the current conflict

there's all sorts of weird stuff going on in the universe right now that has to do with the soul, and the mind, the heart and the body and how modernity's affecting their relationships to one another.

on one hand, we seem to be embracing a new hedonism and/or nihilism which seems pretty serious about itself.

on the other hand, we have more forces and organizations than i've ever seen before promoting absolutism.

most thoughtful people i know are sort of stuck between these two camps.  i wanted to know which was more virtuous, or whether it was a case of one inexpressible truth cleaving into two equally uneasy views; so i thought as far as i could down each path.

night

this is the realm of the view of man as animal, the universe as meaningless or else its meaning as being irrelevant to the struggle.  it's poked at by the idea of a "rockstar lifestyle".  to my ear, it's also poked at by "turn on, tune in and drop out" (although i haven't much background on that one).

it's also the realm of emotional and intuitive communication, free love, absurdity and laughter.

you can tune into a pure night journey.  but be prepared to let go of everything you know.  "this is the end... of our elaborate plans, the end of everything that stands, the end... it hurts to set you free, but you'll never follow me."  (The Doors - The End [obviously])  the night journey is a subjective one, so subjective that the subject vanishes.  it's the destruction or subversion of conventional roles and themes, and patterns of logic and causality.  in as many words, man in universe, universe is as man sees; whirl of colour, scared shitless, horny and exhilirated.  a living dream.

so basically it's most of what we consider insanity or gross antisocial behavior.  wonder why that is?  it's not an intrinsic thing, it's a value judgement based on our upbringing in a predominantly light culture.

light

science, man as individual, universe can and will ultimately be understood and controlled.  people can be understood and controlled.  people should do things, or refrain from doing things.  maybe "god's" "in charge" in stead of science.  it doesn't make a whole lot of difference at this magnification.

these are the people who worry me most right now.  they have the majority of control and are trying to make us into mitochondria, convince us that to be an artist you have to sell out or else be a starving creepy tortured loner and die before your time; convince us that to be popular or respected you have to learn good fashion sense or have a high-powered job and spend.  or else they're trying to fix problems we don't have.  light people want there to be a smoothly functioning cosmic human machine so we can all pat each other on the back and say "isn't it great that we're owned?"  as long as everyone gets a pat, there won't be any dissent, that's the principle.  if no-one knows about hugs, they're unlikely to ask for a hug instead.

but people are fleshbags.  i took biology, i know.  and fleshbags can do weird things, like with hormones, and all sorts of stuff we don't understand yet.  so the smoothness is edgy, a little unsure of itself in practise, and can only ever come from some form of ethnic cleansing: you don't have a special shirt?  you are excluded.  you don't have money?  you are excluded.  you don't believe in x?  you are excluded and we may also kick your ass.

the big-picture ramifications of light culture get rammed even deeper.  light people have been devolving the importance of the body.  got a sickly child?  take 'em to hospital (if you have money) and they may grow up big and strong.  got a condition?  we'll treat you so you can live much longer.  no more darwinian gnash'n'squawk.  the body is being evolved out and the mind is being evolved in.  into a fleshbag more and more people have contempt for.

should we be afraid of losing our roots?  should we take the example of the 6 bn bn insects in the world who don't have to worry about what pants to wear, and slump back down into dens and lodges and nests?  exercise daily chasing little furry things and get all sexy and sleek and bright of eye and empty of head?

or should we be into this whole self-consciousness thing, because it's a challenge, because no-one else is doing it in the animal kingdom, because it's kinky and fun?

i think there should be a middle ground

normally, i would vote for rejecting the notion of light and night, rejecting the model and operating with a personal tabula rasa informed by ongoing and thoughtful research held at arm's length.  and to a certain extent i do.

but i also think it behoves us to be conscious of the oppository system because that's how the troops are distributed.  right now, there are plans on the go, basically, to destroy sleep, to create ever ready soldiers.  there are plans to extend human life without asking why.  such an idea is way too sure of time, that having more time will fix more problems.  that just gives you a bigger canvas and a totally different set of aesthetic concerns.  there are plans to fuck with DNA and install the fucked organisms back among the normal ones.  there are plans to disempower people who are weird and different.

there is a plan called religion.  depending on how you look at it, religion separates worship from, or elevates it above everyday living.  i am inclined to think the former, in the same way that i am inclined to whitewash TV as bad: since i think enough of TV is bad and widespread enough that my limited voice is best used decrying it unequivocally.

i think making more people aware of coin-toss relativity in the vein of, for example, "separation vs. elevation" will help begin an awakening, but only if the fraudulence of the Polarizing Explanation is kept just as at large.  because pitching light vs. night is not the answer and it's not productive.  light can't win because they'll end up how they were, patting themselves on the backs about how well they quashed the "insurrection"; and night can't lose because you can't have a wrong experience.  maybe we need a middle ground, and then to ask ourselves "middle of what?" and find there's no answer and get on with living.

now go read someone else's thoughts on this

© 2009