thoughts have nowhere to go, because my fingers won't let them out. Unlawfully detained thoughts don't do anybody any good, but a thought that, even half formed, is a seed, isn't it? How can it be ethical to deprive the garden of it? Hell, maybe you have one of those mustard seeds in your head. You never know.

So, we're either:

A)  Losers so pathetic that we have nowhere else to go, even on the internet, or

B)  Full of great ideas, but too lazy to type, or

C)  Both of the above.

I'd say that's a remarkably correct diagnosis of PD in 2011/2012.

[Phox]

Sometimes it's difficult for me to sort through all my thoughts. Especially when my head is currently being filled with de Beauvoir, Sartre, Hegel, Lucretius, Cicero, and Hobbes, among others.

It's difficult to have an original thought in the midst of the competing ideologies. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself, when I sit and stare at the blank page sitting here in front of me.

When did thinking come with an off switch? And then it struck me. It's not that I don't have thoughts. I have a million thoughts. For instance, Sartre is a bit too stuck in his ideas to observe the practical, at times. Hobbes was one of the original advocates for TYF,S, and I think he needs to get his due. Cicero's reasoning for why literature and poetry are important is very, very different from what a modern audience would expect, and it's only a short leap to see why.

But none of those thoughts are FINISHED. How can you write, or talk, or even articulate a half formulated thought? More importantly, will people ridicule me for it? Simple, and undoubtedly. But hey, thinking is hard, and writing is even harder. If I don't have the time to do either, then why am I here? That's the question.

Nowhere to go.

My thoughts have nowhere to go, because my fingers won't let them out. Unlawfully detained thoughts don't do anybody any good, but a thought that, even half formed, is a seed, isn't it? How can it be ethical to deprive the garden of it? Hell, maybe you have one of those mustard seeds in your head. You never know.

So, we're either:

A)  Losers so pathetic that we have nowhere else to go, even on the internet, or

B)  Full of great ideas, but too lazy to type, or

C)  Both of the above.

I'd say that's a remarkably correct diagnosis of PD in 2011/2012.

More of a self-diagnosis, than anything, but yeah, I'd say given the trend of "I'll respond to this later", when later never comes, you're close to the truth there. For me, this is a perennial problem. I'll get an idea, and I'll say "hey, I should post this on PD, they might find it interesting", but then when it comes time to do it, I feel like it's just a half-finished thought, and I don't want to post something that turns into a few lines of "Wouldn't this be cool?" or a few paragraphs of disjointed stream-of-consciousness.

I often think that that might be the case with others here, and the more I consider it, the more I see that both of those are preferable to nothing at all. Of course, then there are days when i have nothing to say.

To derail my own post, having nothing to say at all is an incredibly bizarre feeling. I feel naked, and empty. I feel like the sum of my thoughts, and when that is nothing, it is very disconcerting. Though I suppose having nothing to say may be slightly better than being a vapid Facebook zombie. There are days that I wonder, though...

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I'll get an idea, and I'll say "hey, I should post this on PD, they might find it interesting", but then when it comes time to do it, I feel like it's just a half-finished thought, and I don't want to post something that turns into a few lines of "Wouldn't this be cool?" or a few paragraphs of disjointed stream-of-consciousness.

Why?  If everyone waits til someone else starts a conversation, then it's a bit of a boring party.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Personally, I blame the IRC channel for this shit.

[Phox]

I'll get an idea, and I'll say "hey, I should post this on PD, they might find it interesting", but then when it comes time to do it, I feel like it's just a half-finished thought, and I don't want to post something that turns into a few lines of "Wouldn't this be cool?" or a few paragraphs of disjointed stream-of-consciousness.

Why?  If everyone waits til someone else starts a conversation, then it's a bit of a boring party.

That's exactly the point, Roger. I'm finding that sort of mindset to be incredibly useless, and, like you said, completely boring. I'm not promising to bombard you with ideas, but I'm certainly going to work on forcing them out of my head on a daily basis at least.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I'll get an idea, and I'll say "hey, I should post this on PD, they might find it interesting", but then when it comes time to do it, I feel like it's just a half-finished thought, and I don't want to post something that turns into a few lines of "Wouldn't this be cool?" or a few paragraphs of disjointed stream-of-consciousness.

Why?  If everyone waits til someone else starts a conversation, then it's a bit of a boring party.

That's exactly the point, Roger. I'm finding that sort of mindset to be incredibly useless, and, like you said, completely boring. I'm not promising to bombard you with ideas, but I'm certainly going to work on forcing them out of my head on a daily basis at least.

A page a day is reasonable.  I've done my part.  There is no room here anymore for a Holy Man™, in any sense that would allow me to REMAIN a Holy Man™.

[Phox]

I've tried to do a page a day before, with uh.... zero results. Part of it is trying to decide what's worthwhile to post, considering what I am usually working with. (I mean, discussing the finer points of Cicero's Pro Archia isn't likely to be a hit, is it?) Most of it, though, is not wishing to have a sloppy post. Which is downright stupid, of course. I'm also incredibly bad with self-imposed minimums and deadlines. But... that's enough of a pity party, we'll just see what happens, I guess. 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I've tried to do a page a day before, with uh.... zero results. Part of it is trying to decide what's worthwhile to post, considering what I am usually working with.

THAT is the fucking problem.

A page a day, even if you're just describing some freak you saw on the bus, or some loser at the university.

Just fucking spew it.  Actual content be damned.

[Phox]

I've tried to do a page a day before, with uh.... zero results. Part of it is trying to decide what's worthwhile to post, considering what I am usually working with.

THAT is the fucking problem.

A page a day, even if you're just describing some freak you saw on the bus, or some loser at the university.

Just fucking spew it.  Actual content be damned.

Oh, shit yeah, I'm saying to hell with that mind set. 

[Wolfgang Absolutus]

I always feel as though If I were to write any of my ideas down one or both of two things will happen
1. Due to the drawbacks of language I won't be able to properly express my meaning and the whole thing becomes a waste.
2. Ill change my mind at some point in the future and then Ill regret writing such stupid things as they are not consistent with my present self.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I have a fuck of a lot to say and nowhere near enough time to say it.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I always feel as though If I were to write any of my ideas down one or both of two things will happen
1. Due to the drawbacks of language I won't be able to properly express my meaning and the whole thing becomes a waste.
2. Ill change my mind at some point in the future and then Ill regret writing such stupid things as they are not consistent with my present self.

...Or

3.  At some future point you will discover apostraphes, and you'll have to go back and edit it all.


FACT:  It's just spewing rants on a message board.  You are not writing for the ages.

[The Rev]

Sometimes, to me, it seems there is a perceived standard. If we think we cannot meet the standard then we simply decide to not write.

The truth is, while some can produce excellent material, not every word that is written in this sacred hall is masterful. We just tend to forget the average and concentrate on the great, which can lead to feeling unworthy to make the attempt. If you want to make a great loaf of bread you better be prepared to make a mess in the kitchen.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Sometimes, to me, it seems there is a perceived standard. If we think we cannot meet the standard then we simply decide to not write.

The truth is, while some can produce excellent material, not every word that is written in this sacred hall is masterful. We just tend to forget the average and concentrate on the great, which can lead to feeling unworthy to make the attempt. If you want to make a great loaf of bread you better be prepared to make a mess in the kitchen.

This.

You learn to write - or any form of communication, really - by doing it.

And as far as a "standard" goes, there is no penalty for failure.  I mean, if I was emperor, bad writing would get you dropped down a well.  But, alas, I am not an all-powerful autocrat, so people can write anything they please.