The Great Wall of China

By: Jonathan Seidel

Symbols and letters: Chinese literate traditionalism   

The Chinese language doesn’t have an alphabet. Unlike its asian contemporaries Japanese and Korean both have alphabets. The linguistic explanation is logographic versus syllabic. The Chinese model is quite ancient while the Japanese and Korean is quite more modern. Yet the syllabic languages use Chinese characters. The uniqueness of the Chinese language is its longstanding un-alphabetic paradigm. Even the Egyptians hailed for their hieroglyphics eventually evolved their system. What is so special about China?

Chinese hanzi is used throughout the asian continent. Both Korea and Japan utilise these characters for their languages. Korea created its own language hangul in the fifteenth century and for Japan hiragana in the fifth century. The use of Chinese characters may suggest the belated effort of a writing system. Writing became relevant for political and technological advancements. Its necessity grew out of urbanisation. For China it began during the Shang dynasty as for Korea it began under the Joseon Dynasty. A sense of nationalism as well as coordination was critical for political logistics. Since the empire needed to keep records of people and taxes. Pictograms which preceded the alphabet was a measure of symbolically recording data. The need to ensure vast quantities of the past whether treaties or philosophies was printed on tablets. Chiseled into the stone from right to left. The larger the group the more necessary the announcement to be encoded. 

Pictures were the first written symbols. Each of the classic empires had a similar pictographic theory. Each of them began by drawing a fish or a bird. In contrast to other cultures, Egypt’s drawings are more exact; they look like drawing while others look like stick figures. Pictographs developed into logographic signs to expand the language. The evolution of Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Chinese languages slowly morphed their depictions of the figure into a sign. The sign was an ideogram similarly to mathematical symbols such as 1 means one. Just by looking at the number the viewer is aware of its meaning. The same is of the Chinese characters. Fish is pronounced “yu” but the symbol is the convincing part. Chinese has over five thousand characters. Characters that symbolise various features in nature. Instead of drawing a fish or a tree every time, draw a few lines in a certain shape to denote the image itself. Just as the sound bird inflects an image of the creature so does the character. This is not an easy system which is why Chinese is so difficult to learn. A way to ease was to combine symbols in a similar vein that combined pictures would mean a new thing. Chinese already does this with dawn combining two characters. 

Japanese kana is a syllabary system in which Chinese characters change from concept to syllable. When seeing a character it will be sounded out instead of applying an image to it. Similar to an alphabet but different. In the alphabet each character makes a sound, individualistically recorded but the syllabary character makes a consonant plus a vowel sound. So in English, two letters are necessary for the sound ka (“k” and “a”) but in Japanese only a single character is necessary. In this way there are less quote on quote letters to be used in a syllabary system. They operate in a similar way as a phrase of letters or symbols will be sounded out. Both grouped characters will sound the same but spelled differently. Japan took on a sound-based system. Even the Egyptians in their hieroglyphics turned into a syllabary system. Hieratic served as the cursive form turning pictograms into loose depictions and then into symbols. The demotic was its successor more easily written with ink on papyrus. It was extended for public use. Simplifying its parental style for others to utilise easily. Coptic was the final nail in the coffin turning the symbolic language into a lettering alphabet. The hellenised influence marked the shift. The addition of autonomous vowels properly distanced itself from its ancient heritage.

The first alphabet goes back to the Phoenicians who inspired the greeks to make their own in the wrong direction. Well even before the Phoenicians, unskilled labourers compiled it because hieroglyphics were too complex. Letters were independent and bunched together to make words which symbolised objects. Yet the sounds mustered by the vowels were not clear and were based on the reader’s inference. In this regard the spoken word was projected on the page and reflected back to the speaker. The word was marked by oral understanding. The difference between the Torah scroll and a Chumash will be blatantly obvious. The scroll has no vowels and the reader must guess but the Chumash presents the vowels to tell the reader how to pronounce the word. Classical arabic, Aramaic and Hebrew were abjads with prior knowledge or context to interpret the word while today they are impure. A great hebrew example would be “zaken” is old and “zakan” which is a beard. Sometimes the sounding is different based on the chronology of the words. In English letters are vowels but that is not the case in the ancient alphabets. Each character has its own sound but that sound is not obvious from the lettering like English. Technically the greeks have the first alphabet given this adage to the current English language.

Alphabetisation is a simplification of the syllabary and even more so of logographs. The letters are to make words that stand for objects. It is twice removed from the object itself. Instead of a symbol whether a picture or an ideogram, it defines the object. Yet to explain a situation various images are necessary to detail the picture. Some are simple other situations are not easy. Ideograms are also not so simple in this regard. A character mixed with other objectification are combined to explain the situation. In an oral society it is more intact. The character phraseology is easy to discern as a reflection of the verbalism but the complexity and advancement of recorded data desires a more advanced system. While this may be a decorative approach, dynasties of eras have survived in China. It may have more to do with expansion and cultural pluralism than primitive simplicity. The birth in the eastern Mediterranean region along the fertile crescent makes sense with a frequent tradespeople who travelled through the region. Spreading their alphabet marked their territory. For an expansion of trade a simpler use of characters to explain enhances literacy. Sharing a literacy with others is a democratising force to discuss with foreigners. A system other cultures could adopt and transfer goods simpler. 

An alphabetical system beyond trade was also helpful for the commoners though it not shocking that with the advent of imperial rule of Assyria, Babylon and Persia the use of Aramaic was nationwide. Influenced by the Phoenician alphabet it gradually spread across the kingdom. Diverging into various dialects across different nations. Even if the script was different the sounds were similar. Paleo-Hebrew of the Israelites and Canaanites is identical to the Phoenician alphabet. The current form of Hebrew is a modified form of the Aramaic alphabet (in the Talmud there is a distinction between Hebrew script and Aramaic script). When hellenisation rose Greece sent by their alphabet and when Rome rose they inquired of the Latin alphabet. While not entirely identical the ironic similarities between the Phoenician greek and latin is genuine. The greek alpha and latin a is a right side up Phoenician alep. For bet, the greek and latin added a second loop, for giml greek turned the letter around while latin changed the shape to a curve.  Delta is the same as dales though the latin is different but he is backwards for both greek and latin. Though the old italic Etruscan alphabet already made room for the delta to be a d but turning it sideways while lambda was turned forty five degrees east to then be straightened out. Most semitic alphabets varied slightly from the Phoenician with similar sounds while the greeks simply inverted them to write in the opposite direction. Each variation is small and gradual creation of the seaport accounts.

While all the alphabets were swarming, China remained with its logographic creation. Unnerved and unconfined of the shifts. With its centralised isolationist mentality it rarely needed to alter its language. Japan and Korea wishing to distance themselves sought alternatives. By then trade had reached and linguistic information was well expanded. The combination of symbols and letters was a nice touch to combine the western and eastern halves in an eurasian combination. For the Canaanite workers in Egypt hieroglyphics were implausible. They had little relation to the culture and older found it difficult to read. In a sense, the lower class invented the most profound evolution in history. China’s strict hierarchy is unable to reckon with the historical plunges of bottom-up western progression. There is certain ideological input into maintaining the tradition of old. China still uses its old ways because it wasn’t hampered by the outside influences in the same manner. It did have its share of external impacts but linguistically it remained part of its own world. Away from the Middle Eastern crowd that turned into the European centre did not require such noble shifts. China was filled with various dialects but all under the same rubric. Orality was very strong and writing was for the select elites. China remained true to form throughout the generations restricting venturing off into the abyss. 

To foreigners the Chinese language is vexing. Head-scratching peculiar signs drawn with precision. The foreigner wouldn’t know where to begin. The characters so foreign how do they sound. Yet the insider recognises the ease of the language. The characters symbolise objects; it makes sense visually. Emphasising meaning at the expense of transparency. Yet its transparency is difficult for foreigners. A young child can point to the character for blue or fire while struggling to sound out the words. To some degree the difficulty of character quantity may have led literacy rates to be minimal until the recent century. Whether this is imperialistic or merely a marker of oral centricity is debatable. Given the extensive strokes to write characters literacy was not necessarily desirable. China did quite well without a writing system. There is an anti-democratic notion in the lapse of literacy but individuality as well as protest is not foreign. There was a strict hierarchy embedded in the social stature which divided the literate from the illiterate. To some extent its isolationism allowed its literacy to remain on the fringes at the same time it was a weapon of the elite to remain atop the food chain. Though its restricted literacy muddled technological advancement, it maintained a communal fire and moral affinity affixed into the core of society.   

The pride of china refused the convenience of alphabetising. Yet to some degree it is an inevitable part of their isolating stance. If the alphabet was created by illiterate workers finding a better solution only to be utilised throughout the expansive imperial rule of various cultures. The letters are similar, the sounds are identical. China didn’t have that issue staying true to its successive rule. There is a deep level of respect for keeping the age-old method of literacy. For keeping to their particularistic structure. Adorning the quasi-oral nature of their characters. Keeping the image alive even if it’s expansive and complex. It is cultural and unique to its isolated history.

Doing my own Thing

By: Jonathan Seidel

Threat of otherness in the midst of passive non-conformity 

People struggle with non-conformity. While many lash out at preaching deviants. Passive monks are also dismayed. Doing nothing at times is consequential. 

Unknowingly annoying someone through passive harassment is uncontrollable. It is asking people to be self aware of doing nothing. The passivity is going against the grain. Reading a book in conversational crowd is one such example. Reclusive from the group on a park bench meters away from the social scene. Opting not to engage the norm is abnormal. While it does not account for animosity the discomfort felt by excluding the self from the group is perceptively dangerous. The group’s synergy is hallowed. Upon realising they cannot forgo what they have internalised. Once the problem staring them straight in the face is accepted it is verified as a problem. Where is the unison, why the separation. 

It takes one’s arrogant individualism to mess up the entire dynamic. There is a time and place for everything. Norms people are expected to follow. A failed expectation brings uneasiness and frustration. The higher the expectation the greater the anger. Frequent deviations may warrant unrested animosity or calming disregard. Either choosing to rebuff or repudiate. It is a fine line depending on the speaker and situation. Circumstances generate varied responses. There is a way to act and a way not to act. The monolithic vision creates binaries on how one should act. Acting out of line requires a lesson in discipline. The level of offence determines the offended’s next step. If he approaches and if so how he formulates his rebuke. 

Ironically, the deviant is not acting any malice. He is doing what he wants. What he finds comfortable and enjoyable. He may be an impersonal introvert. Shy with bad people person skills. While this person may escape the wrath of the offended, the extraverted outgoing individual choosing to do otherwise hurts more. It is analogous to the good person who does good naturally and the wicked person overcoming his nature to do good. It works both ways. We praise more for a greater accomplishment and scorn more for a greater disappointment. The expectation is a measuring stick circumstantial and factorial. The principled individual, the upholder of norms will be the first to retaliate. He will perceive this irregularity as an attack on societal address and not a fluke. Its consistence will batter his head with needless shame lacking admiration. 

Postulated norms with no listing, more or less arbitrary are sanctified by such folk. There is a consistent way of acting since youth. If this is the theme, it must be correct. It also intuitively seems off. To sit in the corner reading while others are conversing is suspicious. It is its own call of rebellion. The sidelined reader hopes people will stare at him and mess up. He hopes to shake up the norms. To mess with the codified order with his blasphemous alteration. He need not say anything. Actions speak louder than words. His actions are screaming watch me and follow me. As the only irregularity in the scene he is painted as rallying a new cause. To confuse everyone and dismantle the progress made thus far. He is perceived in a negative light, vermin out to bring chaos. 

Ill-will is forced upon him. His difference speaks magnified volumes of disgusting evil. That is the only possible answer to breaking from the norm. Surface examination is the final analysis. Preconceived cinema stalks the offended’s brain constructing narratives concerning the reader’s intentions. He must be clouded by false hopes. While most will simply ignore him seeing him as a nuisance, some will build vile feelings in their hearts. Feeling a need to make comedic or nasty comments. His peace of mind is breached by snowflake egomaniacs. He is unable to live as he pleases. His deviation is a stain on the normative portrait. He must concede his own comfort for another’s sanity. His deviation bothers them and is his fault for his insensitive lack of conformity. He wished to be left alone but instead of agreeing to his wishes they trample him with emotionally stressing sensations. 

Deviation is breaking away, forming a new world. A reality embracing adaptation. They despise change wishing for things to remain the same. Accepted norms are not easily altered. They are so embedded in the collective psyche. Each person matures with the same list. It is the irregular who is the outlier. The outcast trying to force others to fit his lunacy. He sits there quietly doing his own thing. He is happy in his own world. He cares little for universal norms. This positivistic formality is nothing short of propaganda. It is mere accepted opinion. He feels no need to comply. He disagrees and that is that. There is no scientific conclusion nor objective methodology. It is a way people do things but there is meagre justification. He displays his disagreement in choosing to do otherwise than what the situation calls for. Yet he does not perceive the binary outlook capturing the offended’s mind. He does place things in boxes. It is not a child’s game where certain blocks fit into certain holes. He embraces the complexity.

Resisting conformity angers the proponents. Pushing their dogmatic agenda on others. Dissenters are not beloved but benign. He does not wish to be accosted for his actions. He has acted in a way that suits him. He does not see the box so he acts in his comfort. He is not infringing on anyone else. The offended should ignore instead of reacting ferociously. Their childish stampede is unconvincing and ungracious. The offended see a war to defend while the reader sits in tranquil silence. When he is pounced upon, he merely ignores them. If they bother him, he will move. He does not feel the need to be threatened by immaturity. He is not hurting anyone so he should not apologise. His passivity is his choice. If that bothers others that is their problem. They need to strengthen their own convictions and mature a little. A youthful attire baked in disgruntled harmony is weak minded. You do you as long as it does not infringe on the other’s liberties.  

A Hippie's Fantasy

By: Jonathan Seidel

Mysticism is escaping the matrix!   

The mystic is a tragic hero. A foreign acquaintance and otherwise mysterious individual. Seeking a spiritual connection he finds it difficult to settle. Society demands an impulse and he cannot accept the rule of thumb. Finding the rational intake too much to bear. Horrified by society’s fascination with the new thing, they need to get away. 

Rational finances cannot combat the luring threat of realistic torture. Religion has been promised to be the treatment. Unable to medicinally heal the tortured patient, it provides a nasty good coping mechanism in divine security. Faith is that so called remedy. As long as blame is not directed to the almighty for the strenuous situation. It is an imperfect resolution but one that defies the logic of certain depressive rationality. Religious structure of community and tranquil metaphysical endorsement bring comforting measures. Yet the lonely disturbed cannot be salvaged by sympathetic congregants nor wayward divinity. 

Consistent preaching in either direction misses the mark of the disturbed. The disturbed need an escape. The mystical union was the quest for serenity away from the industrial routine burdening the body and torturing the soul. The mystic abandoned city atmospheres for the stargazing beauty of the forest. Clear skies unperturbed of the factory smoke veiling the skylight. A stressless moment in the primitive humane exaltation of the wondrous world. Lucid memorisations of the docile nature of his state in the world. Awe fills his mind raising his endorphins. Internalising through his soul bewildering his being with an emotive high. His communion with the natural underdeveloped arena is an internal awakening. Seen to be consorted with angelic idiocy, he ignores their rash defiance. This is his will.      

Escaping the societal demand for conformity. Compelling a desired gaol on behalf of the external facilitation. The mystic prepares to do make good on his inner awakening. To look to the self for advice over the coercive corporate conformity. Society is a demanding feat of order and rigidity. Commanding a force ensuring obedience. Monitoring for divergence to be expunged. Deserting for his sanity comes at a heavy price. He becomes an outlaw to the institutional graffiti. An expectation muddled with enraged propaganda blackballing him from ever returning. Repenting for his wrongdoing is his sole salvation. Yet his priorities are straight. He is discomfort with societal demand alienates him to find tranquility alone. His ideas are for the forest with little concern to educate. 

It is in his growth that he wishes to return and inspire. To elucidate his ideas to the masses to better their lives. His return is unwelcome. Hostility towards his transformation. His divergent thoughts and actions are criminally esoteric. He is shunned by the authorities to isolate him from his poisonous affection. To return he must undergo strict rehabilitation. He must reject the forest teachings for the traditional model. He must conform to stay in society. He is a danger so long as he spews his heresy. Dejected outright seeing the scorned looks across the villager’s faces. Spite and anger toward him for returning different. In shame, he returns to the forest. His survival depends on his closeness to nature. While lonely he finds peace in his aloneness. He is with nature self improving with everyday.

What are these dangerous ideas? Why does society blackball him? Anything against the status quo is toxic. Yet all the more so an individual emerging from the woods. A changed man after undergoing deserted meditation. A just person is educated in society not in the wilderness. The deserter can only learn animalistic evil. He can only present vile protests. He can’t help it. He has been transformed. He can never see the world as he as it before. He is forever tainted with the truth. Outside with walls he gains a greater perspective of society and what it has been concealing from the public eye. He recognises his freedom and excessive mobility. Able to invest himself in whatever his heart desires. No longer tied down by societal routine compelling a uniform schedule.           

He offers an alternative that breaches the traditional lines. His goal is not to overthrow the regime but tweak it. He is a rebel not a revolutionary. He seeks to expand the horizon. His preaching opportunity is not to lead a charge but to bequeath novelties. It is a mental revolt against the restrictive network. His desertion was to free himself from the shackles. He successfully broke free yet understood his journey was a temporary one. He desertion was a moment of clarity not of hate. He seeks to impart wisdom. Wisdom attained from beyond the classical style. To persist with a nuanced outlook. Open to subtle details in aiding the bereft villager. Provide some hope for the spiritually depraved. Inviting a grounding breaking inspiration to reinvigorate the gloomy spirit. 

His goal was not to abandon the people but to be free. He selfishly sought his own remedy. In his horrid struggle he deserted for his own life. To be secure from societal measures. He tried to manage his distress. Juggling his displeasing view while remaining faithful. It became too much. He was caught playing with this devilish flame and he bolted to survive. Unable to truly entertain his ideals without the authorities checking up on him. He had to keep his notes to the confines of his room incapable of freely exploring it efficiently. The forest was the solution. Peaceful away from society’s grasp. Where he would fend for himself but with his liberty to rummage in his thoughts. Society was not ready for him nor was he able to accommodate his own thinking and giving it the attention it required. 

Away in the forest he finds himself but it is always his intent to return. He wishes to bring back newfound knowledge to those lacking it. Robotic routine has overtaken the public square. Zombies roaming the streets. The vaccine is in the forest. His desertion is the hero’s journey. His acquired knowledge now influences him to return reborn. To give over the lost knowledge buried by the authorities. Society is a machine and must operate accordingly but not to the hero. He finds another way. He will exploit society’s plague and save the people from their disease. He will bring the light to the darkened atmosphere lifting the eyes of the undead villagers. Sparked with new energy to re-energise society. As a transformed group usher in the utopian eden in harmony.

Returning, he preaches in front of groups spreading the word. Amassing a dangerous following. Society is scared running every propaganda ad in the news daily to destroy his credibility. Eyes have been open, the people have heard. He is vilified but he understands that is the cost of his mission. He will be outcasted but his message will resonate. He will affect the public. Whether or not immediately or afterwards society shifts, it will be from his lips. A chain reaction overturning strict static in an evolutionary chain. From one man’s discontent to a confidence of changing the narrative. A difficult feat but a vital one. His leadership is his message. His education and tactics to fulfil the transformation. No longer a single vigilante but an organised group with an empowered front. 

He is not a prophet but a passionate visionary. His journey inspires him to gift his growth to others. He has escaped the shackles, he can liberate others. Free of the former primitive bounds. He has been enlightened beyond the pale of societal limitations. While he fails to sway others thereby alone in his realisation, it nonetheless the optimal choice. Is it worth knowing lest damned to be lonely or better to live a double life? He can do little to forget that which has so coercively changed him. Even before he accepted its invitation. It did not offer its patronage but compelled itself on to him. He was forcibly enlightened with no way to undo this fate. His mind persistently ponders the novelty sprung on him. Encountered and forever questioning his true grace. Does he suffer alone or cruelly breach other’s prior notions? His noble cause is indeed selfish.         

Alienated revelation affects him deeply. Feeling the urge to let others in on the secret. To spread the antidote to all those poisoned by society’s maniacal echo chamber. He sees this as a necessary duty. People aren’t asking for the antidote because they do not know they are poisoned. They may have experienced symptoms. Periodically an estranged thought passes their mind. There is a quick lapse in judgement but the robotic routine quickly swats it away. Conscious familiarity and security assumes control. He must awaken the unconscious message veiled to be revealed upon injection. His preaching is ethically dubious as the audience is unaware of an alternative. Repressed in their minds, his soothing call slowly magnifies the unconscious image forefront in the mind. Liberation is a prideful but is selflessly intentioned to salvage. 

The effort is akin to a spaceship carrying sleeping pods on route to the sun. The end is definite. One pod accidentally malfunctions and the latch opens. The individual aware of his surroundings sees the impending danger of the spaceship’s course. The ship is operated by a robot pursuing its own agenda. Driving the spaceship to imminent doom, to the lava heat of the sun. No one will survive but they will not feel it. Aware of this trajectory he is unable to reason with the robot. The robot has made up its mind. He cannot overpower on his own. He is now forced to wait for the inevitable demise. He cannot return to his pod to perish painlessly in bliss. He has escaped the dreamworld and must face the realistic consequences in dire anxiety and fear.

Wishing to alter the trajectory and save the rest of the pods, he selfishly awakens another pod to assist him. He breeches this innocent individual from their dream state to face the dramatic end that he fears. He explains the situation and his victim brushes him off in anger. How could he wake him up to impending doom. The accident need not befall others. His accident was his problem not anyone else’s. Nor did it give him the right to steal the freedom from others to enjoy the blissful end unaware of the real doom. To remain ignorant til the end. After some time avoiding his enemy, the victim returns with a proposal to assist lest he wish to survive if possible. They begin to steer the spaceship from the sun but their attempts are void unable to stop the robot. 

The robot was given the power by the sleepers to pilot them to a new planet. They put their lives in his hand expecting reciprocity. The robot has deceived them and is taking a different course of action. Disliking his life with great intelligence but with no body suffers from manic depression. He wishes to to end his life and those who made him the way he is. With unilateral power the robot is invincible and finds it more humorous to watch the two saviours struggle and fail than persecute them. His arrogance is beyond the pale and grows with every faltering attempt. The duo recognise their vanity and decide to wake up others hoping quantity will be the solution. This backfires creating two camps. The pro and anti robot camp, dividing the spaceship further.

Awake pro-robot individuals are in denial of the robot’s goal. The maps and reassurance from the robot is sufficient for them. Furious at the duo for denying them their liberty and bliss in the pod. To emerge young on the new planet. Now destined to die for false reasons on a spaceship. With two centuries to go, they will not merit to see the new world. They praise the robot and rely on him to provide comfort from the propaganda and lies of the anti camp. The duo’s argumentation is rational but impossible. How could a robot they programmed go rogue? Why would it decide to waste humanity and itself? They cannot fathom its betrayal and refuse to acknowledge the possibility. The anti camp open to the reasoning is convinced of the compelling narrative. 

There are indicators of the robot’s deceit. Namely the current flight path is not to the planet. The robot claims it is taking a detour due to an astroid field but this lacks any evidence. The robot persistently resorts to its artificial construction as a superior intellect to demonstrate its legitimacy. There are messages of the robot’s intention of crashing into the sun but it claims that was a mere joke to the duo to make conversation. The robot’s excuses are reasonable to the pro camp finding the robotic security palpable. They accuse the anti camp of conspiracies and elitist paranoia. Unable to cope with robotic transcendence. Robots are smarter and humanity needs to accept. The wedge is unbearable and fuels into hostile encounters. Rising skirmishes break open more pods exposing more sleepers to the century long flight. 

Beginning a civil war that battles between the awakeners. As the battle drags on more pods are opened for reinforcement. No longer is there any civil discourse over whether either side is correct. At either of the gates the sleepers are placed on one side while vilifying the other. There is no rationalisation. In time forgetting what they are fighting for and accept the legitimacy of the robot. Unable to discuss the possible inconsistency occurring above their head they make peace and live harmoniously all the while doom is approaching. The robot is the saviour ceasing the bloodshed and seen as the light. Retaining the power it had beforehand now without resistance. An overlord directing ignorant newbies. The former sleepers begin a society on the spacecraft under the rule of the robot’s regime. It will be a generation before resistance arises again.  

Such A Sad Man

By: Jonathan Seidel

The delusional reflective observer: the jealous and deceitful absurd hero. 

Isolated from centerstage, the sufferer watches as the world burns in front of him. Unable to change the trajectory of the societal progress. A viewer yelling at the movie screen for the hero to save the day. His shouts lay on deaf ears. The hero cannot hear him. He tells his friends but they are caught up in the moment. Hypnotised by the elements that cradle their passion. Smirking he inquires again of the lunacy they are believing in but to no avail. Shrugging their shoulders in assertion of a societal acceptance. Perplexed by the unanimous conformity he sits back and rejects the echo chamber of singularity. He doesn’t run away, he just sits there in disbelief and mocks the primitive monism alienated and irritated. 

His isolation emboldens his perspective on the problematic asset. From afar he is able to see the full wide range of views. He has much time to focus beyond the day to day. He engages in everyday life but the constant struggle questions the normative movement. Spending time alone in his own world perplexes the routine. He is unable to follow through with the workload of society. He becomes engulfed in the fantasies of a better tomorrow. Watching others fall slowly into delusion. Coerced by their own impassioned desires. He shrugs and continues forward growing sceptical of the fervent consistency. Observing uniform behaviour bothers his conscious. Copycatting merely feels ambivalent and dubious. Scepticism enrages into cynicism. Distorting the realistic frame with nuanced perspective. The glorious endgame is an illusion perpetuated by the idealism inherent in fictional aspirations. Walking alongside friends deliberating over the day to day is rarely cross-examined. Solely discussed in its socratic singularity internally rebuffing the odd commentary. Unable to convince the blatant patterns that intersect in his mind. He sees the numbers above everyone’s head but they just call him crazy.

Withdrawing to his room is an inevitable aspect of social isolation. He is threatening. His knowledge is superior and finds less compliance from his surroundings. He is perceived as a conspiracist. He is rumbling gibberish to the public. Finding little camaraderie conferencing his views. He urges those who disagree to take a step back and think but they are incapable. They call him a witch debasing his witchcraft. Accusing him of falsely poisoning other’s minds with his nonsense. His newly enlightened perspective is fishy and warrants polemical reactionaries. He retreats to his room in isolated focus. Pondering why they cannot see it? Are they so naive? He concocts experiments to deduce the rationale behind the error and the uproar. He concludes that they are too close to it. So stooped in this ideological frenzy they cannot but accept the truth. They are in too deep. Subconsciously they make recognise the error of their ways but consciously will never concede. Top prideful, they dig their own graves. He alienates to remain unaffected by the vitriol disenchantment. Not wishing to be infected by the grand lunacy overtaking the public. Safety from the hoodlums roaming freely in the pitch black darkness. 

He escapes the zombie ridden outside. Bolted shut he craves to not be bitten and fall back out of grace. Incapable of reasoning the obvious stench. Alone, he carefully examines and constructs a potential solution. Yet the cure is not easy to formulate. Zombies are transformed and entrenched in the bit. The medicinal salvation is a reckless but informative necessity. A medical solution that must be achieved by a respectable candidate. Though even a little by someone small can make a ripple in the waves. It may not reach the extravagant public but it can start with a few individuals. Conversation between individuals can lead to those individuals spreading out to speak to others. It is one thing to provide a cure. The real problem is convincing the public to take it. Zombies are witless soggy one track minded monsters. Injecting the cure is not enough. The only way to return to mortal form is to accept it. Their minds are mush so it is incredibly difficult for them undo their transformation into the undead. Yet to be affected by the drug must be considered working to fully execute its purpose. Forcing them back into mortal form will cause a chain reaction that only embitters their zombie form. The saviour must either leave the commune to start afresh elsewhere or slowly manipulate zombies back to the light. 

While his phobic relation to zombies is apparent it is also apparent that his perspective is justly due to not being a zombie. He may ache at the transformative monism but the monolithic goal is the zombie goal not the human goal. The latter does not need that nourishment to survive. Even in a civilised zombie society he is an outlier who fails to understand society’s goal. He may reject society’s aspirations but such can be said of his laidback and relaxed attitude. He is isolated and thus free from the retconning continuum. He sees the traffic lines as an observer without partaking in its incredulous manner. As an outsider he can critique because he is not a part of the trade. While the labour may be backbreaking the reward is joyful. He cannot attain given his rebuffed isolation. Remaining in the privacy of his room enables him to critique without even lifting a finger to exact his review of the event. A critic born of privileged courtship. Demurring the societal goal with his own take as he sits on his couch scarfing down buttered popcorn with a Diet Coke by his side. He observes but fails to appreciate the engagement. The fun from partaking in the communal element of societal progress. He sits in his room sad and lonely writing critical pieces to make himself feel better. 

He is a jealous man. He cannot have what others have. He is the quintessential slave moralist. He creates a profound model in his fictional perception to mark a new world order. He recognises he can never become the master. He doesn’t have the props or the ability. He is tragically a lonesome sufferer. He gives up the capacity to desire the societal rewards. The work hard great reward is a long shot for him. He doesn’t acknowledge the possibility. He is denied the access of such rewards. He cannot properly contend with the rest of society. If he cannot win he must change the rules of the game. The slave moralist recognises his limitations. Instead of trying hard nonetheless, he attempts to subvert the system. Offering a new compelling model that plays into his share. Why dare play a losing game when an alternative will be in one’s favour. He sees society grinding to the bow of the ship but what if he ordered the crew-mates to the stern. Those who successfully made it to the bow must now turn full circle and run the other way. Anyone who was near halfway has a better chance of winning. He has won because he is already at the stern as he champions those in progress to the bow to turn on a dime to his side. He incites deception that elevates his status while empowering those who were closest to the stern.

With his slave morality intact he cripples the master. All those who were headed to the bow have descended to his side. Offering them peace beyond the former goal. His deception has won the day. He knows others are quite overjoyed with his inspiration. His methodology overtly cradles the lower rank on the hierarchy. The stragglers made their way to his side. He inverted the hierarchy to fulfil his own hole in his heart. The irony of the sufferer’s move is that this was a necessity. Even if he could attain the master’s model he would be unhappy. The glorious societal reward was meaningless. It provided no closure nor any solution to his depravity. He seeks a remedy that differs from the classical option. He wishes for an answer for himself. That answer does not come easily in the media frenzy pouring hot lead down the throat. Hypnotising society into a monolithic tone. He stays quiet working on himself but his survival is only the first step. He ability to thrive depends on societal action. He may be an individual but the community is relevant to his success. His ability to overcome must begin with civilised shift. His enlightened identity places himself as a preacher to save others. He has seen the light, now it is his turn to preach these faults to the public. Teach them the wrongs of master morality only placing him higher on a pedestal. If he is martyred wow is his name engraved in the history books.

His absurdity emerges from his inability to see as they see. His vision is deluded with overcompensated analysis. The problems are real but they do not measure to the anarchic consequences he seeks. He criticises but lacks the motor to facilitate change. He shouts and argues but he fails to consider the position of the average individual. His habits are myopic. Upset with his own situation he projects the worst on the world. Darkness hovers over all of societal implementation. Victimising the affected in social aggression. His revolutionary canon is a hope for his own salvation. He is the tragic hero. A tragic hero with a tainted lens. He does see the issues. An obvious cause of taking a large look at the picture. Unable to follow through with the ideological jargon he observes the captivating slogans hurling individuals inside its field. Selfless to expose these ubiquitous dogmas he asserts alternatives to deploy a new frame for the future. The writing is on the wall. Selfishly believing that he has seen through the deception of societal imperialism. He is the purist angel seeking to save humanity from its harmful blunder. Unveiling the mechanic inequities that halt proper progression. Dismantling the narrational theology. All so he can play hero and have purpose in his life.

Without proper involvement he is a slug muttering blemishes in his cohort. Angry at the world he takes it out on societal problems. His polemics are exaggerated to the point of conspiracist propaganda. Overthinking the ignorance of the public. Endearing to a sociological class to argue the theoretical possibilities but fails to measure up to practical actualisation. Overloaded with frustration and countless hours of time he directs his fury to a new evil. He cannot solve his own problem so maybe the world’s is a good start. A pretty galvanising threat to overcome. An obstacle he brushes aside as a simple solution. Use common sense be kind and take accountability. Simple things he learned from the self help aisle he’s been fondling in the library. The timid inspiration leaps in its energetic sensation with minute concrete visualisation. A prophetic impulse with jargonist messaging. Zero framing or world building to actualise his message. A guru who employs big words in poetic lullabies to garner interest. Little is aided if hearts are lifted with benign hope. Getting people excited and then failing them with an unrealistic fictional plan. Other stragglers hear his call but most ignore his idiosyncratic tumblings. A nice musing ineffective on the world stage. Rashly and brazen, his words laced with ire erupting out of a volcano. He sounds like an angry old man ordering his younglings around. A man without understanding of the way of the world, just believing the world is burning. 

Indiscriminately, he doesn’t see the trees or the beautiful cosmos. He sees hellfire and demons. His private abode is serene while the outside is a diseased-filled atmosphere. He wanders to the incomprehensible tune of others. Inquiring of their ignorance he feels superior but then ashamed he cannot connect. He is alone and mortified of his own enlightened ideals. He prefers a world where he feels alive and at home. One that makes him feel safe. A world he creates and brings others in. He doesn’t want to be alone so he convinces others of his vision. Some agree but many dispense with his angry tone. He is flustered and needs help. He pushes them away. A sufferer just mad at the world. A crazy man with an obvious bias. Unable to truly reckon with the rest of society he constructs fiction. 

Absurd Abnormalities

 

By: Jonathan Seidel

The absurd life illusion: a reflective guru

The reflective individual recognises the absurdity of life. He no longer naively upholds the doctrinal assessment so emboldened in his collectivist neighbourhood. Weary of the detrimental existence he concedes to its brazen fallibility. Positivity emerges from his acceptance, calmness entering his nostrils and filling his belly with warmth. He has reached the edge of finitude looking back on its radical crystallisation.

An individual so habituated to the program does not recognise the endless pattern. He does not realise his actions are copied across the board. Human society is a refracted mime. A mimicking fool concerned for conformity. Systematic facilitation is not parcelled in the cognitive sphere. Organismic routines take hold unaware of their shared criteria. All vying for the same goals to be realised. Battling one another for that spot. The nourished complacency is not concealed. Chipped to ascertain a hopeful future filled with wealth and joy is relayed heavily in media fortune. The monolithic lens is committed to memory and expressed in daily action. The global synergy unifies a comfort to engage in said action. Nothing is irregular. The difficult life is a challenge but is trudged through nonetheless. It is lambs to the slaughterhouse. All walking in the same direction with no thought of an alternative. If everyone is walking in the same direction it must be the correct path. A naive and neglectful outlook feeding the dogmatic echo chamber. 

A traumatic event whether in agonising physical or emotional isolation invites the individual to seek a varied outlook. The chaotic absurdity of normative existence questions one’s allegiance to prior convictions. How to move forward. How to persist in the detriment of severed optimism. So stooped in the past dreaming of fluid continuity. Life is orchestrated in a specific avenue. Fate and destiny are intertwined. There are alterable angles and unalterable ones. Options are placed before us and it is this agenda that necessitates the direction to live. Either accept or hide in the forest dreading the docile continuation. The regulation of desired fortitude is measured by the opportunities presented. Take it for societal cohesion. Life is encapsulated with a paradigm for some symbolic adventure. The ultimate goal is reach, the pinnacle of materialistic gain. A path is paved and the instructions are laid out by various moguls whether In the classroom or YouTube blueprint. A prayer to the hopeful future is ingrained for societal appreciation. 

Allotting to forgo the societal invasion is to bypass the secretive information craved to get ahead. The red-pilling reaches the same desired goal the cinematic dream promises. The wholehearted American dream is heightened by guru influence. Both sides are pushing for the same value. One side may be sharing top-secret information that others may be suppressing does not change the will for the result. The core is maintained. The commodity shifting but still a commodity at the end. The pursuit is simultaneous, just after a new object. Acting in a specific way to attain the level. The frame is all-inclusive. A holistic picture of mending ideals on both sides of the coin. To have or not is still to aspire for it ideally. The realistic outcome has nothing to do with the realised limit. If the tools were afforded it would be captured immediately. It is is the weakness to achieve for a number of various reasons. As long as the ideal remains the fantasised aspiration, it lingers in the jealous heart of the downtrodden.

Aspirations are important but for a monolithic goal will only lead to misfortune and unrealised expectations culminating in unnecessary frustrations. Weaning this yoke for different goals does not shed the skin entirely. It is the second best, the current best. This is the weak minded. Preferring a different reality but dealt a bad had too stooped in sorrow to overcome. A hole in the heart that cannot be filled sufficiently. The attempt will persist but it will be a mischievous lie. A self hypnosis, a daze to cease the overwhelming yearning. A longing lingering in the depths of the soul. A raging jealousy chained by a false cover up. Hiding true insecurities with a new valued life. A deceptive tone to others and persistently maligning self character. His genuine transition must alter his entire outlook and in the best situation concern himself with none of his past desires. A remodelled individual emerges. This fake till you make it scheme is a guise to trick the self into a new ideology he was too weak to garner. It will not hold especially when things look up and he’s back on the road to the peak. 

Alongside the path for a brief moment, turning around is a cowardly move. If he truly changed he will jump. Jumping down is a mark of full concession. A fall to a new beginning. Crawling down is moving in the same arrangement. Congruent lateral movement is a temporary pause. Wrap the self in a coat to keep warm in the burdensome windy winter weather. Covering up conceals complacency with commitment to the congressional conduit. Veiling true aspirational feelings with the current difficulty at his nine to five job. Hoping for that promotion upgrading to the next level. Climbing the mountain grabbing the rope with his might demonstrating his skill. He’ll huddle up until his body warms up energetic to move up again. The lie is an internal dilemma. How to maintain confidence in the competitive atmosphere riddling his chances of major accomplishments. He keeps trying when given the chance awaiting his boss to call his number. The bench player sitting patiently for his coach to put him to the game. A fire is lit in his eyes awaiting his moment to take charge. 

Absent the societal pressure there is no desire to weave into the null greed of raising that chance. Amidst the journey he daydreams of an alternate reality. One not muddled with this carnal instinct for recognition. This moment of otherness is dangerous. Hypothetical ecstasy is a theoretical fantasy until realised. Until implemented into his life. The pragmatic turn in actualisation alters the course of his life. He becomes someone different. Leaping into the abyss he is truly off the mountain. He no longer plays by society’s rules. This outsider mentality is dangerous to others. He is perceived differently. While someone may veil his intentions with new goals, through conversation and body language, his true passion will be divulged. He will be exposed. The leaper is on a different island. He does not speak but acts entirely differently. He has constructed a new organic lifestyle. It is not just a saying but a way of living. He may recall the old merits tempting him but his routine diagnoses a disinterested motion. A full rejection for a newfound discord.                 

  

After the change he is an outcast by all standards. He does not poach nor preach. He lives his life isolated from the nonsense as he perceives it. He does his thing while everyone else does theirs. Fed up with the simulated society he refutes it in his heart, crippling it in his soul. His ideal is his stoic veracity. His path is his own. The first in messing the grassy path unpaved and unmarked. He trots through the forest. He does not adhere to the concurrents screaming at him. He puts in his headphones and pushes forward. It is a consequential disassociation filled with lonely questing. Listening to his inner voice empowering him fuelling his tired leg muscles to keep moving. He is not satisfied in his current state. Searching for his own goals disconnected to the group’s motto. He lives by his lingo. An isolationist by trade funding his own career and merits. 

Adorning his own crown praising his worth in the futility of life. His confidence and worth are his motoring ideals. His aspirations are individualised in an autonomic blessing. A self mechanical formulation. His lucky stars sounding the clarion call as he passes through town. He will encounter others still hoping for that reward to reach the top of their game. He has given up chess for checkers. He is in an entirely different world mentally. Objectively everything is the same. The same sky, coffee and bars but nuanced subjectivity. A perspective strengthened by the internal mind’s force for its isolating journeying. An anarchist ensuring he is not tied down to any institutional frame. Leaving the scene entirely for his own future. There are still rules but he chooses the direction. He follows the same laws governing but the details of everyday hopes are monitored by the soul not external instructions. He builds his lego house not how the operator says. Reviling the directives forced upon the individual to follow to the letter. 

Actively ignoring attempts to bring him back. He cannot escape the media frenzy fail safe. The slogans are everywhere in every discussion. Creating a mass delusion for uniformity and order. A renegade with little upside. Personal integrity and honest identification are solely prideful moments for him. Onlookers may respect the conviction power but disregard the conviction content. A loner and a reject with no rationale to include, just ignore. He will realise his futility in no time. Abandonment is a consequential act. There won’t be much cheering nor praise to continue down the lone wolf track. It is to the wilderness away from the synchronised village. Leaving may be seen as a superiority trope marring any charismatic influence. He will encounter dissenters and sceptics but it is his personal confidence that is necessary. His success hinges on his willingness to forgo the external concern. He must leave behind in order to move forward. This isolation only breeds resentment from his fellow countrymen. He sticks out like a sore thumb and aggravates others with his existence. 

Asserting himself is neither an active preacher role but a passive existence. He merely wears his convictions branded on his forehead. He is who he is, unaffected by the stimulating coercive ideas surrounding him. He reaches peacefulness by living his true self. It is not true peace as he marginalised by his own fellows. He is by no means tranquil in his encounters. They look at him with scrutiny and scepticism. Way to be a loser they say. The outsider is ridiculed for his alien beliefs. Isolation haunts him but he is too principled to be overpowered by emotional distress. Mental abuse is symptomatic of an expectation. Frustration and loneliness emerge from yearning for consolidation and acceptance. By weaning off of others’ necessity he can reduce his traumatic alienation. He cannot diminish it but can diminish its horrific detail. He need not be a caveman but his cognitive realisation forces him outside the mix prior to social isolation. Finding camaraderie with like minds or consent to aspects of the societal application.