It occurred to me last night that my goal when arguing is not to convince the other person of my point of view. My goal, besides trying to define my own beliefs (which currently do not exist) is simply to make other people reconsider theirs'. I don't honestly see how anyone can firmly believe in anything. At all. Exponents of rational thought will say that it holds the key to all answers and growth. Those favoring subtle and spiritual paths will swear the opposite is true. Meditation, they say, empty your mind of all thought.
So I only argue when I'm drunk. And I can't argue coherently when I'm drunk, which I think is an ideal commentary in and of itself on the nature of argument. It's only a game. Intellectual masturbation. And any game, yes, even scrabble, is made 100 times more playable by the lubrication of libations. Well anyhow, anyone who seeks a broader understanding of the world must first understand the search itself, the reasons behind it, and the barriers involved. The first thing I learned: it is impossible to understand anything. second: understanding has no purpose. In theory the purpose is to act based on that understanding for the good of your fellow man. As if that made any sense - the people seeking this understanding are some of the most miserable people on the planet. You know what? I can't keep this going. I have these ideas and I'm trying to organize them and present them for you, but my mind is just dying right now.
I hope it gets better. You know it might not. What if this is it?
ok. The problem with arguing about something as mundane as artistic merit and rational thought, there are a few givens that I expect to be universally known. Rational thought is good. It can be used for great things. But, it has to work together with subconscious thought, too, because that is generally where the ideas come from. An overabundance of rational thought, furthermore, creates a somewhat bland personality, and one plagued constantly by the problems that logic can't solve.
My argument against the search for understanding is the same as my argument against all searching: there is no point. Wander, and pick up what you find, and store it in your fat skull. What good will it do to torture yourself with even the attainable things? I'm a firm believer that the major inventions of mankind were not simply worked through, but occurred to someone (as if from an outside source - so is the presentation of the subconscious) and was then worked towards. That work required rational thought, of course, but also ingenuity and more than anything else effort. Are we better for the works of our ancestors? Probably. Are we any happier? Well who could ever know? We assume we are, because that's the best assumption.
I like to empty my mind until an idea occurs to me, then to unravel that idea with rational thought, and then to give it concrete form with sort of a combined approach. Sometimes I write with feeling, sometimes with intelligence, and I strongly prefer to former, in terms of the output.
But the reason I'll never win an argument is simple: I believe in things being completely balanced, but I think in terms of absolute extremes. Those concepts are as opposite as anything can be, and I can't argue a balanced viewpoint in terms of singularities, it simply can't work. Oh well.
So I only argue when I'm drunk. And I can't argue coherently when I'm drunk, which I think is an ideal commentary in and of itself on the nature of argument. It's only a game. Intellectual masturbation. And any game, yes, even scrabble, is made 100 times more playable by the lubrication of libations. Well anyhow, anyone who seeks a broader understanding of the world must first understand the search itself, the reasons behind it, and the barriers involved. The first thing I learned: it is impossible to understand anything. second: understanding has no purpose. In theory the purpose is to act based on that understanding for the good of your fellow man. As if that made any sense - the people seeking this understanding are some of the most miserable people on the planet. You know what? I can't keep this going. I have these ideas and I'm trying to organize them and present them for you, but my mind is just dying right now.
I hope it gets better. You know it might not. What if this is it?
ok. The problem with arguing about something as mundane as artistic merit and rational thought, there are a few givens that I expect to be universally known. Rational thought is good. It can be used for great things. But, it has to work together with subconscious thought, too, because that is generally where the ideas come from. An overabundance of rational thought, furthermore, creates a somewhat bland personality, and one plagued constantly by the problems that logic can't solve.
My argument against the search for understanding is the same as my argument against all searching: there is no point. Wander, and pick up what you find, and store it in your fat skull. What good will it do to torture yourself with even the attainable things? I'm a firm believer that the major inventions of mankind were not simply worked through, but occurred to someone (as if from an outside source - so is the presentation of the subconscious) and was then worked towards. That work required rational thought, of course, but also ingenuity and more than anything else effort. Are we better for the works of our ancestors? Probably. Are we any happier? Well who could ever know? We assume we are, because that's the best assumption.
I like to empty my mind until an idea occurs to me, then to unravel that idea with rational thought, and then to give it concrete form with sort of a combined approach. Sometimes I write with feeling, sometimes with intelligence, and I strongly prefer to former, in terms of the output.
But the reason I'll never win an argument is simple: I believe in things being completely balanced, but I think in terms of absolute extremes. Those concepts are as opposite as anything can be, and I can't argue a balanced viewpoint in terms of singularities, it simply can't work. Oh well.
Labels: truth
# posted by Max Roderick on Sunday, August 2, 2009 
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