Friday, September 05, 2014

The Ultimate Situation Comedy: The Bisection of Time and Eternity

A good aphorism is a kind of joke, isn't it? If so, no one is funnier than Don Colacho.

And if brevity is the soul of wit, then an aphorism is its very essence. Most of brother Colacho's bon mots would easily fit into the space of a tweet. Which means, when you think about it, that if you are very skilled, you can squeeze eternity into 140 characters with room to spare.

Example?

"We call origins the limits of science."

In reality, the Origin not only has nothing to do with science, but can have nothing to do with it. It is a category error, but easy to make if one pretends that science is the only category. So the aphorism embodies a clash of matrices, as science comes up against the impenetrable wall of metaphysics (recall the figures in yesterday's post, with the two planes of meaning).

"We do not pretend to be correct. We are content with intelligent error."

Here again, at least as it pertains to the world, man is essentially condemned to intelligent error -- with one conceivable exception: divine revelation. But scientism is the ideology that pretends to be (or that it is possible to be) comprehensively true, for which reason it beclowns itself in unintelligent error.

By the way, "intelligent error" is nothing to be devalued or scoffed at. Man's errors are only possible because truth exists -- just as an optical illusion is only possible because of visual reality. You might say that our margin of error is simply the distance between man and God. This margin can never be absolutely foreclosed, but it can certainly be healed -- or treated, anyway -- with a lifeline from God.

And guess what? "Intelligence knows no barriers, but it has stairs." That's right -- there exists a circular -- or spiroid -- staircase that resembles a strand of DNA. Nor is it just hanging there from the sky, unattached to anything. How would that even be possible?

For which reason, if you really think about it, the "ultimate joke" would have to be the bisection of time by eternity, right?

Furthermore, this makes man the last word in wit, because what is man but a temporal peepwhole on eternity? You could say that man is a particularly witty response "to the challenges of the environment" (Koestler) -- which, since we're getting pretty far afield here, is on every page of Finnegans Wake.

The bad news: Hahahaha, Mister Funn, you're going to be fined again! The good news: Hohohoho, Mister Finn, you're going to be Mister Finnagain! Life takes place between the fines and the fun.

But "Ideologies were invented so that men who do not think can give opinions" (Dávila). It is fair to say that ideology is the Full Employment Policy for the iron triangle of journalism, academia, and government. Imagine those fields without it! Yeah, I know I'm a dreamer, but I can't be the only one.

Seriously, what would most blacks major in if it weren't for ideology? The higher dysfunction of liberal ideology takes any number of forms: sociology, social work, African-American history, critical legal theory, education, mass media, "family and consumer science," whatever.

Black college graduates are twice as likely to be unemployed because they are twice as likely to major in worthless or made up ideological subjects -- made up, of course, for their benefit. Thanks, white liberals! You gave us the degree, now why don't you hire us?

Not gonna happen. But liberals will do this for you: use the state to force a third party to pay you more than you're worth for working at McDonalds. Deal?

Alternatively, we can grow the state and then use it to hand out jobs to the unemployable, which is what they do here in California. California is running out of other people's money because those other people with money are running out of the state.

Speaking of which, "Political activity is the pretext with which the intelligence avoids its debts." Even more daringly, "The left ekes out a living dodging genetics."

Which is getting increasingly difficult to do when even some of their own are starting to embrace science.

Interesting, because what if the satan of inequality is a consequence of their god of diversity? What on earth would the left do if genetics were true?

Actually, I think they're already doing it.

Following up with yesterday's post on cognitive matrices, "All coherent thinking is equivalent to playing a game according to a set of rules" (Koestler). Thus, comedy requires rules, otherwise there can be no clash of matrices, i.e., of two matrices with different rules.

Here is an example of a violent clash of matrices, in this case, Al Sharpton with the English language:

27 comments:

Rick said...

Sharpton's show is not a sitcom?

Rick said...

If my calculations are correct, this is less than 140 characters:

"California is running out of other people's money because those other people with money are running out of the state."

Gagdad Bob said...

A violent clash of leftism and freedom of movement.

Gagdad Bob said...

Or in other words, self defense.

julie said...

Seriously, what would most blacks major in if it weren't for ideology?

Or women, for that matter. One would hope they would try learning something worthwhile, instead.

julie said...

If Al Sharpton were anybody else, I would think it an act of cruelty to give him a role as a talking head. It would be tantamount to mocking the mentally disabled. I make an exception in his case, because the more people see him, perhaps the more will realize he in no way deserves the title "reverend," much less any respect for his opinion on any matter of import.

Gagdad Bob said...

Speaking of a clash of matrices: a psychopath becomes a reverend. Where have we heard that joke before... Oh yes, Night of the Hunter. Also, have you heard the one about the alcoholic womanizer who becomes a reverend in Night of the Iguana?

Gagdad Bob said...

Sharpton's show should be called Afternoons with the Iguana.

Van Harvey said...

"But "Ideologies were invented so that men who do not think can give opinions" (Dávila). "

Worth the price if admission right there.

"It is fair to say that ideology is the Full Employment Policy for the iron triangle of journalism, academia, and government. Imagine those fields without it! Yeah, I know I'm a dreamer, but I can't be the only one."

Bonus points.

Gagdad Bob said...

Nice jab by Jonah Goldberg today:

If you replace the phrase "the international community" with "the Klingons" it often makes more sense.

Gagdad Bob said...

Obama:

"We know that if we are joined by the Klingons we can continue to shrink ISIL's sphere of influence, its effectiveness, its financing, its military capabilities to the point where it is a manageable problem.... What we've got to do is make sure that we are organizing the Arab world, the Middle East, the Muslim world along with the Klingons to isolate this cancer..."

Gagdad Bob said...

"But the Klingons don't exist!"

Precisely.

julie said...

Ha - and if they did, they'd be far more effective against Muslim extremists than the international community.

Gagdad Bob said...

There is no international community because "the first word negates the second." Or in other words, it is the kind of big joke we've been describing.

julie said...

It's pretty funny if you think about how the left will often make appeals to "international law" or the international community as though these things actually exist anywhere but their imagination - while at the same time ranting against people who believe in an "imaginary sky god," without whom they would not exist, period.

EbonyRaptor said...

I'm not sure if Jonah chose to use "Klingon" for this reason - but "cling on" is quite apropos in describing the left's death grip on their death ideology.

EbonyRaptor said...

Aren't we all just one big village? I can't wait until mommy Hillary is making lunch for all of us in a few years.

neal said...

Bisection of time by eternity. Equivalence, and heirarchy.
How can these things be?

One cannot square two things that are not one thing.
If it were that simple, circles and spirals and labyrinths would be less rhetorical.

mushroom said...

We do not pretend to be correct. We are content with intelligent error.

Reminds me of the saying we learned in Stat. "Seek ye not the truth; be satisfied with .05"

mushroom said...

I thought Klingons were what they called dingleberries in Illinois.

mushroom said...

I always get those states confused. They're called Klingons in Iowa. In Illinois they are called Obamas.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

"But "Ideologies were invented so that men who do not think can give opinions" (Dávila). It is fair to say that ideology is the Full Employment Policy for the iron triangle of journalism, academia, and government. Imagine those fields without it! Yeah, I know I'm a dreamer, but I can't be the only one."

Some conservatives need to learn this. When we become slaves to ideology we are no longer receptive to truth.

There may be some truth in a conservative ideology but it is often mixed with deception, external and internally.
Fer instance, "republicans are the same as democrats."
Some are, some have a few democrat traits, but most are not.

It's far easier for truth seekers to take back the GOP from within than to create a third party.
That's the cold, hard truth.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

""But the Klingons don't exist!"

"Precisely."

Heh! Good one.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

"I'm not sure if Jonah chose to use "Klingon" for this reason - but "cling on" is quite apropos in describing the left's death grip on their death ideology."

Everyone is particularly witty today :). Well said, EbonyRaptor.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

You can add to that Star Trek analogy:
"We will get. universal support from the Klingons, Romulans, and. the Gorn. And the Borg always shows up when we request negotiations. I'm certain this time they will cooperate rather than coopting our embassy ships and staff."

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Intelligent Error also enables us to learn from our mistakes, and the mistakes previous individuals and govt's. have made (History!).

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

"For which reason, if you really think about it, the "ultimate joke" would have to be the bisection of time by eternity, right?"

Aye, and the ultimate punchline will be delivered when we run out of time.

Theme Song

Theme Song