Monday, January 25, 2021

I AM ? !

"Memes," as we know, are “units of culture," that is, "ideas, beliefs, practices, and anything else that can be passed on via social learning.” In his weekly newsletter, Rob Henderson further notes that memes which "confer social status on the host have a high likelihood of propagating themselves."

Which means that the mind of the meme-host is not properly conformed to intelligible being, rather, to social acceptance and popularity, AKA pride. This being the case, it is a form of vertical pathology, even if it afflicts the majority of human beings. 

Well, not exactly, for it depends upon the nature of the society conferring the status. For example, if one wished to maintain social status in Nazi Germany, one would express antipathy toward Jews. On the other hand, if one wishes to maintain social status in leftist academia, one will express antipathy toward Jews. 

Come to think of it, anti-Semitism is one of the world's oldest pathological memes, isn't it? If memes are analogous to genes, then it has also been passed on to anti-Christian bigots right down to the present. Remarkably, Jesus predicted as much, and on numerous occasions, e.g., "you will be persecuted for my sake," or "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you."

How did he know that? That's above our paygrade, but it's fair to say that truth is always in a battle with social status. The latter explains how and why so many blatant falsehoods remain popular, from global warming to feminism to BLM. The average believer in catastrophic global warming knows literally nothing about the subject except that mouthing its pieties confers social standing, or at least doesn't trigger the hysteria and hatred that punish a lack of conformity.

Henderson alludes briefly to the timeless and universal appeal of Marxism, albeit in passing: "Marxism seems to click well with certain aspects of our nature." 

We've discussed this at length in the past; suffice it to say that nearly everything about the "progressive" left is deeply regressive and atavistic, appropriate for life in the paleolithic world in which we evolved genetically, but not the present world. 

Let's refocus on the subject at hand, Transcendence and History. We're just going to flip through the text and free associate on any meme that strikes our fancy. 

Ah, here's one: "a human being is first and foremost a questioner," and has even the "capacity to out-question the finite and the knowable and thereby to encounter transcendent meaning."

I don't know about "first" or "foremost"; perhaps he doesn't mean it literally. Rather, man the (?) is a consequence or side effect of a deeper principle. 

I would say that man is first and foremost created in the image and likeness of the Creator. Or, you could say that he is characterized by consciousness of the Absolute, or of O. As such, his mind surpasses any- and every-thing in this world. This sur-passing is another name for transcendence.

Think about it: there is nothing man cannot question. Except, of course, the election. And global warming. And "diversity." And the Religion of Peace. And the redefinition of marriage. And the abolition of biological sex. These questions have all been settled via the mechanism of social acceptance.

Nevertheless, not every mind is predominantly conformed to social popularity. There will always be some questioners (?) who remain in conformity to O rather than mass ideology. How to tell the difference? Well, for the ideologue, ideology is the end, whereas for (?) there is no end. 

Or rather, there is literally an "endless end," similar in a way to the inexhustibility of true creativity (and for the same reason). We will never actually run out of truth or beauty, so long as we remain attuned to their source.  Here again, the "artist" who is attuned to something less is tedious and soul-deadening. "Popular culture" overflows with these leaky sewer pipes.

(?) is characterized by unrestricted questioning. Conversely, as we've all seen over the past several months, the technofascist left is characterized by severely restricted questioning or unrestricted censorship of questioners. This is not healthy, to put it mildly.  Rather, it is as sick as the intellect can be, for it negates the purpose of the intellect and enables everything else.

Yes: "fidelity to the spirit of inquiry is the elementary normative standard for gauging human genuineness or authenticity" (ibid.).  It is normal for a human being to ask questions, even if our masters were to successfully ban all the wrong questions.  

I'm going to stop now, except to say that I've made a big decision. Yes, after giving it much thought and consideration, I've chosen my pronoun. Until just a moment ago it was going to be I AM. But now I hereby declare:

I AM ? !

22 comments:

julie said...

It is normal for a human being to ask questions, even if our masters were to successfully ban all the wrong questions.

They always try, but somehow the truth always sneaks in and gets someone to wonder ?!

Petey said...

There is no right superior to Truth, therefore no duty superior to (?).

Anonymous said...

I am a leftist academic who never got the memo about expressing antipathy towards Jews.

Bob wrote "...if one wishes to maintain social status in leftist academia, one will express antipathy toward Jews." Bob wrote it so that has to true. Right?

I don't know how I've been able to maintain my social standing. Pure luck I suppose.

Cousin Dupree said...

Good article: Critical Race Theory’s Jewish Problem.

Anonymous said...

Dupree I read the linked article "Critical Race Theory's Jewish Problem" and it was unintelligible and failed to make any point whatsoever. Do you know what it was trying to say? Please summarize.

I realize leftists for a time did not like how Israelis were dealing with the Palestinians; it was thought to be heavy-handed and an example of the oppressed becoming oppressive. However that was a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. We don't care about Palestine or the folks who dwell in Gaza anymore. Perhaps you did not get the memo.

Is that the leftist antipathy for the Jews to which you refer? Or something else? Because it that is all there is, you've got nothing.

Nicolás said...

No answer can be more intelligent than the question that gave rise to it.

Barry said...

We don't care about Palestine or the folks who dwell in Gaza anymore? Speak for yourself!

Petey said...

If leftism did not exist, conservatives would need to invent it as a reductio ad absurdum proof of conservative principles.

Anonymous said...

The modern Christian cares nothing about the Jew, with their half-baked faith, unless the Jew tries to interfere with End of Days prophesy. It is the Holy Land which is important. Christians won’t rest until Al Aqsa has been replaced by a temple of the Jews choosing. But this will obviously require some Christian help.

Nicolás said...

The adolescent’s insolence is nothing more than the bucking of an ass getting used to the stable.

Anonymous said...

Indeed. As Nicholas wisely prophesizes, the Jew has been poor stewards of our Holy Land and sooner or later, must be broken.

Nicolás said...

Vulgarity consists of pretending to be what we are not.

Soozcat said...

Feminism = the idea that women are people with rights.
BLM = black lives matter as much as white ones.

These are incorrect ideas in your cosmology.

I'm glad I left conservatism.

Daisy said...

A younger me would have launched into this "discussion" with great relish.

Meh.

I have better things to do.

But if something comes of it, I do have plenty of popcorn on hand...

Cousin Dupree said...

If Soozcat is married -- to a man -- I will stop drinking.

Daisy said...

Oh, snap!

Anonymous said...

Trump is having a hard time finding lawyers. It seems he makes all kinds of promises but at the end of the day, he won't pay them. And word has gotten out.

Soozcat, the whole point of today's conservatism is that Feminists and BLMs aren't allowed to judge themselves. Only conservatives are allowed to. Or so they say.

But this begs the question: did Trump intentionally choose his lawyers on the basis of judging that they wouldn't sue him after he refused to pay?

Nicolás said...

The effect of liberal rhetoric on taste is called nausea.

julie said...

News you can use:
BLM wants to teach kids about how to be gender-confused collectivists.

Pretty sure my black ancestors would not have been down with that struggle.

Gagdad Bob said...

If voters ever knew what the left intended to do, they'd never win an election. Hence the suppression of voices letting voters know what the left has done and intends to do.

julie said...

I'm actually kind of surprised this info was posted at a school district's web page. Not the BLM study part (everynormie ASSumes it means what Soozcat thinks it means), the part where they explicitly list on the district's page all the principles being taught. And there's a helpful link to all the materials, including a coloring book which features this page:

"Everybody has the right to choose their own gender by listening to their own heart and mind. Everyone gets to choose if they are a girl or a boy or both or neither or something else, and no one else gets to choose for them."

If my kids were students there, I'd be yanking them right now.

Anonymous said...

Soozcat makes a point which I think some on this site are missing.

Feminism and the BLM movement are reactions to historical oppression. While quick to point out flaws of these movements, why not acknowledge the elephant in the room? White males long ago seized the cultural initiate with their quite frankly superior ability to project power and have been spanking women and brown men for centuries, calling all the shots and stealing all the marbles and lunch money on the playground.

White males are finally getting effective resistance from women and brown men, with the help of powerful whites who want to level things out, such as Biden.

Gagdad and Julie studiously point out the grotesque excesses to which Feminism, BLM, and Leftist have resorted to. They have been badly warped by the long struggle, it is true.

Gagdad, you are all about reducing things to root causes in your One Cosmos world. So you now see where the root cause of leftist madness came from. Not from thin air.

And Julie you capish this; without leftism you would not be able to vote and some man would be your lord and master and you a servant and sex-slave.

You have benefited from leftist movements and I suggest you get some gratitude.

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