Day 101
"A witty saying proves nothing."
- Voltaire
Skipping over the paradoxical nature of the quote above, I'd like to spend a moment this evening discussing the power of the platitude. A platitude, for those of you who do not know, is a short inspirational phrase that in truth is nearly vacuous. "You'll succeed, as long as you never give up on yourself" for example. Obviously it is false, for we can fail in spite of trying out best. And to the extent that it becomes broader and more philosophical, like a sort of imperative for living in general, it can mean nearly anything.
And the tricky thing is: phrases than can mean just about anything, really mean just about nothing.
I cannot for the life of me stand short quotables that sound interesting, or witty, or inspirational, but aren't actually saying much at all. Romance itself has degenerated into a temporary industry alongside them.
Perhaps the point can grow a little bit here. Could we also note that many conspiracy theories, self-help books, new-age industries, and (you know it) religions manage to operate very heavily upon the willingness of believers to take the globulous and nondescript blobs of semantic clay and fashion them into their own personal manifestos? It is worth noting again that the protestants and catholics who murder each other over their Gods are all reading the exact same bible, word for word. This places within me a conviction toward believing that people aren't so much as reading their bibles, but looking in their bibles for words that will match with what they already happen to believe.
"The Secret," an incredibly popular self-help movement based around the imperative that there is some kind of literal positive energy wandering through the universe that can be harnessed simply by imagining the things we want in life, is the ultimate example. If you want X, imagine X, and if you do it well enough, X will be yours. If you don't get it, it's only really because you didn't harness the positive energy quite well enough; or, you didn't really want X that much all along.
Check it up on Wikipedia.
The 'theory' is absolutely irrefutable, and this is a very bad thing. I offer you this imperative as a cautionary tale for avoiding sending your mind off on wild goose chases: If you come across a theory, or phrase, or belief, that remains true and consistent with the world no matter what happens practically or even theoretically... don't believe it!
For in truth, what you've decided to believe is either wrong, or nothing at all other than a string of words combined with things we all wish were true.
- Voltaire
Skipping over the paradoxical nature of the quote above, I'd like to spend a moment this evening discussing the power of the platitude. A platitude, for those of you who do not know, is a short inspirational phrase that in truth is nearly vacuous. "You'll succeed, as long as you never give up on yourself" for example. Obviously it is false, for we can fail in spite of trying out best. And to the extent that it becomes broader and more philosophical, like a sort of imperative for living in general, it can mean nearly anything.
And the tricky thing is: phrases than can mean just about anything, really mean just about nothing.
I cannot for the life of me stand short quotables that sound interesting, or witty, or inspirational, but aren't actually saying much at all. Romance itself has degenerated into a temporary industry alongside them.
Perhaps the point can grow a little bit here. Could we also note that many conspiracy theories, self-help books, new-age industries, and (you know it) religions manage to operate very heavily upon the willingness of believers to take the globulous and nondescript blobs of semantic clay and fashion them into their own personal manifestos? It is worth noting again that the protestants and catholics who murder each other over their Gods are all reading the exact same bible, word for word. This places within me a conviction toward believing that people aren't so much as reading their bibles, but looking in their bibles for words that will match with what they already happen to believe.
"The Secret," an incredibly popular self-help movement based around the imperative that there is some kind of literal positive energy wandering through the universe that can be harnessed simply by imagining the things we want in life, is the ultimate example. If you want X, imagine X, and if you do it well enough, X will be yours. If you don't get it, it's only really because you didn't harness the positive energy quite well enough; or, you didn't really want X that much all along.
Check it up on Wikipedia.
The 'theory' is absolutely irrefutable, and this is a very bad thing. I offer you this imperative as a cautionary tale for avoiding sending your mind off on wild goose chases: If you come across a theory, or phrase, or belief, that remains true and consistent with the world no matter what happens practically or even theoretically... don't believe it!
For in truth, what you've decided to believe is either wrong, or nothing at all other than a string of words combined with things we all wish were true.
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