./ 12Sept02 / Forum: TOL - Philosophy ~ Religion /
/ Ngz: alt.philosophy, alt.religion.apologetics /
.
If this story has any moral to it, it can only be that there's
no fool like an ugly old fool. Here's how it begins. Human
nature is both rational and irrational; for we are each and
every one of us a huge and messy bundle of conflicting cravings
and mutually-exclusive drives and impulses. Usually we can
control the dark and fearsome beasts that urge us to irrational
and anti-social acts, but sometimes we can't. Whether this
is a good thing or not depends entirely, I suppose, on the
particulars of each case, and on the unique results as they
develop out of a complex and confusing situation.
.
Anyway, a good exercise for Vulcans (ie. all those who seek
to be as rational as possible within the severe constraints
imposed by nature and society) is to purge excessive impulses
and random emotions by focusing your will to a single point.
This is actually not as difficult as it sounds. Just imagine
that you have found a magic coin that will now grant you one
(and only one) wish; but only on condition that the wisher is
the chief beneficiary. Many things leap at once to mind. Grant
me ten million dollars worth of gold please. Give me eternal
youth and health please. Make me the most loved and talented
writer in the world please. And so on and so forth. But no; one
must be careful with one's one and only wish. Think long and
carefully about this. Spend the whole day, or two, or even
three days pondering it. What is the *one* thing the having
of which will enrich and energize your whole life?
.
So I thought about it, and then I thought about it some more,
and then I thought about it again. Far too many possibilities
here! Apparently it is not so easy to focus down to one point
after all. But then the answer came to me one day, and it came
unexpectedly (as answers are wont to do) out of nothing more
mysterious than a causal glance from a certain direction. So I
picked up the magic coin and told it to 'Give me Joy please'.
.
Now my wish was not granted, of course, (my magic coin
promptly vanished back into the realm of non-existence), but
the knowledge gained from this exercise is invaluable. Knowing
precisely what that one great thing is that you want more than
any other thing helps to put everything else into a more proper
perspective. It rearranges your values and priorities, and
allows you to see that most of the world's bright and shiny
things are mere tawdry baubles. It allows you to see all of
reality with a certain clarity that normally only philosophers
and cosmologists can boast of.
.
Now let me tell you about the joy of my life. She is a certain
young lady whom I see on a regular basis (owing to the
convenient fact that we both happen to work at the same
place). She is an almost excessively beautiful girl well-named
'Joy'; and if she were a cheerleader she would be the prettiest
and most cheerful cheerleader in the entire world. Easily! So
everyone there would like to take a little bite out of her cute
little tushy, naturally, and so she mistakes my interest as
being of the same sort as the others. This, of course, is not
the case, but I think it best that she not know too much about
the true depth of my desire for Joy, nor about the dishonorable
intentions of my passion for her.
.
If she knew how I ache for her, she would surely scream in
terror, and bolt for the nearest exit. If she knew how easily
her smile intoxicates me, she would think me a total lunatic.
If she knew how fascinated I am by the way she moves and
speaks, she would have me arrested at once! I want only to
consume her, and be consumed by her. But if she knew that I
drink up her beauty as a thirsty man just out of the desert
drinks the cool life-giving waters, she would surely conclude
that I am a *very* contemptible creature.
.
And perhaps she is right. But what can I do? I can hide my
love for her away from her sight, but I cannot affect its flow
or intensity. Nor can I hide my love for her away from my own
eyes. And I cannot resist her beauty in any case. If I asked
God to make a woman for me (as He did for Adam) according to
my exacting specifications, according to my detailed designs
and unique requirements, He would simply shake his head sadly,
point to Joy, and say 'Why do you ask me such a thing when I
have already given you the beautiful one of your dreams?'
And He'd be exactly right.
.
You may think of my Joy as a slightly younger, slightly
smaller version of the pop-star Britney Spears. Like Ms Spears
she has the same cheerful vibrancy, the same dazzling smile,
the same laughing eyes that draw you in and threaten to
paralyze you where you stand. She has that same sexy cuteness
that Britney has so much of, only Joy's is doubly potent as it
is mixed with a certain inner sweetness and hint of innocence
that only makes her all the more radiant. Indeed, I am so
lovesick sometimes that even the slightest casual contact with
her is enough to electrify me like a sudden thunderbolt direct
from the hand of Zeus himself! How absurd is that?
.
But in a more rational world I would not have all these fears
and reservations that bind up my heart with intangible chains.
In a better world I could simply step forth and tell her that
she is my sun and moon and stars. I could tell her that she is
my inspiration, my Muse, and my Juliet. And that life is empty
and meaningless without her. In a more passionate world I could
worship her beauty fiercely and without restraint. I could
drown in a sea of ecstasy, bliss, and joy. In a perfect world
we would be lovers, and would both learn the strange ways of
that happiness that only springs forth when two hearts beat
as one.
.
Alas, this is not a perfect world, and in her eyes all my
fanciful passions add up to very little indeed (ie. considering
the source). Here then are the lessons to be gained from all
this: (1) that great pain arises out of great craving; and
(2) that happiness and joy can as easily fall upon you as not.
(3) Yet even so - and this is the ultimate paradox - absolute
joy remains only a kiss away!
.
- one who recommends unrequited love - ttextman ;>
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/ Subject > Re: Canadian Beauty /
/ Ngz: alt.religion.apologetics, alt.philosophy /
/ Forum: TOL > Philosophy ~ Religion / 13Sept02 /
.
> taichi ([email protected]) replied: Greetings
> Textman, sometimes anticipation is more potent than
> actuality. It might be that if you lived with joy,
> you would see the dark side and maybe there is no
> dark side. If her presence is as excellent as your
> writing, she has a lot going for her.
.
textman sayeth: Hi, taichi. Not really. She's just
like most other silly young ladies, I'd say. So
there most certainly is a dark side to her; as to
even the most cheerful and optimistic among us.
.
> If your perception is as keen as your writing,
.
That's up to the cyber-saints in general to judge.
But my own opinion is that perception necessarily
outstrips all attempts to cram it into pleasing words.
Poetry and music are the only mediums that even come
close to grasping reality as a totality.
.
> you have a lot going for you.
.
That seems rather debatable from my end of things.
.
> Excellent post Textman. -- Dave
.
Thx. There are more such posts coming soon,
so stay tuned to alt.philosophy.
.
But now lets get back to the post for a minute. It
might give the impression that if Joy was my girl
then all would be well with me and the world, and
the rest of my life would be one long happy holiday,
amen. This is not so. This is just one possibility
among others. I could just as easily have chosen
another wish to use my magic coin on. It's the
focusing of the will that is significant here, not
the actual wish itself. That is really the chief
point of the post.
.
As to the mysterious and confusing relationship
between the sexes, well, this is a topic that can
never be fully explored or exhausted. But I'll let
you in on my own most recent reflections on the
matter. In Plato's 'Symposium' the always impressive
Aristophanes offers the curious suggestion that "the
gods decided to prevent human beings from becoming
supermen by dividing them into male and female, so
that they would lose sight of ultimate objectives
in sexual romanticism" ('The New Existentialism',
Colin Wilson, p.162).
.
Now there is a lot of truth to this idea that
romantic feelings, concerns, goals, etc, actually
get in the way of more important things. Our current
global and technological culture in particular is
obsessed with human sexuality in general, and this
excessive concern tells us something important about
society. It tells us that most people are utterly
blind to the less tangible realities that mean far
more to us than sex does.
.
Just the other day I was watching TV, and this
sweet young thing comes on saying 'Oh yeah, that's
what life is all about: Doin' it!' Well, I thought,
how stupid is that? If sex were the be all and end
all of human life, then we might as well just admit
that human beings are all animals to the core, and
can never ever be anything more than that.
.
Believers are rightly outraged that such thinking
is so popular among the younger generation, for
it is sheer nonsense from start to finish. If
materialism (eg. extreme hedonism and sensualism)
were the only true philosophy available to us, then
Hef would surely be the greatest of all men. Greater
than Socrates, Jesus, Buddha, and any other hero
you might care to name!
.
But no. I think we can do better than that.
Much better even!
.
- the semi-romantic anti-materialist - textman ;>
.
P.S. "Christina Aguilera. The superstar who dresses
like a desperate groupie." -- Triumph (the very
rude and obnoxious puppet-dog with a cigar)
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/ Subject: Re: Canadian Beauty / 23Sept02 /
/ Newsgroups: alt.religion.apologetics, alt.philosophy /
.
>> textman previously wrote: Anyway, a good exercise for
>> Vulcans (ie. all those who seek to be as rational as
>> possible within the severe constraints imposed by nature
>> and society) is to purge excessive impulses and random
>> emotions by focusing your will to a single point.
>> This is actually not as difficult as it sounds. <snip>
.
> On 22Sept02 Michael Voytinsky ([email protected])
> replied: Maybe not, but why the heck would you want to
> do this? -- Cheers, M
.
textman answers: Hi, M. Good question; I think? The Vulcans
are, of course, a fictional race of hominids who are very much
like humans (except for the ears, ha). In Spock we have a
hybrid; a man who is half-human and half-vulcan. His struggle
to earn a rational life is thus far more difficult for him than
for his fellow full-blooded Vulcans. He is more like the early
emotional-type Vulcans in the days when the gospel of Surak
was just beginning to catch on. Because of all this, Spock
represents our own struggles to overcome the chains of
irrational and destructive passions by dedication to reason
as the best path for one and all. But freedom does not come
easily, or cheaply. Habits can quickly tie us down and sap our
vitality. We have to exercise our brains as much as our bodies;
(actually more). We must wrestle with the great philosophers,
and allow them to challenge and change our minds. We must stay
alert and focused. We must daily exercise our freedom-muscle,
and constantly stretch our imagination. This is what being a
human-vulcan hybrid means ...
.
- the almost illogical one - textman ;><
.
P.S. "Much learning does not teach common sense." - Heraclitus
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