the dead pessimists

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thedeadpessimist — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:04:24 +0000

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folie à deux

thedeadpessimist — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:06:36 +0000

Of what Nature will our Love be? Will it grow like a weed, that wildest of the kingdom, fast and vigorous, encompassing everything in its tight grasp. Or will it metamorphose, as divine things do, into a grand oak, proud and sturdy with roots dug deep down into earth. Or again will it become an exotic fruit tree, hitherto unknown to these lands, with bloom so delicately fragile that it cannot be plucked without spoil, but must drop of its own into an gaping mouth when ripe. But oh! Pray let it not be as some potted plant or other imprisoned – though thought “cultivated” – garden flower, retarded by laws more chaotic than natures own.

Enlightenment 2.0

thedeadpessimist — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 07:54:01 +0000

[work in progress]

Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Sapere Aude! [dare to know] “Have courage to use your own understanding!”–that is the motto of enlightenment. - Immanuel Kant, What is Enlightenment? (1784)

Are we now living in another period of enlightenment? Throughout history, every time a new technology has empowered more people to communicate with each other in more meaningful ways and become widely disseminated through a society, it has resulted in fundamental changes and shifts within the structure of that society. The introduction of sea commerce between early cultures, the phonetic alphabet, the printing press, the radio, the telephone, and the television, to name a few. The latest of these technologies is the internet, and it has connected people from all over the globe more immediately and richly than any previous technology. We have always suspected that the internet is novel and powerful, but only now are we beginning to get a perspective of the full repercussions of this technology on society.

Over the course of the last month I have witnessed people all over the globe take their tents and friends down to local parks and form ‘occupations’; groups of strangers working together to share ideas for building cohesive but open communities. Most of the friends I have made over the past weeks at the occupation found out about what was happening over Facebook and other ‘social media’. The online communities we have grown up in are beginning to materialise in the physical centres of our cities. I have met a large number of practical idealists at the occupation; men and women, young and old, they all know how to dream of a better world and have the skills to work together towards it. We have learnt the powerful lesson that by combining our ideas and skills we are quickly able to achieve things far beyond anything we could as isolated individuals.

Many people are asking the question ‘what is occupy?’, but seeing no further than the 15 minute attention span that the media has conditioned us to, we miss the deeper question ‘what age is this?’ If we step back and consider what is happening by the scales of history, then we see that deep motions are stirring in our society. Our technology has opened up possibilities that have never existed for humanity before. It is only a matter of time before our whole society catches up with the new playing ground.

It is vital that we remain conscious that this is now our own narrative. +We+ can make this into and about whatever +we+ really want.

We are peaceful, but let us not delude ourselves that we are not entering a time of struggle. Our weapons are love and knowledge, let us wield them bravely.

Socrates and Plato

thedeadpessimist — Wed, 04 May 2011 07:12:44 +0000

Plato faces us with two challenges. The first is to become like his hero, Socrates, and live the examined life of a philosopher. The second is in responce to a central question within the dialouges; is it possible to pass on wisdom? If we meet the challenge of becoming like Socrates, then this question is immediately answered in the affirmative; it is possible to pass on wisdom, because Plato has passed some to us. This raises the second challenge, to become like the author, Plato, and teach others to live the examined life of a philosopher.

On memories of pain and pleasure.

thedeadpessimist — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 20:43:27 +0000

[cf. life]

Negation

thedeadpessimist — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:42:49 +0000

when you’re looking for something that isn’t there, you won’t find it

Reforms

thedeadpessimist — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 21:23:06 +0000

I do declare that a clean room is more soothing for the soul than a clean conscience.
You only say that my friend because you don’t know what a clean conscience feels like.

Pregnancy

thedeadpessimist — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 08:08:54 +0000

Q—: Can you imagine a man, having read and heard everything written and spoken, with nothing more to say?

A—: Of course.

Q: And is his silence anything other than the most profound statement left to make?

A: Perhaps.

Q: But it nonetheless would be a statement?

A: Sure.

Q: Then such a man cannot be imagined after all?

A: It appears not.

The First Supper

thedeadpessimist — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 00:37:25 +0000

We sit around an ancient oak table, its round top is covered in arcane graffiti. The darkness surrounding us plays tricks on our eyes if we stare too long or hard. We are not sure if our eyes are playing, or if there really is a tiny speck of a man far in the distance walking towards us. It grows into a speck before fully resolving itself into a small-because-faraway man. After an eternity, or perhaps a single moment, he has arrived, a full-scale human waiter. He introduces himself as Karma. After seeing to our comfort, he asks us what we would like to order.

Historian

thedeadpessimist — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 12:23:37 +0000

When thinking as a historian, I often wonder whether the men and women I am studying were possibly consciously aware of the mystery they were setting down for future genereations to solve.