I know: how is this different from the previous 3,000 posts?
Well, sometimes, without even gnosising, I start to put pressure on mysoph to stick with a certain subject or do things in a specific way. Come to think of it, it reminds me of a musician who just loves playing whatever comes into his instrument, but then accidentally has a hit song. Then, for the rest of his life he not only has to play that stupid song, but do so in the same way every night.
This is why I admire, say, Van Morrison. He's had some accidental hits along the way, including Gloria and Moondance. To this day he still plays them in concert, but always with different arrangements, tempos, instrumentation, solos, and styles -- anything from jazz to country & western. What a nightmare to be trapped in a single version! That's not music, it's architecture.
Sour grapes, Bob? I don't think so. My only concern is that there must be a fair number of people who would benefit from the blog but will never know of its existence. If I were more ambitious -- and grandiose -- then maybe I would try reach them.
But then I'd have to deal with the far greater number of people for whom the blog is not intended -- not just trolls, but normals. I can't function with those people in my head. Rather, it only works if I pull out all the stops and let it flow where it will. (For example, over at Instapundit I will occasionally make a religious comment, which only ends up offending the other mostly religious commenters. All good people no doubt, but normals through and through.)
So, today's rant will be about... I have no idea! I have a few notes to myself... let's see. The other day I was looking for a particular Aphorism, and as usual, was arrested by a hundred others I wasn't looking for. For example, The adult is a myth of the child.
Think about that: when you were a child, didn't you think of grown-ups as having all the answers and having everything under control? But how many grown-ups do you know who have all answers and have everything under control?
What an excellent cosmic joke! Look at Hollywood. Are there any adults there at all? It's easy to point to Dirty Harvey as the infant in the room, but that's just a simplistic projection. The whole place is filled with infants, just different kinds. It takes two to enact a psychic dance. Not to blame the victims, but there actually is such a thing a strong woman who would have kicked him so hard in the balls he would have choked on them.
Maybe it's easy for me to say, since I don't have a daughter. But if I did, and she were in that situation, she would hear her father's voice saying Field goal time. Kick him in the balls!
Now, just because the adult is a myth of the child, it doesn't mean there are no adults. Even so, think of how God had to get personally involved and send an actual adult down for our edification. A real man. The real man -- not just in terms of content, but especially in terms of form.
Indeed, that is the big difference: if Christ were only about the content, then he would be similar to any other teacher or prophet with some good ideas to relate. But Christ is relationship as such. Wha?
God, says White, "is a mystery of relational persons.... Thus, the ultimate foundation of all reality is both personal and interrelational. If this is the primary truth that is behind all other truths, then it casts a theological light upon all else that exists," such that "the physical cosmos ultimately exists for spiritual persons and for relational love."
This is to dis-invert the cosmos and put it back right-side up: "The nonliving things exist for or are relative to the living things" (emphasis mine). This is not a myth -- not of a child or anyone else. Rather, the alternatives are, in all their metamythological translunacy.
In a comment to yesterday's post I mentioned that man is a bridge, not a destiny. White agrees that "The human being is the 'bridge' between the spiritual and the physical world in a twofold way." Here we can see how the earliest Christians committed anticipatory plagiarism against me:
In the ascendent [↑] direction, the physical world mounts up toward God, or "returns" to God through human actions of knowledge and love.... In the descending [↓] direction, man is the "place" that the spiritual world is made visible or manifest in the cosmos.
Ultimately, then, "the human being is meant to be a special 'location' of grace in the cosmos, where the spiritual gifts of God descend through human reason and human freedom," into "a human common life based upon truth, moral goodness, and beauty."
And that is no myth, although children of the dark imagine it so.
16 comments:
But how many grown-ups do you know who have all answers and have everything under control?
Ha! A mythological creature, indeed.
Oops a troll has found your blog post. Unfortunately it all made perfect sense so I have no trolling work to do here today. I request for future posts you throw in some controversial meme or trope so I can ply my trade. That is if your stream of thought allows for any intentional inclusions. I like:
Jabs made at public figures.
Acrimonious insults to groups.
Outrageous or unproven claims.
Stuff like that.
Thanks.
"Think about that: when you were a child, didn't you think of grown-ups as having all the answers and having everything under control?"
Not only that, I remember the moment the spell was broken. Pretty young; six or seven maybe. My dad was BSing someone, or simply made a mistake of judgement (blamed me for something I didn't do -- how would he know, after all). I don't recall the content, only how it felt, the significance of it. Paradigm shift.
In hindsight I realize that when I saw that an adult definitely didn't have all the answers -- or was crazy even -- my parents discouraged me from seeing it. Back then, you respected adults, no matter what. Which is not an entirely bad policy. Nevertheless, the best policy is always objectivity, and let the chips fall where they may. If Grandma is crazy -- and she was -- it can be confusing to not be allowed to notice it.
That has the same structure as political correctness, which is ultimately a war on noticing.
We have a crazy hoarder lady that lives across the street, and we don't tell Tristan to pretend she's normal. He knows she's crazy as a loon, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have compassion. Indeed, you can't really be compassionate if you pretend a crazy person is normal. The same goes for his sundry abnormal relatives. He is under no compulsion to pretend they're normal, but it costs you nothing to be polite to them.
"Not to blame the victims, but there actually is such a thing a strong woman who would have kicked him so hard in the balls he would have choked on them."
That's kind of what I am curious about here.
There are a number of women, not a large number, but definitely more than just one, who would have...unmade him. In an extremely brutal, but extremely effective manner.
Depending on the situation, those circumstances can be frightening/shocking enough that it is almost impossible to act in your own defense. Kind of like deer in the headlights. And if you do freeze, then after the fact the rationalization game comes into play. If you want your girls to be able to kick a guy in the balls at the right moment, training in self defense - both the act and, perhaps more importantly, the mindset, is vital. Also having the courage to speak up about it afterward. Believe me, quite often the person might have a lot to lose by speaking up, especially if there's no way to prove anything.
Not disagreeing with Bob at all, but believe me when I say it is complicated, especially in the moment. Afterward, the best thing to do is tell someone who can do something about it, and remove yourself from the situation.
No doubt requires training from an early age. Also can't teach girls they are no different from boys, or they will be in for a rude awakening.
Yes, to both of those.
The only thing that saved me once as a kid was that I had seen enough things about shouting "No!" if something happened that I knew what to do. Even then, it was barely a whisper. Thank God it was enough.
Think about the fact that girls are now taught by feminists to be offended if a man opens a door for them. Okay, fine. But don't be surprised when chivalry is replaced by barbarism.
Yes. It's like they really see themselves as the girl facing down the charging bull, and actually believe they can come out of that as the victor.
Tangentially, female Israeli IDF soldier uses krav maga to fend off ultra-orthodox protestors.
Notably (and the commenters there had more detailed observations), her technique doesn't look terribly effective. These guys were not out to take her down; if they were, she would have lasted maybe a kick or two, or perhaps just a roundhouse to the side of the head. Women today really have no idea how much weaker they are compared to men.
Somewhere in Dirty Harvey’s attic is a rapidly-aging portrait of himself.
Though he’s already pretty repulsive even in his street clothes.
I wonder if Lucas got the idea for that memorable scene in star wars with Jaba the Hut and Princess Leia...on a leash.
I think she was sitting rather uncomfortably on a kind of couch in that scene..
Timeframe may be wrong though. Either that or things never change in..
A little from column A, a little from column B...
Apparently, back when Lucas and pals were planning the script for Raiders of the Lost Ark, they initially had it that Marian had her previous "relationship" with him when she was 12. Not that they were planning to come right out and say it, but she was supposed to be 22 in the movie and it had been 10 years since she had seen him last. They backed away from it, thankfully, but WTF.
Oh that’s right, Julie. I think I remember reading that on Ace. Weird-os.
Here are some grown ups. Ht Joan of Arrrg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GehBhmNtCGs
Indeed, you can't really be compassionate if you pretend a crazy person is normal.
I was going to comment on something else then I saw this and was reminded of the Dalrymple quote about the purpose of propaganda being to humiliate. It seems we're not allowed to say what's normal anymore. According the media, to state the obvious fact is bigotry.
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