I said to myself, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.’ But that also proved to be meaningless. ‘Laughter,’ I said, ‘is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?’ I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly […] I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
– Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2
We all stand at a precipice. Not the Chicken Little, world is coming to an end, “society” is falling apart, WHER MUH KUNTRY DUN GON precipice; but a personal precipice from which each and every one of us could step off and fall at any moment. This, of course, is true now, has been true in the past and will continue to be true forever. The human condition is a precarious one; one of constant challenge and grief and suffering and boredom. In addition to the standard, garden variety existential crises we continue to experience, sex, love, family, death, tribe, legacy, purpose; all have transformed rapidly while simultaneously not transforming at all. In fact, it is precisely because humans have not changed and cannot change at the same pace as their environment that we face unique challenges today our ancestors didn’t. At the risk of being overambitious (as well as sounding insufferably pretentious), I’m going to attempt to analyze one aspect of modern Western existence through the lens of my pathetically layman understanding of Kierkegaard. Buckle up buckaroo.
Preamble
“Who is Søren Kierkegaard and why should I give a shit?” “What’s with that stupid O with a cross through it? Seems vaguely communist…” “What the fuck am I reading this for? Show me some cheesecake pics, clown!” are all comments that are likely spinning in your head at the moment. Question 1: I’m getting to it, settle down. Question 2: In English it’s called a “slashed o” and it’s a diphthong “oe”-type sound. And it’s Scandinavian so it probably is a little commie. Question 3: How the hell should I know why you’re reading it? And don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll include lots of tits in the comments.
Despair, Not Just For Moody Teenagers Anymore!
Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher. He was THE Danish philosopher; Danes are crazy about the guy and I can understand why. He is generally considered to be father of Existential Philosophy. Existentialism in today’s world is typically associated with nihilism and emptiness. However, at its core it’s actually quite simple; it starts from the assumption that the individual is the beginning and the end of the philosophical question of what comprises a life well lived. It rejects that meaning can be derived from any collective, be it societal or religious. The nihilism enters when people are unmoored from these waypoints of existence. Freedom is profoundly uncomfortable, especially when it is the very meaning of your existence at stake. You must make and accept authentic choices of existence then live with those consequences. This is why over the years existentialism gained a reputation of being dark and meaningless; it wrestles with the question of what happens when you remove any bedrock metanarratives from an individual’s life.
It would be impossible, both in theory and in practice for a dolt like myself, to summarize the entirety of Kierkegaard’s philosophy in such a forum, but I will do my best to outline it for the purpose of this short piece. Suffice it to say that he is a man of great contradiction; he spearheaded a philosophy dedicated to liberating man from metanarratives and authoritarian diktat, but he was extremely devout and religious acceptance is key to his understanding of living well. He was passionately in love with and engaged to a woman. He also spoke very highly of marriage in his works as being a proper ethical duty to all people. Yet he inexplicably broke it off with her in a very callous way, causing her to nearly be institutionalized from the intensity of her heartbreak. In fact, much of his work shows he never got over it; he begged her for forgiveness for years, even after she had married someone else. Finally she and her husband fled the country. He was a recluse of towering intellect, but once got into the 19th century equivalent of a flame war with a third rate satire magazine for their unattractive cartoon of him. I personally find him to be one of the most fascinating figures in history.
In the smallest of nutshells, Kierkegaard’s theory of existence hinges on a metaphysical model of the human essence as two competing parts, the finite and infinite. The finite part encapsulates our mortal nature; physical, carnal, material, covetous and demanding. The infinite part is that touch of divinity endowed within us by our Creator; the transcendent, non-corporeal and eternal. Furthermore, his definition of the “self” is, as he calls it, “a self becoming itself” through the irreconcilable conflict between these two parts. The self is an ever-evolving thing that is utterly unstable and, frequently, miserable.
Kierkegaard was the first to explore the concept of existential angst or in his terminology, despair; the sickness unto death. Despair is a cornerstone of his philosophy in that every living human experiences it, and hardly anyone ever resolves it. He divides the human experience into three types of despair: being unconscious in despair of having a self, not wanting in despair to be oneself and wanting in despair to be oneself.
The first is despair born of ignorance that there is an infinite part to the self at all. Think of your favorite vapid celebrity or the clueless idiot at your office or any one of a million other examples. This would, in my estimation, be by far the most common type of despair in our world. The second type of despair is a refusal to accept any self beyond immediacy. An individual realizes that there is an infinite part to the self, but that realization is so distressing it must be immediately suppressed with finite pleasures.
An individual in the third type of despair has full recognition of the infinite part of self. However, this person refuses to acknowledge that the only way to reconcile the conflict between the finite and infinite parts is recognition of the self’s complete dependence on “the love of the power that created” (typically seen as G-d’s love, but open to interpretation).
Kierkegaard openly acknowledged that this was not something that could be understood logically and that a “leap of faith” (he coined the term) was necessary to resolve the despair inside. Once the leap of faith is made, one becomes either the Knight of Infinite Resignation, or the Knight of Faith depending on that individual’s level of actualization. It’s important to note that the Knight of Infinite Resignation is still in despair because his leap of faith has left him empty and nihilistic. This is the ultra-Reader’s Digest version of Kierkegaard’s metaphysical philosophy.
What. The. Fuck.
I know right? It’s totes coming together now! OK… that may have seemed like a pointless slog, but I promise I’m going somewhere. The types of despair outlined roughly correspond to Kierkegaard’s stages of life. This connects his metaphysics to his aesthetics and his ethics. Kierkegaard envisioned that there are three stages of life; calling them stages may be a bit of a misnomer because they were not necessarily sequential, you could return to a stage later in life and not everyone hits all of them. They consisted of the aesthetic stage, the ethical stage and the spiritual stage.
The prototype of the aesthetic stage is the seducer; an individual devoted to worldly pleasure and the avoidance of any commitment or responsibility. This is most closely associated with the first two types of despair. The prototype of the ethical stage is the spouse and the parent. One in this stage accepts responsibility of action and makes commitments as an ethical obligation to those around him. Typically the third type of despair and the Knight of Infinite Resignation are in the ethical stage. In the spiritual stage is a person who has fully resolved the existential crisis, taken the leap of faith and become a Knight of Faith. This is kind of like attaining enlightenment.
Still Not Understanding What the Point of Any of this Is…
OK, for those few who read my comments on the site outside of the titties, you’ll know that the inspiration for this piece was an article on RealClearLife extolling the virtues of sex parties as a replacement for relationships while living in the shadow of #metoo (article here). I have long been fascinated by the conflicting priorities our reptilian, mammalian, neo-cortical and spiritual parts place on us. I’ve always considered humans to be kind of like onions; we have a lot of layers built on top of one another from all the billions of years of evolution and all the shifting demands placed on us. We have carnal, venal and insatiably destructive appetites on one end, and a yearning for meaning and spiritual understanding on the other (sounds a bit like those finite and infinite parts eh?).
The principal point here is that, as a species, a culture, a “society”, whatever you wanna call it, I see us more in despair and further from enlightenment each day. I must remain mindful of the so-called “good old days” fallacy, but I think my reasoning here is sound. I’m far from a SoCon and, as usual, standard libertarian disclaimers apply; live however you please and in accordance with what allows you to look in the mirror each day and be satisfied. These are simply my observations and conclusions and not meant to be seen as judgements being passed.
I strongly believe that if you are attending sex parties as a substitute for authentic relationships, you are deeply in Kierkegaardian despair. I do not see this as an isolated phenomenon either. The addiction to the immediacy, the refusal to acknowledge anything beyond the physical, the constant need for dopamine stimulation; it’s all a way of shielding one’s eyes from the Void. Kierkegaard says that when confronted with the Void, we should all have “fear and trembling” and be deeply uncomfortable. Running from that discomfort to immerse ourselves in physical pleasure is not an authentic response. Though it would be just as easy to talk about smartphones, I’m going to pick on sex here because it is the most consistent, biological way to feel euphoria and distract oneself from the Void. It has also been subjected to, IMO, the single most revolutionary development in the history of mankind: the Pill.
More than antibiotics, more than anesthetic, more than powered flight or interchangeable parts or nuclear power or the Internet, I believe the Pill has done more to fundamentally change the human experience than anything else, ever. See, we’re still on the African Savannah 50,000 years ago you and I. Not literally, of course, but from an evolutionary standpoint, our brains still are. And outside of basic survival needs like food and water, there is no stronger drive out here on the Savannah than the reproductive drive. That *is* your purpose. Mate. Copulate. Fuck. Make and raise babies. Beyond that, there is nothing else.
How do I know that we haven’t moved from that point? Because you watch porn (so do I BTW). If the brain had kept pace with technology, porn would hold no sway over anyone. Our brains would understand that it’s just an image of a receptive sexual partner and not one in real life, thus, not arousing. In fact, if you were a cis-het male shitlord, you’d be utterly uninterested in any woman on the Pill because your brain would have evolved some way to distinguish and identify a woman who is not fertile. The same reason that women after menopause become much less alluring, women on the Pill would have some inchoate quality that would turn men off. Concealed ovulation, year-round sexual receptivity, men’s zillions of sperm vs. women’s finite number of eggs; these are all physical adaptations that serve mating strategies following a playbook that has remained unchanged for millions of years. The Pill took that playbook and put it through the woodchipper.
The Pill and the subsequent sexual revolution has mind-fucked us. We have now opened the door and allowed our deepest, most basic urges to run wild and have free reign over our lives. Never before in the history of mankind has such a cornucopia of fleshy pleasure been available to such a wide spectrum of the population with so few consequences. Previously, rampant copulation inevitably resulted in parenthood and increased responsibility. Our very biology alters our hormone levels (male and female) upon becoming a parent. In the past, only monarchs could have such excess in their lives as we do now; which brings us full circle to the quote at the beginning of the article. Ecclesiastes is widely attributed to King Solomon, a man with hundreds of wives and concubines, massive wealth, beloved by his people and still he struggled with the despair Kierkegaard describes. Maybe, just maybe, he actually struggled with it more…
Our access to easy pleasure and distraction has given way to a species-wide naturalistic fallacy; if it’s natural, it must be good. While it is, at a fundamental level, natural to be as promiscuous as possible (or as acquisitive as possible, or as gluttonous as possible etc. etc.), it is fallacious to assume that doing so is automatically good. Speaking from a Kierkegaardian perspective, the easier these pleasures become, the *more* despair people should feel because we are regressing further away from resolving the crisis of finite and infinite. We immerse ourselves in the finite, as Solomon did, and find our lives wanting.
Under no circumstances should this be interpreted as a condemnation of modern medical advances and the abundant wealth that technology and capitalism has provided. By every possible measure, our lives are healthier, wealthier, more comfortable and longer than ever before. What it should be interpreted as is a warning and a reminder to acknowledge your infinite self. Those conflicts and the Big Questions are always there, hovering in the background no matter how many sex parties a person goes to. Refusing to acknowledge those questions and resolve them in an individual manner means despair. I don’t necessarily think that Kierkegaard was a prophet whose prescriptions for living a good life are universal.
However, I do think each person must try to find their own way to live a good life and I believe that an individual is ill-prepared to do so if constantly distracted by the immediacy of the finite. I agree with Kierkegaard that each person does have a spark of divinity inside and we ignore it at our peril. I would like to see more people living in less despair. Now shut up and let me look at boobs.
Comments
317 responses to “Kinky Kierkegaard, AKA Dude, Where’s My Meaning? AKA Shut Up and Let Me Look at Boobs!”
Rock and Roll is the number one cause of our cultural demise, and i have a Fender tatoo, and smoke weed so I’m as guilty as any other,
And, I’m going to catch hell now….
As promised: titties!
http://archive.is/ju8RB
1,5,11,13 15,
It makes me happy to gaze on such a fine array of bodies. But it makes me sad to realize that you will be providing something like 15,000 women to us in the course of a year, and that each one of them is banging somebody, and that the somebody won’t be me.
Happy Wife, Happy life?
Jesse has a sad.
Well let’s say Wife is a relative term in this case
Happy cousin-wife, happy life?
In some States yes, including California, it’s not a Redneck thing
*Not Just
FTFY
No matter how hot she is, someone is sick of her shit.
https://youtu.be/h4LXOYwniyg
12 is unreal.
Bless her heart – she’s going to have a bad back.
I didn’t get past #1.
“The Pill and the subsequent sexual revolution has mind-fucked us. We have now opened the door and allowed our deepest, most basic urges to run wild and have free reign over our lives. Never before in the history of mankind has such a cornucopia of fleshy pleasure been available to such a wide spectrum of the population with so few consequences.”
Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll are completely intertwined,
Great job Q!
Thankx Yusef.
However, I do think each person must try to find their own way to live a good life and I believe that an individual is ill-prepared to do so if constantly distracted by the immediacy of the finite.
True dat. Of course, it’s really hard to investigate those transcendent truths when you unmoor yourself from “bigger things.” One of the biggest flaws of PoMo SJW “philosophy” is how completely unmoored it is from anything resembling a solid foundation. It makes it really hard to find a good life when you don’t even know what direction good is.
A “good” Life isn’t Fun, it’s hard Work and you can still fail, where people came up with this always nice, the Sun shines rainbows Shit is beyond me.
Start out Small, learn and Grow and maybe if you do it right, you can be Happy, once in a while, so take that little bit and run with it.
Coming from a religious point of view, good and happy can be on opposite sides of the room sometimes. To me, this life is a blink of an eye compared to the future, so my goal… my good life is what makes the best life long term. If that involves immense amounts of suffering in this life, that’s the lot I’ve drawn. If it involves happiness and enjoyment, all the better. Well, actually, I think that a life of leisure sometimes removes that drive that makes a person need to find good. Why care about good when you can jump from pleasure to pleasure in a life of hedonism?
Happy is an equally tricky term. Happiness and pleasure are certainly not synonymous, but pleasure and happiness are related and intertwined in various ways. The answer of how to live a “good life” and a “happy life” do not always have a lot of overlap. Unfortunately our culture is grievously unprepared to tackle either question.
Unfortunately our culture is grievously unprepared to tackle either question.
I always feel torn when confronting such things. My personal beliefs say that there is a way to go that brings true joy and fulfillment to everybody. My honest wish is that people find honest and devout faith and repent from their hedonistic ways. My political and pragmatic beliefs say that it’s none of my business if people want to ignore good advice and fuck their lives up. It leads to a tension between “I have no authority to dictate your life” and “I think you’re fucking up your life”. It’s hard to unconflictedly believe that people have a right to do wrong.
I take it like a 1A type thing: I may not agree with your lifestyle, but I’ll defend to the death your right to live it.
i’m more of a don’t expect a shiny life and You won’t be too disappointed guy Myself
There can be fun involved though.
Or when deliberate efforts are being made to render “good” and “bad” meaningless.
Yup. However, I’ve made my opinion clear before. I don’t buy moral relativism. I’m on the “absolutism or nihilism, but nothing in between” train. I can’t fault folks who say there’s no such thing as good or bad. I think they’re wrong, but I think they’re also logically consistent.
Moral relativism holds axiomatically that “good” and “bad” exist, it doesn’t deny them.
Personal digs now, Q?
for shame.
HEY!
This isn’t about insomnia AT ALL.
Insomniacs don’t watch porn all night?
Who wants to watch porn when there are infomercials on practically every channel?
So be free, so long as you harm no one else.
Good stuff Q
Thanks DOOM.
Thanks for that, Q!
Your work is one of the examples I would up as to why this site is a good place, a place with worth.
Are you talking his philosophical musings or his links to titties?
Obviously titties. I don’t even remember writing this so far into the absinthe was I…
Absinthe makes the Dread grow stronger, soo..
I learned the hard way that a Dirty Bomb does not mean the same in an East Coast bar as it does in the Midwest.
In the Midwest, a Dirty Bomb is just a Jaeg Bomb where the Jaegermeister and Red Bull are mixed instead of drop shot style.
So I ordered a Jaeg Bomb in Maryland and told the busy bartender “You can make it dirty.” She said, “A dirty bomb?” and served it up.
It is Absinthe and Red Bull. I remember little else after that.
That sounds interesting. I drink absinthe and champagne for NYE, one glass is usually enough
Yeah, absinthe isn’t as trippy as it used to be. But it’s trippy. Throw in the Red Bull and have it (the Dirty Bomb) as drink number 5 for the night, and hold on to your butt.
I wouldn’t know (unfortunately), but my absinthe of choice is Marilyn Manson’s personal distillation, which has won several awards and gave me what can only be described as a head-drunk when I started drinking it the first time.
Mansinthe
Let’s see, I cried when Suthen’s Dog died, Got pissed off at Tres again, Laughed at the Hat and Hair, and learned a lot of recipes along the Way,
Thanks Swissy! for a nice place to live on the Web, and Q! Titties!
Have some more doge, my friend.
https://postimg.org/image/bj8vyz08f/
Let’s see, I cried when Suthen’s Dog died, GOT PISSED OFF AT TRES AGAIN
You like me! You really like me!
I saw but didn’t comment, Beautiful Pups!
Agreed. What started as an encampment of defectors from The Other Site had turned into a community where you can get everything from philosophy to titty pics; from HVAC articles to bizarre comics about the president’s hat and hair.
Thanks for letting me use glibs.com as my brain landfill.
Great work Q. I think of myself as somewhere on the Stoic-Existentialist axis, so it’s nice to see someone of similar politics put up an article of this quality (I mean do you know how many existentialist are commies, GAH, it’s frustrating.)
Nice article Q
Thanks SSD.
Also, I hadn’t thought of the pill in such a way before, at least not so deeply, but damn, you’re right. There is a mental liberation there linked to the physical and it’s still rippling through society.
We are assailed all the time by types of stimulation we are not evolutionarily equipped to handle. We are very adaptable and can accommodate all kinds of things, but at core, smartphones, porn, video games etc. confuse the living shit of our mammalian and reptilian minds.
That’s what I love (and fear) about people. We can adapt, we can learn quickly and we can learn to do these things in groups as well.
It’s probably insufficient space here but I’ve thought a lot about the point when tech does finally exceed our capacity for adaptation.
That’s why I like Black Mirror so much, I think it explores some of those themes.
Hmm, that show is being compared to The Twilgiht Zone, one of my all time favs. I’m gonna have to check it out. Looks great.
I’m just starting to watch Black Mirror. I found the first episode so juvenile that it overwhelmed the message, so I quit watching. On the Glibs’ recommendation, I finally starting into it and watched Episode 2 yesterday.
Now I understand why all the hype exists.
What do you mean, “our”? Some of us are trans-human.
If only it didn’t suppress the female sex drive.
I would say the same, when first reading SugarFree’s fic…
Lady Presenter: Well, that’s the end of the film. Now, here’s the meaning of life.
[She is handed a gold-wrapped booklet.]
Lady Presenter: Thank you, Brigitte.
[She clears her throat, then unwraps and examines the gilt booklet.]
Lady Presenter: Well, it’s nothing very special. Try to be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations. And, finally, here are some completely gratuitous pictures of penises to annoy the censors and to hopefully spark some sort of controversy, which it seems is the only way these days to get the jaded, video-sated public off their fucking arses and back in the sodding cinema. Family entertainment? Bollocks. What they want is filth: people doing things to each other with chainsaws during tupperware parties, babysitters being stabbed with knitting needles by gay presidential candidates, vigilante groups strangling chickens, armed bands of theatre critics exterminating mutant goats. Where’s the fun in pictures? Oh, well, there we are. Here’s the theme music. Goodnight.
Pondering existentialism is for people who need to answer one thing:
DON’T ANY OF YOU WORK?
(puts on beret)
We are all working constantly. At killing time. Both to distract from, and hasten, our inevitable deaths.
(lights another Gauloises)
I like the Buddhist explanation. Suffering comes from desire. The more you desire, the more you suffer.
The key is realizing that most of the things you desire aren’t worth having, in the sense that whatever pleasure they provide will be temporary.
Once you realize that, you can just relax and be happy with what you already have.
And then there’s the Stoic idea. Sometimes you just have to stand there and take it, which is OK, because however bad it is, it can’t last forever.
I rather enjoy the Stoic ideas as well, especially when interpreted to revolve around keeping a set of principles, regardless of what opposition is meted out. I think a lot of Enlightenment thought can be traced back to the Stoics.
A lot of Christian thought is deliberately taken from Stoicism (so argued the early Christian apologist, Justin Martyr).
G-d given rights are a redux of the “inviolate spark of Zeus” that resides in each person.
One of my faves is Paul’s letter to the Phillipians.
This one has helped me greatly with becoming much less susceptible to cravings for material wealth or recognition or envy. Sure, my house needs new siding and new flooring in places. I can’t afford it right now, and my home will never be featured in a magazine, but I am content.
The above is the New International Version.
This one is the English Standard Version. Bit of a different twist, emphasizing things other than material circumstances. “How to be brought low and how to abound” could mean many things.
This probably says more about me than I’d care to admit, but I find James to be about on my wavelength.
James 1:2-4
That is another good one. Helps provide understanding for the often misused “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
It doesn’t mean that if you are rich you can’t get in, so hand us your money (the misuse). I think it means that if your earthly life is easy peasy and you have plenty, it’s easy to think you are self sufficient and don’t need, and didn’t get, anything from God (or Luck or the Universe for the non-religious out there). Getting humbled by harsh circumstances tends to help you grow or at least be grateful for what you do have.
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Somewhat like the age old argument between the Stoics and the Hedonists
Why not split the difference and go with Schopenhauer’s Will to Life?
*mind blown*
Seriously Q. Great article!
Thanks MS.
I’m going to pick on sex here because it is the most consistent, biological way to feel euphoria and distract oneself from the Void.
Avoiding the void by entering the void.
And then void your sperm ducts.
That’s the only time we hear the Devil’s laughter. BTW, enjoyable read Q. People placing any restrictions on the pursuit of pleasure are partriarchal parasites.
BUT MUH SEX JUNK!
Q, I must admit that I am not as learned as yourself. I am familiar with Kierkegaard, but I’ve never read anything more than a sampling of his writings. What ties his religiously inspired thinking with the non-religious and somewhat materialistic thinking of Sartre and other existentialists that all claim him as an influence?
Also, were you a philosophy major or do you teach philosophy?
Since existentialism revolves around liberation of the individual from metanarratives and an emphasis on finding meaning and truth within that framework. The question of a life well lived begins and ends with the individual. In order to accomplish that, the structures guiding our lives, the signposts, must be torn down. Kierkegaard recognized that by doing this, it is quite easy to fall into nihilism, almost as if by default. His solution to the problem was to reconfirm his faith in G-d in spite of a logical reason to do so (the “leap of faith”). That is open to a lot of interpretation now, similar to the AA “higher power as you understand it”; however AA emphasizes giving up your free will to that power, whereas Kierkegaard emphasizes acknowledging that faith alone can resolve life’s inherent paradox while still taking full responsibility for one’s actions and living authentically. Nietzsche was the first to remove G-d from the equation and nihilism was his major bugaboo; he fought against it all his life. He basically said that meaning can only be obtained by more or less replacing G-d with yourself and your will (Zarathustra is the archetype, the ubermensch). From there, it got darker and more PoMo as more and more layers of meaning have been stripped away. I personally believe that the last existential philosopher that had anything useful to say was Kafka. Sartre, Camus, Heidegger etc. just slid into a world of amorphous nothingness in which the questions can’t be answered, so why bother asking? Read “The Stranger” if you wanna see where that rabbit hole leads.
No, I was/am not a philosophy major/teacher; I took several classes in college for personal edification and have studied on my own cuz I like it.
Furthermore, you might consider Frankl to be existentialist, but he stops short of making any prescriptive claims. He skates right to the edge of Kierkegaardian religious existentialism but backs off at the last second. His principle question (of a very practical nature) was, what drives someone to continue living while in a Nazi Concentration Camp? He broke down that there have been several arguments and/or phases of human existence; the will to pleasure, the will to power and the will to meaning. He argued that people who follow the latter are most likely to survive the Camp and thus have a complete existence out of the Camp. He makes some sideways references to religion and G-d as a source of meaning, but ultimately lands on meaning being an individually determined thing. I’d say is makes him at least quasi-existentialist.
Thanks. Great article
Camus insisted that he was an “absurdist” and not an “existentialist” and rejected nihilism. That was my takeaway from “The Myth of Sysophis”. “The Stranger” was a good book, but definitely bordered on the nihilistic.
Hope you write another article on another philosopher. I’m going to read Kierkegaard. If the man who sends girly pics recommends him then he must be worth reading
‘L’Etranger’ pissed me off; still does. Read it in high school. But it did get me close to a girl I was in love with those years. I still don’t know what happened. ANSWER ME THAT CAMUS!
“He basically said that meaning can only be obtained by more or less replacing G-d with yourself and your will (Zarathustra is the archetype, the ubermensch). From there, it got darker and more PoMo as more and more layers of meaning have been stripped away.”
Should we be surprised? (Believing) in God has been the single greatest source of power that allowed man to achieve its greatest achievements. Even the Founding Fathers believed the Constitution’s essence ‘flowed from the power of God’s authority’.
Should we be surprised? (Believing) in God has been the single greatest source of power that allowed man to achieve its greatest achievements. Even the Founding Fathers believed the Constitution’s essence ‘flowed from the power of God’s authority’.
See also: the rapid descent of Progressivism from the Social Gospel first generation to the purely atheist second generation. Placing oneself at the pinnacle of one’s moral hierarchy tends to lead to megalomania.
And shitty art results from it.
Picasso was never called an asshole but maybe he should have!
I think Swiss did this once a couple weeks ago. However, have a 2nd helping:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl8sWnUZVL4
“Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole”
Nice. Prefer Richman/Modern Lovers original though.
‘L’Etranger’
It’s “The Stranger”, Frenchie. And I thought it was a pretty good book. Camus is underappreciated in the English speaking world.
Off topic, but related to Q’s piece, another good French author is Michel Houllebecq who wrote “Atomised” (or “Atomized” depending on the English translation) which discussed how our modern over sexualization is used to cope with a loss of meaning in modern society. It’s a very dirty, somewhat funny, and sometimes depressing book.
It’s hard to deny that Camus puts you through an emotional ride. The Plague, 100 Years of Solitude, Crime and Punishment. The most emotionally powerful books I’ve read. Doesn’t mean I agree with the all the philosophical implications that can be made from those works, but I’m appreciative of the writers for exploring the human mind to such depths.
Yeah. He was a solid writer in my opinion.
Eh, 100 Years of Solitude was Gabriel Garcia Marquez (who also wrote Love in the Time of Cholera) – a real fun guy.
You read any of Mark Helprin?
No. Quick Google and he sounds interesting. Not sure about his intellectual property rights position, though.
Haven’t read it but I just checked out a synopsis and sounds interesting. I’ll check it out, sounds up my alley.
HE’S FRENCH!
As for French literature, give me Hugo and Dumas any day.
He’s a somewhat controversial author (but definitely a mainstream author). He was accused of committing ‘hate speech’ (as if such a thing exists, especially with regard to art) in the early 2000’s because of a book that he wrote about a Muslim terrorist attack. He was found “not guilty” in the French courts, but the whole process irked him so he moved to Ireland, where hate speech laws are either not enforced or don’t exist. He wrote a book ‘Submission’ that came out at the same time as the Charlie Hebdo attacks. The book is a work of fiction that envisions a Muslim Brotherhood political party in France winning power with support from the Socialists, because the run-off election was between the Muslim Brotherhood and the National Front.
Good stuff. Didn’t know that.
IMHO “Submission” is both a very good and very scary book. The reason it is scary is that you can see western Euros (and many Americans) willingly submitting to islam one salami slice at a time because they do not value western civilization. It is one easy submission after another adding up.
“Submission” and “The Mandibles” are both good and important reads and are liberty endorsing.
In the first half of “The Elementary Particles” (“Atomized”) somebody masturbates on every third page. One paragraph may start with stroking and proceed to a smart discussion of science and philosophy. Houellebecq’s later books were less sexually explicit, he even got the Prix Goncourt for “The Map and the Territory,” so he’s definitely mainstream enough. “Submission” delineates a very impressive intellectual justification for Islam. I’ve been certainly a fan for the last 15 years or so.
Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.
I agree. Reading progressive stuff is pain alright.
“The principal point here is that, as a species, a culture, a “society”, whatever you wanna call it, I see us more in despair and further from enlightenment each day.”
It will change.
Oprah 2020. Path to enlightenment……………………….
……………………………….
WOOOO!
*retch*
Wonderful article. Thanks, Q.
No prob.
“it starts from the assumption that the individual is the beginning and the end of the philosophical question of what comprises a life well lived. It rejects that meaning can be derived from any collective, be it societal or religious. The nihilism enters when people are unmoored from these waypoints of existence. Freedom is profoundly uncomfortable, especially when it is the very meaning of your existence at stake. You must make and accept authentic choices of existence then live with those consequences.”
I might start with “existence precedes essence” from Sartre’s “Existentialism is a Humanism”, which reads like a libertarian tome.
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/sartre/works/exist/sartre.htm
Yeah, it’s published there on a Marxist website. Sartre, in later life, distanced himself from “Existentialism is a Humanism” and, apparently, regretted having published it. Of course, Sartre became a communist, too. I think that was easy to do in Nazi occupied Paris. Orwell was a Trotskyist. I care about his ideas more than him.
And, anyway, you’d never guess Sartre might become a communist after reading “Existentialism is Humanism”.
I maintain that the true cause of libertarianism has always been to make more libertarians through persuasion, and a tremendous amount of the resistance I get to libertarian ideas is rooted in people’s reluctance to accept responsibility for their own choices–for their own freedom.
They want there to be someone who knows better than they do about what they should do and want, someone they can trust to tell them what to do and want, someone who will save them from the burden of making choices for themselves, someone who will save them from their own freedom.
They want freedom from choice*.
*H/T to Mothersbaugh
I’d mark “Existentialism is a Humanism” with setting me on the intellectual road to libertarianism, along with “The Grand Inquistor” chapter of Brothers Karamazov. I keep returning to those same ideas about people being free to make choices for themselves over an over again. About how the choices you make are right for you for your own reasons?
I find beauty and reassurance in that kind of despair. Real despair comes when I start to wonder if my future is the result of someone else’s choices.
They want there to be someone who knows better than they do about what they should do and want, someone they can trust to tell them what to do and want, someone who will save them from the burden of making choices for themselves, someone who will save them from their own freedom.
They want freedom from choice*.
This is why Calvinism is so popular in protestant circles. It’s easy to blame your woes on God by forfeiting your moral agency.
The main distinctions to be made between Humanism/Existentialism as a philosophy and Libertarianism as a (political) philosophy is a question of descriptive vs. prescriptive and where that ends. In an libertarian mindset, you start from many of the same points as humanism and reason your way to many of the same conclusions, however in libertarianism the idea of how to live a good life is purely descriptive (and possibly prescriptive solely for oneself). Existentialism/Humanism can, IMO, too easily degrade into being prescriptive for everyone, which leads you to PoMo proggy nudging.
Not sure I’m getting what you’re saying there.
I’m thinking of Sartre’s example, for instance, in that piece (linked above) of his student who wasn’t sure whether to abandon his mother and go off to fight for the French resistance or to stay with his mother, who might die from despair if he left her, and do nothing to help free his country of Nazi occupation.
The dilemma could only be solved through the student’s own choice, which is to say his own actions. Condemned to freedom of choice, indeed!
This existentialist observation is fundamentally libertarian–like Adam Smith talking about the evolution of culture in “Theory of Moral Sentiments”. Sartre is maintaining that neither he nor religion nor anything else can tell this really kid what to do. The decision the student makes is the authority of his choice. That is sooooo libertarian.
My libertarianism holds that people should be free to do things–even things that harm other people–so long as they don’t violate anyone’s rights. Short of violating people’s rights, neither I nor the government possess the authority to say what they should or shouldn’t be allowed to do. Those are both existential and libertarian conclusions, and I’m not sure I’m seeing much difference between them.
Right. There is significant overlap for shizzle. My headache with modern existentialism is its degradation to relativism of everything; whether that was the intent of the originators’ writings can’t be known. I don’t see any such NAP native to existential thought and once you eliminate any kind of metanarrative very bad things can happen. IMO, a true existentialist (of the modern variety) would argue that the NAP itself is a metanarrative holding back the actualization of a being and should, therefore, be rejected. I know there’s definite gray areas and existentialism/libertarianism are kissing cousins, but I see some key distinctions in how they manifest in the real world.
I can see that.
And existentialism isn’t just relativism or just atheism, etc.
Sartre suggests in that piece that atheist existentialists may have more in common with Christian existentialists than non-existentialist atheists. I look at Christian existentialists like Kierkegaard, Paul Tillich, et. al., and I can see that.
When Jesus is admonishing people to use their freedom to choose something better than the law, he’s not saying that there are no standards–or that everything is relative.
“Thou hast heard it said, ‘an eye for an eye, but I say unto thee’, . . .”
“For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven”
Because God created us to choose to be something better than our nature–doesn’t mean there aren’t any standards.
. . . and when we take God out of that equation, nothing really changes about that.
Sartre uses universals as a standard–what if everyone acted this way? I’m not sure I buy that specifically. .
I think the correct interpretation is to look at the very emergence of morality–which Sartre himself touches upon. He bases the fundamental idea of existentialism (in that piece I linked) on the fact that people are unlike inanimate objects in that our existence precedes our essence. I argue that difference is really about the ability to make choices–which is also the foundation of ethics and morality. Comets striking the earth and wiping out billions of people have no ethics because they can’t make choices. It’s only when choice becomes possible that morality can exist.
When I’m talking about “rights”, I’m also talking about choices. I’m saying that we are obligated to respect each other’s right to make choices for ourselves. In other words, my libertarianism has the same roots as Sartre’s existentialism–even if Sartre himself didn’t describe it that way. Certainly, like Sartre, my existentialism/libertarianism isn’t saying that there are no standards. His universal standard of thinking about what would happen if everyone made the same choices I do is more generalized–where mine is a specific standard. I say, “You are obligated to respect other people’s right to make choices for themselves”.
I’m not telling you which choices, specifically, are okay, but it’s not all relative. Telling you that you’re obligated to respect the right of other people to make choices for themselves is a standard despite radical freedom–like Sartre insisting on a universal standard, like “What if everyone behaved this way”, is a standard to Sartre–despite the radical freedom he describes.
Speaking of an author who distanced himself from early work (and with reference to libertarians) Nozick ended up very unhappy with Anarchy, Utopia and State. You can tear the heart right out of a fanboy with that.
The French Resistance under occupation practically was the French communist party. If ever there were a time when being a communist was forgivable, it might be during the Nazi occupation of France.
I’m not here to justify Sartre on his personal life–but his ideas did have a connection to their place and time. Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner. I give the DoI a thumb’s up anyway.
“Our access to easy pleasure and distraction has given way to a species-wide naturalistic fallacy; if it’s natural, it must be good. While it is, at a fundamental level, natural to be as promiscuous as possible (or as acquisitive as possible, or as gluttonous as possible etc. etc.), it is fallacious to assume that doing so is automatically good. Speaking from a Kierkegaardian perspective, the easier these pleasures become, the *more* despair people should feel because we are regressing further away from resolving the crisis of finite and infinite. We immerse ourselves in the finite, as Solomon did, and find our lives wanting.”
WHOA.
Know what I was thinking about? Why my kitten keeps attacking me when I’m in a robe.
You have donned the furry coat of another and must be destroyed!
Ah!
A theory!
Where are these sex parties?
This was the one referenced in the article:
http://www.snctm.com
(NSFW)
Do you have any idea what the membership fee may be?
You need a mask and a cloak. But, don’t arrive in a taxi or they’ll be suspicious. You’d be surprised by the people who attend those parties
A LOT, like 5-6 figures per year (as a man or couple). If you’re a hot young chick I think it’s gratis.
Saying Fideglio is not enough?
Which is itself an interesting critique on the economics of reproduction.
Visitors may access SnctmX and purchase the Snctm Box & Snctm Hat in our Boutique
*tilts head quizzically*
I’ve been to better parties
Semi related: back in the nascent days of internet pornography, there was a site called collegefuckfest.com in which they would travel to college parties in various parts of the US and then get a couple (or more) kids to sign the releases and have sex in the middle of the party. Having heard such an episode had been filmed at U of A, late one substance filled night, my roommate and I downloaded said scene on Kazaa (remember that?). Lo and behold, surrounded by dozens of inebriated Wildcats was a girl from my roommates’ psychology class getting wobbly H, spit roasted. He declined to introduce me.
https://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/playoff-football-didnt-go-your-way-flbp-will-make-it-all-better-44-photos-2.jpg?quality=85&strip=info&w=600
http://1.media.collegehumor.cvcdn.com/7/3/collegehumor.1a6f24f78a547ac060aaeb239f118375.jpg
https://images.i.thechive.com/__bb1ea3f76774ee0fdc77e650cfc06d5f_width-600.jpeg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c7/dd/18/c7dd18179df4902e25fb93054beef60d.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0moWiECcAAcQPd.png
Are you trying to get your beewb cred back after writing a terrific philosophical piece?
No need, Q. We already know you are deep. We won’t tell anyone though. Don’t want you to get beaten up.
He’s like Frank the Tank after the debate.
Q is a nerd.
“I ain’t no G, I’m just a regular failure.”
I’m doing my Charles Atlas workouts every night! No more 90 pound weakling for me!
-1 sand kicked in face
No One Touches The Q! He is a Great Glib asset!
Here’s yours:
https://clackerville.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/flbp-24.jpg
We’re born, we look at boobies, we die. What more do you want Q?
birth, school, work, death
https://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/flbp-big-boobed-girls-39.jpg?w=500&h=749
The fuck?
Don’t deny the good people the Godfathers in all their glory.
And taxes, how can you forget taxes? Are you some uncivilized brute or something?
Rev. Johnson: Order, order. Goddamnit, I said “order”.
Howard Johnson: Y’know, Nietzsche says: “Out of chaos comes order.”
Olson Johnson: Oh, blow it out your ass, Howard.
Col. Jessep: You want enlightenment? You can’t handle enlightenment!
Relevant songs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05V4CgSL0lw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxiFoYMsIJw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-O3kYrDPbI
This one mostly for the title (which is my personal motto, tautological as it may be).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eM2C-aL_s0
Also relevant
https://youtu.be/kYvOsnhV6ZY
Esta también.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjhvNt3sQHQ
Kinda cliché but still works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12DeNdF0KPA
This one was recommended from Q’s links.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2zjg78ay4I
Our place in the universe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq4uCWtQE24&t=5s
Meaning of Life.
Word
Oh my. That’s…terrible.
And yet I laughed. So I am terrible.
Not “Make Money, Fuck Bitches”?
A wise man once told me, “I like the Whopper, fuck the Big Mac”
In and Out, that is all
Haven’t seen this mentioned yet: Huma Abedin backed up her emails to Anthony Weiner’s laptop after leaving the State Department – even though she said on oath and to FBI agents that she did no such thing.
Is my life going to be any better if she winds up in the clink? No. Problem with selective enforcement of laws is that we devolve into a society fueled purely on schadenfreude. Still….
What else did Huma back up to Anthony… ?
Ewww.
The services are having a real problem with the lack of prosecution of HRC, Huma and whomever else crossed the “air gap” to send classified documents on a non-classified system. It is getting harder and harder to prosecute others for security violations because of the obvious double standard. Many are concerned that 1) actual important secrets will be lost because who the fuck cares and/or 2) somebody will need to get hammered waaaaay over the top for a violation to try and reimpose discipline.
Fine. I’ll say it.
This is the best submission I have read on this site yet.
Just a fantastic job, Q.
*blushes*
Thanks T-bone!
Here ya go.
https://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/monday-flbp-38.jpg?w=500&h=662
And another for good measure.
https://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/sexy-flbp-7.jpg?w=500&h=833
And Q, great job man, you much learnded!
Thanks.
It’s cool. You got my type perfect on the first one.
I agree with Kierkegaard that each person does have a spark of divinity inside and we ignore it at our peril.
She gives me a spark of divinity…
i found it Tedious and long Winded,however I am stupid and didn’t understand 90% of it, but her’s my Philosophy in a nutshell,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UUPY902Ph0
The OG!
and of course this,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeYsTmIzjkw
I’m surprised Gilmore hasn’t chimed in. This stuff is right up his alley.
He’s apparently sipping coffee and smoking fags in a Parisian café.
BIGOT!
And go Georgia – not because I have any particular love for them, I just want Bama to lose.
That was an interesting call. He seemed to have been out of bounds.
I just came here for the bewbs.
Great Idea 6! keep it Simple
YOU GET NOTHING!
ouch!
a repost, but it’d kinda fun IMO,
I did an Escrow inspection today, and came across a 32 year old Day and Night Upflow furnace, that had no Heat, but Cooling worked, so what’s the first thing to check? That’s right the Heat Exchangers, and I found 2 of 3 cells cracked, see here, https://photos.app.goo.gl/o9c21mXjsfS0MChG3 look closely and you can see them, as soon as the Furnace heats up, they expand, mixing PoC with Breathing air. the guy Freaked out, but what choice does He have? You can’t sell a house with a furnace like that, and I won’t fix a furnace like that, so I’m installing a new one Wednesday.
Tomorrow is an ICU unit for an Animal Hospital, very tricky, should be a Blast!
Yusef loves me,
this I know.
Cause “V” doesnt mean suck,
Its there for blow.
All Publicity is Good…
ID (suck) on 1 side is always FD (blow) on the other, after all.
Wut?
Nice work, Mr Continuum. I’ve not read anything by Kierkegaard, though I’ve read plenty of Camus. More to add to the evergrowing list.
Thanks.
The Guy I’m changing the furnace for Above^ is a Trucker, and He’s Bailing to NE, 100% due to the California Regs
Fucking Cal just sucks anymore
No prob.
Hey! It’s Bowie’s birthday!
Sing along if you know the words.
Just! finished Space oddity, and my Band did the KILLER version of Ziggy, with me on Vocals and Bass! Bowie forever!
Snow White Tan….
Thin White Duke.
I always thought this was underplayed/never mentioned. Worth the 20 minutes if you have time to kill:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXvAaNcXNzI
Well, and you like Screaming Lord Byron.
maybe you aren’t Tulpa, lemme think about it……
Seriously, Tulpa?
You Don’t read, do you?
WE ARE ALL TULPA, and No One is Tulpa!
/Evelyn Wood Head here
Or this, more in keeping with Q’s article.
i want this Suit and Make up….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZKcl4-tcuo
Tuesday is an ICU unit for an Animal Hospital, this is an interesting job, the unit is one of a Kind custom built, and it’s effectively an Incubator, Oxygen, Humidity and Temperature control, all in a box.
I’m changing the Evaporator Coil, Metering device and Filter drier, as well as fresh r-22(Freon). the Trick is, it’s all in a plastic laminated Box and I’m burning copper at 2500 Degrees, so I have to protect and avoid all the plastics with my torch, planning is essential, but it should work out fine. I will charge at least 300$ and my Company will bill for about 1500$, for 4 hours of work.
Brazil? no.. I wish I had this kind of work every day,
/Self employed
I often win the bid to do the emissions testing for the P&G research facility just outside Cincinnati. It where they essentially burn up the animals used in cosmetics testing, once they’ve been euthanized, of course. Its a Joy Energy systems incinerator, fitted with an afterburner and a tertiary chamber. They have to maintain a 1350ºF temp, with a demonstrated gas retention time of 2 seconds. State required test parameters are filterable particulate matter, condensable particulate, O2/CO2, CO, NOx, SO2, VOC, HCl, and an array of metals. The unit has a rated capacity of 350/lbs per hour, and once they tried to cram an entire hog down the charge chute. Being frozen solid, it got jammed, bent the ram feed, and was later hacked to bit manually with the assistance of a maintenance guy and an axe. The whole thing was fed in, and the grease ran out the bottom of the primary chamber. From outside the building, it smelled like a pig roast.
This wasnt that site, but its a decent example of what we do.
https://postimg.org/image/95qy7zoe7/
Tres kills animals! Peta! Can I get Peta over here!?
No! they already dead, kind of like Cooking Beef….
That’s just what Tulpa would say!
Fun fact- that P&G facility in Colerain, OH, is geared to prevent a PETA invasion. The entire property is surrounded by 2 layers of 8′ chain link, iced with concertina wire. IR motion sensors around the perimeter, placed however far each one covers. The interior hallways that I have access are all battleship-grey paint, and the whole thing looks like “Island of Dr. Moreau”.
There are pigmen their?
I am Humbled.. this Lachowski’s end, INDUSTRY! i am only a lowly HVAC guy,
Good Stuff Dude!
Oh no…he does maintenance in Steel. Not only do you have to be able to think, and work in unbearable conditions, its filthy-greasy-grimy. I spent 2 years in the environmental dept. of a Stainless Steel mill in central Kentucky. “How Its Made” did their series on stainless at our plant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTrvSXJW8zw
I just climb things, and pull gas out to be sampled. In my case, the “V” is vacuum.
The toe of my boot is in the bottom of the frame.
https://postimg.org/image/cpcvxiw67/
I see you aren’t afraid of Heights, it’s essential in Hvac, I have fired Millennials cause they wouldn’t go High, what can I do?
Hang on a second, I work in the places NO ONE GOES, that’s where the equipment is,Dirt, filth and Heat are my constant companions, as is Fibreglass, Asbestos, various Beasts and Spiders, all in tight spaces. Different, yes, but still real tough working Conditions.
You have my respect. I would guess a/c never breaks when its winter, and when it does, its already 90º out, let alone up in someone’s attic. Ill take my smokestacks over someone’s crawl space.
It will bust 160 in the Summer with No airflow, and a Fan is out of the Question due to dust,
i have seen individual pores sweat from my arms, 10 minutes and out is my Rule for me and my Guys
see below Tres
Has Q ever even watched Continuum?
I try to live it. Fail quite often, though.
Tough to follow, shit…..
Can’t say I have.
Dun Dun Dun!
My next purchase once I save up the scratch.
https://www.smith-wesson.com/firearms/model-sw500-0
4-inch barrel. Utterly impractical. Just cuz I think it’d be fun.
Here it is.
https://www.smith-wesson.com/firearms/model-sw500-4
I’ma be honest. I never shot a gun. I don’t want to. But I buy replica prop guns, because guns are cool.
Wait, whut?
Should we have a Glibs charity drive in which we put up the popping of CPRM’s gun virginity for auction??
That could be a thing, right?
+1 primer-hymen
wait…
-1 hymen
I have a real gun; I’ve never fired it, others have. I’m not interested in it. I figure I’ll make it a game of chance for invaders. “One of these 14 guns is real, the rest are fake. Want to test your luck on which one is fake?”
Firing blanks?
A friend of mine got married a few years ago. I went to his bachelor party. It’s Wisconsin, so everyone got drunk right away. Then they decided lets shoot the AR-15! I was the only who was like, yeah, I don’t think that’s a good plan. And you know even on a normal night I’m not sober, so for for a bachelor party I was blitzed.
Drunks and guns. I think you chose wisely. The last time I shot a gun was when I was in Australia. Took the wife to the gun range for the first time. She enjoyed it a bit too much.
“Like a big black vibrator! Why I need you whiteman?!”
You Win!
That’s…. ummm…. an interesting strategy.
Someday you should try shooting one, if the spirit moves you.
I’m the opposite of progressives. I worry that if I got into guns I might act on bad impulses; but instead of that meaning to me NO ONE SHOULD OWN GUNS, I just decided I wouldn’t get myself involved in it. That’s the long and short.
Chips in some brass, and
Chuk E CheesIRL BTCHave you ever been in a Crawlspace 12″ high and encountered a Raccoon with Pups? not cool, you can’t escape, so you have to fight, on the Coon’s turf, the outcome is a Rabies shot……
/HVAC nightmares
I had woodchucks living in my crawlspace; it was a nightmare that is still causing problems a decade later.
I have to be ready AND trouble shoot a system, TBH it’s getting old
To fight racoon, must use Gopher-Chuks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBrU7XiGzdc
And some sorta OT, cause I love y’all but I love derp too…
If we must make meaning in this world these guys are trying real hard to take it away
won’t click, give us a synopsis please
DERPY DERP DERP
DERPY DERP
DERPY DERP DERP
DERP
But seriously it’s mostly hand wringing and navel gazing about what happens when the revolution destroys gender norms and a TERF v Intersectional infighting.
Yes, people always want to be ‘different’.
I’m happy to be Myself, and i’m nothing in this World, Why do people need to be some sort of Superman? is there life so lacking they need to jump on Bandwagons? i guess so,
But you view yourself as ‘different’ from the collective, that is all these folk are trying to do in a continually collective society.
“Radfems believe that if we got rid of gender, trans people would not feel the need to alter their appearance to fit a socially constructed gender binary.”
If we got rid of trans species bias, our lizard overlords would not feel the need to alter their appearance.
Hmmmm, One of my Pharmacists is very Gay, but I see a good Pharmacist, I don’t care about your Personal life, let’s just conduct business.
Most people i meeet aren’t anything other than Working Folks who want to get on with there Life, and can’t be bothered with SJW, Queer or any of that MSM driven crap
When we were younger, my black cousin and I were both into asian girls, and only 2 of 4 boys in the lineage who could pass on the name, so I used to joke how in the future these blaision people would be totally confused by their russian/polish surname. But now that he’s in prison with two mulatto kids to his name and I’m childless, it’s an all white people club still…no idea how that relates to what you said, I’m drunk.
I dig it, you Drunk Fool!
More seriously, these people have created a universe of nonsense. Since when does how people talk about an object determine whether or not that object exists? They’ve created a new language without any input from those outside their bubbles and expect to be able to use these new terms without challenge. I can recognize that I’m not able to follow something outside of my intellectual capability the subject, but I can also recognize instances where I can’t follow something because it’s fucking crazy.
Our Society has grown so that Idiocracy can thrive, Seriously, DownFall of Rome shit. God Help us in an Existential War, The people who inherit this joint won’t know how to Keep it
/Good run anyway
Whelp, just when things couldnt get worse, we have another contender for 2020:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/rosanne-barr-id-be-a-better-president-oprah-susan-sarandon-trump-1073135
Now Im gonna have THAT nasally voice polluting my dreams tonight.
She would be though IMO, she lika Female Trump!
Believe it or not, she’s far from the worst that the Dems could put up. Somewhat distrusting of government, somewhat against mass surveillance, somewhat a defender of free speech, somewhat anti war. For example, she’d probably be better than Pocahontas.
Exactly my thought
And her husband starred in a movie with Martin Lawrence, so these two white people are totally not racist.
And she made a wild crack about Oprah, saying “at least if she gets to be President we’ll get to hear the honorific “Negress” come back into fashion.
You can just hear the butler introducing her entry to an affair, saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Negress Winfrey.”
Tubular Bells, Old school Electronica!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYmRA45BZmc&t=1191s
“The Exorcist” is what I think of at the start of this. Then it just keeps moving.
I don’t know or remember much about Kierkegaard other than a hippy friend talking about nihilism and meaninglessness a few times while stoned. But this article struck a nerve with me.
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the finite – infinite thing since I was 15. Right after confirmation I started having trouble with the idea of living forever, and it scared the shit out of me. Everything I know has an end! I spent a lot of evenings around that time going over this idea in my head, even a little obsessively. I was very religious (organized religion) until I was about 18, but I could never get over this conflict in my head.
I’ve revisited this theme many times over the years, a few times with friends, but not as exhaustively as I did as a younger person. I’m gonna have to read some more on this. Thanks Q. Seriously good stuff. Gonna send it to a few friends.
HeHeHe, FUCK OFF!
/Greetings!
Pud, Once You go Cylon, you never go back, and You live forever,Existential Question solved!
otherwise, good Luck, you are stuck with the Glibs, Enjoy!
The world only exists in my mind, so if I die I’m taking all you fuckers with me!
If you think about it, it’s True, once I’m Gone, Who the Fuck were you ever?
/too much thinking… Brain hurts…
I took philosophy courses in college for fun. It was my brothers major until he made the right decision and moved to computer science, while I made the wrong decision and stayed in the arts.
“Separate your mind from your body”. I was just gonna post this song for Yusef. Song written by Govt Mule and Les Claypool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_FAQteWySc
Sorry but, Meh, it’s not Primus, I’m a particular Primus Fan
/ Thanks for playing and Welcome!
THIS is Primus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkFMJ4-ai1I
Last Primus show I was at, a kid was getting roughed up by security, so Les stopped right in the middle of the first song. He brought the kid up on stage, had him sit in a chair next to him on stage, then jumped right back into the song where they left off. The kid stayed there for the entire show. I’m sure that’s a night he will never forget.
OK so far so good. NOW EXPLAIN the NAP!
If you Answer Correctly, you will Be Banished to the land of Tulpa! Choose wisely,Remember, Cats are Herded here…
Don’t tell me what to do. Who do you think you are, my master? I was explaining libertarian ideas to people before 80-90% of people had ever heard the term, let alone understand what it means.
98 percent of libertarians reject the libertarian label!
That is the Correct Answer!
Fuck yea!
Fraggin’ SEC football keeping me interested. Dammit, guys!
BOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Wait, football is still happening? /packers fan
not for us,
/Packers Fan
My sarcastic condolences to ya both.
/longsuffering Bears fan
That was a hell of a game. I’m disappointed Bama won. I’m tired of them winning and they beat my team every damn year. A hell of a good game anyway.
What I find odd about the Newbies is they make one comment and then hide, exceptions yes, but I think maybe the somewhat harsh Environment may turn some off.OTOH they have Lurked enough to know the scene, and should be aware.
That’s why we need to mix the snark with a lil love for ’em.
But, man, once in a while I look at the comments at TOS and think, damn, if that had been the commenting scene when I had first visited, I would never have come back.
Agreed on both counts, I’m giving and taking, i noticed what you described, hope I do it right Sista!
I was this close to commenting, making the jump from lurker to commenter when the Diaspora happened, it took a while to work up that courage (about three years) but as soon as I discovered this place i made an account and started commenting. I dunno, this place just feels different. Maybe it’s cause I had already worked up the courage but jumping in the water here was quite fun.
I remembered you from TOS, Like so many, it was a welcome sight to see so many of us Migrate,
GLIBS!
and Office Manager Mohammed!
It was definitely fun to watch this whole thing come together. I was impressed by the speed the site came up and the slickness of the whole thing when it was running.
When?
/is
I think I must’ave come over in march or april. I don’t remember exactly.
If I can just say, OMM thing, it kinda puts off the vibe like the left behind at TOS accuse us of.
I actually wrote some toned down, humorous pieces that are in consideration, i think you might enjoy the New OMM, please give it a try if they post it,
Well, it might not be that they just one post and vanish, just more that we FOE the refresh button enough to make this place more of an immersive environment. To us this is a social network, but things don’t automagically pop up like other sites. Also, there were folks like you that didn’t know from TOS that were active I moved over, and other folks didn’t know me cuz I mostly lurked over there until I decided to do artwork for SF.
I had an account at TOS for 10 years and almost never commented, Glibs gave me the Balls to comment and Post, and it is a lot of fun,Tres, are You listening?
‘Cause some of us are old, go to bed early, ’cause we’re up at 5 AM (and several times during the night). By the time I’m back up all is quiet on the Glibs. NAP means different things to different people. I started questioning things in ’71, before I knew there was anyone else out there like me.
*Pulls blanket over old cold body* Did I ever tell you kids about the time Afro Man and Snoop Dogg played for free at my college. *rocks in rocking chair* I remember it like yesterday. I got drunk before I left my dorm room. You see there was this thing called a bus, and it was used to hall drunk people around *draws from pipe* anyhow, then when I was already drunk I met these two guys, I smoked a bunch of their pot and I was totally shitfaced *wipes tear from eye* That was before I met your grandmother. An older time. A simpler time.
I rode my Skateboard uphill both ways with no Wheels, in the Snow, Barefoot, in Shorts(Cali) with only a Cassette Walkman to Comfort me, TOP That Junior!
Are…Are you for real, or is my work brain got my sarc meter twisted. Cause that is an awesome story.
All except the Before I Met Your Mother thing I tagged on the end. Also, there was SugarCult.
Nice. The only guy I got to see in college for free was Watsky. But I did and still try to go to at least one good show a year.
I don’t know who Watsky is. That sounds young and european, so it terrifies me. I’ll go back to my old person music
This Is Watsky! amazing Guy, Jewish too! L is for Lisp,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GvTLfV8fls
He seems arrogant and stupid, I’m going to listen to a pop ballad instead.
And IDGAF!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EuLROn3g0A
@CPRM, the timeline is off, but the Message stays the same, IDGAF!
Again with the Newbs, I ask a serious Question, they bail, oh well…
Papa was a rolling Stone,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJV2pWFyfn4
Very good Article Q. One of the best here. I haven’t delved much into philosophy, so this is very interesting.
About the good/happy part of the post. I beleive that if one can derive happiness from doing good, then that solves alot of the existential problems one may have. I get my happiness from from family, (good) work, (good) alcohol, (not so good) and a pursuit of knowledge (good) It works for me, so far.
The family thing (to me) is the most good of all the good. And speaking of family, I’m taking my wife to the doctor in the morning. Zardoz is gonna be pissed, but she has tested positive on several home testers for baby. We gonna go make for certain in the morning. Wish me luck.
Fuck, reading glibs must make you horny as fuck *dances seductively*
Mazel Tov! Visit the Glibs and get the fertility gift.
Squee! Good luck and all that!
The smartest song you’ll never understand the lyrics to.
Sreamo, never mind, dull as fuck, here’s something with Meat to it,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leoLPWAcwT4
Screamo
Steamed hams, but it’s a Glibertarians after dark post:
[PLAYA MANHATTAN arrives at house and rings doorbell; PALIN’S BUTTPLUG answers door]
Well, Palin’s Buttplug, I made it – despite your directions.
Ah, Playa Manhattan, welcome. I hope you’re prepared for an unforgettable luncheon.
[BUTTPLUG enters kitchen, suddenly stricken with panic]
Oh, ye gods! I’ve lost the bet and he’s here to collect! But…what if I were to purchase fast food and disguise it as my own cooking? Ho ho ho. Delightfully devilish, Buttplug.
[BUTTPLUG removes apron and has begun to exit through window when PLAYA enters]
BUUUUUUUTT PLUUUUUUG!
Playa, I was just- uh, just stretching my calves on the windowsill. Isometric exercise. Care to join me?
Why is there smoke coming out of your oven, Seymour?
Oh, that isn’t smoke. It’s steam. Steam from the steamed clams we’re having. Mmm. Steamed clams.
[PLAYA seems unconvinced, but leaves the kitchen]
Whew.
[BUTTPLUG enters dining room with tray of BURRITO BOWLS]
Playa, I hope you’re ready for mouthwatering burrito bowls.
I thought we were having steamed clams.
D’oh, no. I said steamed hams. That’s what I call burrito bowls.
You call burrito bowls “steamed hams”?
Yes. It’s a regional dialect.
Uh-huh. What region?
Central Georgia.
Really. Well, I’ve got family in Macon, and I’ve never heard anyone use the phrase “steamed hams.”
Oh, not in Macon. No. It’s a Dogdick expression.
I see. You know, these burrito bowls are quite similar to the ones they have at Chipotle.
Oh, no. Patented Buttplug bowls. Old family recipe.
…for steamed hams.
Yes.
And you call them steamed hams despite the fact that they are obviously grilled.
Ye- You know, the- One thing I should- – Excuse me for one second.
Of course.
[BUTTPLUG enters the kitchen and quickly returns, feigning yawns]
Well, that was wonderful. A good time was had by all. I’m pooped.
Yes. I should be- Good Lord! What is happening in there?
The Obama recovery.
The Obama recovery!?
With RECORD unemployment!? ANEMIC growth at best? With SOARING healthcare costs, localized entirely within your kitchen??
Yes.
(beat) May I see it?
No.
[They move to the front porch; BUTTPLUG’s mom calls out frantically]
Dave! The house is on fire!
No, Mother, it’s just a robust economy.
[PLAYA says his goodbye]
Well, Buttplug, you are an odd fellow but I must say – you steam a good ham.
[PLAYA leaves; scene ends with MRS. WEIGEL shrieking for help]
I…had better just go back to bed.
About twice a month I go to TOS and see if there is some Remy or Stossel or one of few others of interest.
Then I wander down to the comments. What a vast wasteland, a turn-off. Can’t even recommend the site anymore to people who are tired of Donkeys vs Elephants, because those idiots are just assholes on parade.
You guys are awesome.
Question- do I have to read the article before I can look at the titles?