Joho the Blog
An Entry from the Archives

The History Of Philosophy For An Idiot Like Me
(or, The Pleasure Is All Mine)

Violating the order of time is punishable by force (Anaximander). do not even think about turning around (Parmenides). the way up and down in never the same--how you get from not stepping into the same river twice (Heraclitus) to that conclusion is a gross error of method. I now understand life as the monad (Leibniz), and why the schism of being from cyclical nature to eschatological time has taken full hold of us now. cthonic truth is not possible anymore, yet the echo remains. the trick is to ignore it, deny it, just let it pass. successful people are good at this, some so much so that even truth itself converts into its opposite almost immediately (Hegel) with them. if we are smart, we accept that. any attempt to stop the process calls forth a Dionysian fate.

Friendship (Nicomachean Ethics, Bk. X and Lysis) is only allowed by degrees these days. The problem is that the oracle is missing, so we believe in the news instead, oblivious to the trajectory of time as a whole. we don?t believe in anything anymore (Descartes), not even God (Nietzsche), so, naturally, how much less we believe in one another! but that must be so. what else could there be?

When reality appears stranger than truth, we know the epoch is coming to a close, but we don?t have the skill to pass to the next stage, so like last men we wink, and wait to be led, like sheep we are stranded, like plants in the churchyard we just beg for sunlight, and pray for the rain. that is enough. after all, isn?t that the whole point? to keep from spinning along with the Earth?

Some have mastered the technique of turning at just the right speed to stay perfectly still in the void that remains. they hover over the universe, and shoot rockets to Mars. that makes us happy, because of the power involved. we will gladly accept what is done for our cause. just to have a cause is a great cunning of reason (Kant) which makes us more than quite proud. we know of the universal conversion factor (Einstein), but we don?t expect that reality would actually intrude. if it does, do not the Erinyes demand to know why? we sure expect them to, regardless of what the appearances are.

Stay the course and be flexible, that is the way to succeed. stay away from reflections of what used to be. ?I think, therefore I am? is a deceitful enthymeme, and lends us every right to be suspicious. light in a hall of mirrors is just like a black hole. we are glad that we know about them, but we care to stand clear of the current inside. we believe we are on the outside. that is a comforting thought, like super-symmetry, as long as it is anywhere but honestly here. we?d rather be surprised by our ignorance, than pursue the hard facts, as long as it works it makes sense to avoid psychology and the split that it involves between oneself and one?s world. why bother? what for?

I agree with this view, too. so I dare to go beyond it, somehow. people tolerate each other somehow, except in family situations, of course. that would be dysfunctional, indeed! Noetic nonsense. With friends like that, who could possibly endure the transformations of love and strife (Empedocles) anyway?