Human Nature

By: Jonathan Seidel

Orality and laconian real and hyperreality 

Lacanian real embodies a spiritual unknown in the depths of human reality. Reality is run by symbolic representation to signify objects. Language is a construct of interpretation. Signs are models of socially constructed communication. Yet the real manifests behind the veil of social experimentation. The real is stable and neutral in its professed perpetuity. Yet the real is universal. It transcends the modalities dividing human collaboration. It unifies humanity in connective maturity. 

A world fragmented by otherness is burdened to dispel us-them paradigms. Slogans and billboards highlight the difference evident in human objectification. Even if we were all blind, we would find variance. Our tribalistic tendencies would not vanish without sight. Our ears would pick up on the vocal divergences and place the lisps in a camp. Those who pronounce words differently or with a horrid accent would be divided. Even to remove all sensory qualities. To be a lame deaf mute would be “less than human” but primitive as may be avails any sense of otherness. Yet such a figure is a vegetable unable to calculate for himself the presence of otherness. By virtue of recognizing something beyond himself with faculties beyond himself would trigger otherness tribalism if possible. 

Humanity is destined to designate detriment. To find fault in others. A scapegoat for his own inadequacy. Absent accountability, he lives blissfully. Radically abrasive in his own insecurities musters opposition to disagreements. Hiding in his own shadow. Commonalities to shield his own uniqueness as a target of denigration. Finding comfort in conformity. Constructing false personas to fit an agenda. To fit a paradigm foreign to the self. Boxing in personal credentials to make others comfortable. At the expense of the self. Not doing any favors. The result is a discombobulated unrecognizable self. Coercing self appraisal in hope of external acceptance. 

Signification is culturally relative. Language is a privatized personalization. A communitarian hub of social cohesion. Man eclipses the difference verbally. He transforms from primitive to cognitive. The elemental connection mutually advances with sonic synchronization. The ability to communicate aligns thoughts and intent. It professes a singularity capturing the binary linkage. To connect us through qualified symbolism. Though language can be weaponized to divide it is the sole mode of enunciation. We relate to the world via this common verbalization. It enables briefs to be pronounced and properly understood. Silence hinders such a capability.

Language is a social construct embedded in human ontology. Man’s inclinations are surreal in the presence of absolute liberty. Yet he is a slave to his desire. Stooped in an egotistical battle, he fancies societal implications. He is told by the uneducated what is important and works to achieve these means. A checklist to complete in a lifetime. Aspiring to be the film fiction character charming the audience. The protagonist manipulates the masses to seek mundane matters to complete the self. A way of life for all man. Such influence is endemic and toxic. As if Hollywood is tactically puppeteering society. An elitist cabal of sorts with unimaginable power and influence.

Film has played a big part on people’s conception of life. Trying to turn their lives into video games. Wishing to be those characters in real life. Fiction is translated into reality in its merited appropriation. Yet film is not the first menace but the most prudent. While novella discusses hypotonic plot lines, the imaginative clause keeps a fictional basis to it. There is an element of uncertainty. Film tricks the mind. It presents fiction as fact, the illusionary are real. People who lie for a living are the pinnacles of excellence. Their constant media and central focus captures their deep importance to the people. Their voice carries unsolicited weight in the minds of their listeners. The public’s admiration for such shadiness is despicable.

Role models and fame have been confused. The wise are no longer the older generation but the liars. Those who change their minds each and everyday. Those who cannot properly provide a legit political point. Just pundits with excuses. An irritating selfishness consuming society. The greedy elites pass on their corrupted living tips down to the masses. Mind boggling does not begin to explain the dire situation. Taking advice from repeated talking points. Inverse psychology provide relief to the public’s self image. The pubic believes in their own free will but such ideological motivation was predetermined via hypnosis. It was planted in the mind by a clever magician. A spectacular ruse that has ensnared almost everyone. The few proud escapees fled waking up from the matrix.

Wealth is power. It has always been and may always be. Wealth provides access. Especially in our technologically advanced world a handful of people can attain the results unbeknownst to the masses. To afford special privileges places one in a category of their own. Work costs money and for the right price anyone can be sold. Money is necessary so are aesthetics. If money is important it ought to be used wisely. To spend on materialistic nonsense is illusionary. When the masses are hypnotized to believe that price means speciality. It also means scarcity. The way something looks and successfully advertised redirects the public’s attention toward stuff as the object of importance.

The ego needs to be acknowledged. Some clever capitalists brainwashed the public to believe that certain stuff is more important. Not just important but to save face in society. Encumbered by peer pressure, we need to satisfy the status quo. Obsessed with respect. Such respect apparently is joined with conformity. The outcast is the outlier. Fall in line or be scorned. Do what is expected of you. How dare you be unique and isolate from the preferred standards. Trends are set by trendsetters. There is no positivistic apparel (except wool and leather). Kennedy was a trendsetter. As a national icon even a global one he took a step back and decided not to wear a hat in office. Though unofficially ended in the 20s, the most powerful man not wearing one meant something. 

Many trendsetters are unaware of their influence. Their goal is not to coerce the masses. People have their fashion agendas but their power is in their publicity. As icons they carry major weight. Their profound wisdom is a subjective opinion. A declarative statement. When the unintentional becomes a living reality. The trendsetter is long gone. The link is marred by social approval. The trendsetter lights the match and it spreads like wildfire. The forest is frozen in place watching in horror as the fire consumes it whole. Some trunks survive the blaze but clinging to little life remains. Alone trying to stand tall amidst the terminal depressive loneliness. Mass hypnosis cannot easily be overpowered. Immunity to the toxin is with the antidote. Internal dialogue and introspection can formally bewilder the self past the illusionary trend. 

Foucauldian power argues for immanence of power. It is force relations or connections not hierarchical power. The continued democratic liberalism persists in this binary feature. The Marxist oppressor is presented in the intersectionality of excessive victimization. Placed in categories by privilege: race, nationality, and gender. People do weaponize their afforded liberties but presenting this dynamic further divides the people. The stigmatization of groups by virtue of biology is an unfair characterization. Stereotypical normatively furthers false meta-narratives. Agenda driven oppressed people reinforces systemic discrimination. There are bad eggs but the illusion of tyrannical targeted tragedies is gravely mistaken. There is no nationwide pogrom destined to wreak havoc. 

Strawmanning people by their genetic makeup attacks their ontology. Privileges provided are less the reality and more the fiction. Yet this fiction becomes reality the more it’s preached. The more discrimination is pronounced the more ire is returned. Race becomes the central focus of relationship. It becomes the centre of one’s being. It deconstructs the entire premise of MLK’s thinking. There are obvious issues but introducing a racial ideology is less a protest and more a revolution. It’s not imperfection but eternal damnation. One side is fated to mistreat and misjudge the other. There is no reconciliation and so the sole solution is to mark that inferiority and divisive failure.

Apologists stand tall fortifying their decaying wall. Jericho will fall. The system must be preserved. The core to protected. The market is pure and the misfortunes are incidental and consequential. It happens, such is life. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Everyman for himself in the world of economic elevation. It is only money, there are more important values to be honed. Not everyone is born on equal footing. Not every plate is provided the same quantity of produce. A rat race to the bottom is a disfigured monstrosity on display. A competition that cares little for the humanity itself. The ontological notions of enlightenment are thrown down the drain in the pursuit of the defensible core. 

The mantras of old need to be revamped. Their impact ought to be actively endorsed. A monolithic echo chamber of archaic dogma to surplus the very freedom supported. The ideas embedded in the national consciousness to be partially implemented. Only permit that which follows the partisan thinking. Freedom is limited in its care for the concerned. It's restriction not against tyranny but against social independence. Hypocrisy stirs in the light of an agenda he has sought. A seeming selectivity for his goals. Preach the old ideas while muttering the enlightenment ideals. Prioritising when it pleases the desire. 

Impossible harmony encircles the unyielding power dynamic. The frame game constructs this stumbling reality. Stooped in propagandizing the perceived reality is tainted with tribalistic division. Relations falter as appearances take the primary seat over attributes. Our instinctive reactions rationalize immediately and classify by surface information. The deeper experience is voided by semantics. No longer is the unique internalized as an individual amongst himself but as a group with baggage. Identification is a yellow star on the chest announcing one’s affiliation. The land of opportunity is regulated to some fortunate. The goal isn’t to forget the disparity but not base it in dogmatic quotations. It’s a mechanical issue not an ontological one.  

Liberation from the tragic horrors of the past radicalizes into a beast bound for nowhere. A false eden on the horizon deluded by euphoric toxins. The flood gates are opened and all is wiped away. The walls crumble en route to the palace of secrecy. Rules are outdated and are to be voided. Anarchic tendencies fuel the rage of the liberators. Mechanical alterations are not sufficient and the broken piece needs to be replaced. A new world order is necessary to refashion the corrupted society. The socialized rules are no longer relevant nor capable. The revolution must prevail over the archaic limits. 

Symbolic representation is clouded social construction. Relativism at its very best. Buying into the ideas that fit the selfish stream. It is all encased in a matrix of desire. A will of encoded DNA bound to entertain the agenda paved for him. His fate was set. Without any block nor obstacle his mind will never change. His perception if fixed, fixated on the diabolical other. The social order is imprinted into a circus of ideas. Each side defending their post never wishing to put down their arms. The real stands beyond angelic and untainted. Yet the symbolic seducer shuts the greyish eyes for robotic continuation. 

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.  

Unelected Intellects

By: Jonathan Seidel

With society’s overwhelming dystopian power people’s familial values are desperately in danger of oblivion. The internet has spread its wings cultivating a global audience at its fingertips. Displaying its information as the valued lifestyle. Pushing this on the masses influences them toward a mentoring agency in the direction of uniform values. 

Social media affects everyone and then trying to fit in conform to unbelievable standards. They resulting effort is an overwhelming agitation to meet the standards. Stressful insulation melts in the hearts of wishful thoughts. Hoping to break into the mould. This is no longer an exclusive popular crowd sitting alone in the cafeteria but a global mentality. The normative is the neighbouring assimilation. The outcast is he who rejects this new order. We look down on those who perceive the internet as a wrongful violator. The devil is not the informational monster but the monstrosity unwilling to concede to the master. The external wave of ascension declares its statutes genuine. The embellished narratives exploit the environmental bubble. The internal youthful empowered self is met with criticism. That is old archaic ideals. For a bygone time that will get you nowhere. Nice guys finish last. Cinematic dramas are a fantasy, a fable labeled for slave mentality. Instead be dangerously ruthless in self prioritisation. 

An Orwellian oversight that persistently supplies its narratives at every corner. Like a song repeated on every pop station forced to listen to the country station for some diversity. To break from the mould for some difference. A uniform measure is spread on society to grasp and hold onto tightly. The floor is lava according to the internet gurus. Methodically traverse on tables and benches to survive. Pushing others down to achieve your goal. Yet it is all imaginary. The floor is not actually lava but the prefrontal cortex accepts the external information as fact and accepts instantly. It is coming from the gurus, the successful, it must genuine. Creating a frame that is focused at almost every angle. There are subtle rebels but are lost in the later google searches, drowned from closer contact. Surrounded by routine mottos formulating a thematic jargonist ideology. It pierces the soul and identifies as the truth beyond the self’s own introspective capability. Trusting his rational mind over his reflective instinct.  

Totalitarian information is translated in every crevasse of human society. Gathering a monopoly on begotten knowledge. There is no escape. Why escape? Life is free and exhilarating. It is tough but follow these easy steps and life will drastically improve. Listen to the internet and it will provide the necessary changes to elevate a troubling existence. The gurus made it, their knowledge will aid the public to eclipse the slavish mortality. A few hacks will alter the course of a cowardice lifestyle. These elites are nothing short of ivory tower talking points. But their experience should speak for itself. They wouldn’t deceive the public for their own gain. They would not promise the public for self interest. An already greedy society has a select few who have superseded such sinful desire. The fool harks on every word. They do care, he exclaims. They are saying important things to keep in mind all the while stuffing their own pockets. Manipulating the public for their own gain.

A few courageous rebels have published themselves attempting to expose the false prophets. Accepting the beating protesting to their last breath. Even when banned, they cunningly seek alternatives to convince the public of the illusionary hand. They understand the contemporary mind. If people only accept eternal information, then we will provide that service. Provide a scepticism for critical thinking to reemerge. For people to rethink their values and direction of life. Though at times watered down in order to avoid detection. Committing their secrets to morse code, an esoteric formulation to get the message across without proper decoding by the algorithmic discrimination. A system set with values that will cancel that which it finds harmful to the societal plane. Speaking out against the regime, the fuelling ideology is testament to blasphemy. Punishment is cancelation and ban.   

More than the cancelation is the brainwashed supporters to actively repel those attempting to portray another position. Social media does its role of voiding disagreed points but their constituents do their dirty work. They have gathered an army under their banner and ridicule those who they disagree with. Violently expressing their distaste and gruesome desires. Whether they take to the streets or not, the hurtful statements in vulgar language are only the beginning. There is an echo chamber open for ruffians to run onto the field but guards will escort them out. Now the average Joe will in his service grab the trespasser. Designated guards are still relevant but the people have become a militia of their own. A patriotic unity in favour of a monolithic ideal. The people will act under the internet’s command to quash the rebellion. Acting mercilessly to kill the impending viral attack attempting to overthrow the prophetic voice championing salvation. 

Much of these protests fall on deaf ears. While these rebels make a name for themselves as the underdog and the protesters are portrayed as a vicious parent beating a defenceless child, the story doesn’t always last. The power for change is not newsworthy. The next story has hatched and the event long forgotten. The internet carefully continues its dominance of disseminating its message to cover of the mess made by its servants. If rebellious attempts are less impactful another avenue must be assumed lest diversity cease to exist. Lest humanity fall prey to the illusionary matrix. Disassociation is the first step. Spending less time on the internet galloping for inspiration and direction. Self empowerment must emerge from the depths of the self. Once engulfed in the internet matrix it is mightily difficult to divert from its prowess. It is the all-encompassing exposed externality. It is all around and all that everyone else is partaking. A step back for a moment will realise the negligent apparatus of media appeal. Yet this informs an incredible question, if the individual is willing to be a rouge. If he is willing to be an outcast even if silently. People will catch up and he will be ousted. 

A grave decision as removing the self from social media is not easy. For those traditionalist groups who abhor the dangers of the internet, it is embedded in their system to revile the internet. Yet those who peek through the crack so sheltered their entire lives will feel liberated from their bubble for the calming matrix. No longer a marginalised individual outside the matrix. Moving from chess to checkers. From one echo chamber to another. The lack of critical thinking on both sides is dangerous. To combat the internet dangers extreme action is taken to ensure peace. No balance is pure ignorance and phobic otherness. While the exposed are caught up in the daily routine and unaware of the habituated personnel. Reading books and meditation are two examples of alone time transcending the internet ideology. Fiction and self reflection display valued portraits of what can be. What is need not be what ought to be, nor should be. Personal time is measured by introspective clarity. To reach this level of enlightenment takes considerable self esteem. To be willing to walk down a path different than everyone else. There are other like minded individuals but few and far between. A risk for one’s own convictions. It does not promise a better nor more fulfilling life. Just one that boldly defines one’s soulful ecstasy.                                                                  

    

Escaping the matrix of social coercion is bilateral. It requires self reflection and self isolation. In order for the self to properly examine itself it needs to steer clear of the pressures constricting any advances. Recognising these social pressures may happen upon the self on a lengthy hike in the mountains or during a semester abroad. The irregularity and newness shifts perception. Looking from the outside in battles the merited pillars people hold so tightly. While the internet is with you more or less wherever you may be, in a foreign area the mind eclipses the matrix and inquires of the self’s purpose. The isolating experience harks back on the group identity and if fit in. Spatial proximity advances a level of difference in emotional alienation. Yet the superior level is self reflection. Able to juggle complexity around the group. Disallowing the pressures to pierce the reflective shield. Able to fend off the devilish wolves hellbent on capturing and torturing the rogue for his treachery. Keeping a clear mind despite the raving attacks trying to compel uniformity. 

An exercise transforming into a lifestyle. Beginning to see the world differently. Feeling evermore as an outcast. Not fitting in, a bit suicidal wishing to live thirty years in the past. A bygone heritage that better relates to the current sensation. This lone wolf attitude is a prideful endeavour. One of lonely but empowered self respect. A different minded individual sticking to his chops in a sea of sharks. The more reflective, the more honest and humble the more thicker the skin. It can only break if you let them. Do not let the shield wall fall into disarray. Keep fighting back. Do not feel bad to lose the battle as long as the war is still waging. The war is only over in blatant surrender. Retreat recover and retaliate. Stay true and fight the matrix. Share your views but careful they may go unheard as well as pushed back and polemically nourished. Yet the convicted individual will not back down from a fight. He may lose but he will rise with a bloody nose and black eye not out yet. The mind can only be conquered by autonomous concession not forced fear. 

Music Matrix

By: Jonathan Seidel

Linguistics and melody: a deeper interest in the foundational intricacies that stifle artistry (Mayer vs Tani song)

Mayer and Tani argued over a piece of Music the other day. While Mayer highly enjoyed the song, Tani did not. Tani ridiculed its instrumental intricate issues. The melody and tone were off even if it “sounded” appealing. Mayer’s enjoyment held to surface auditorial measure while Tani’s musical knowledge was conflicted on the instrument’s synergy. 

Mayer’s ignorance was the prime reason for his elevated feeling of the song. He simply liked it. It sounded good and made him groove. Feigning ignorance internalises the simple and sonic. The ability to block out the facile fascination beckons the calling. The sound is toxically consuming. Its appeal is fierce in its conceptualisation. The body responds to the rhythm. The body sways back and forth nodding to its beat. Compelled by the lyrical mastery. The words tied with musical notoriety fuel engagement. Music battles the instinctive feeling to sing and dance. The internal urge to respond to the melody sensation. The psychological impulse is reactionary and engaging. Music is fluid and soulful. 

Tani could not detach from the deeper messaging of the song. The beat was off and the melody shrewd. The percussion did not match the string instruments. It sounded awkward melodically. The musical fluidity was stifled by inconsistency. The lyrical compilation failed to match the rhythm. The words poured off-beat. An outcasted guitar on its own, breaking the line. The internal knowledge of the instrument’s failed his appeasement. The disproportionate ratio undermined the song’s coherence. The song mustered power but with deep instability. The bodily response was surface to his instrumental comprehension. It was raw and squeaky. It did not meet his standards of synergy.     

They perceive music differently. The former semantically and the latter semiotically. Mayer enjoys the music sound but cannot make sense of the chord production. Mayer happens to be a musician but is ill equipped to songwriting. His lack of alliance and allegiance to the art fuels his ignorance. He is deaf to their pleas. The inconsistent complexity creeks but is ignored. Caught up in the overwhelming sonic motivated to dance. He does not hear anything out of the ordinary. Convinced the song is amazing. Yet it less that he likes it and more that he cannot make out the faint cry for help. The dialectical melody is mechanically breaking down. Like ruined machinery ready to topple. 

Chord progression is organic and progressive. The incompatibility between instruments halts proper execution. The observer notes these issues and is petrified. He faults the song covering his ears of the awful sound. He must be delirious. He sees what others cannot see. His knowledge opens worlds for him. He is attuned to a new reality. Once knowledgeable he cannot forget. Such is the realisation of another’s annoying quirk so soon forgetter due to the frequent friendship. Yet once the glass is shattered the obvious cannot be voided. You see your friend in a new light hoping to overcome this new realisation. An epiphany that needs retaliation and resilience. Either allow this new info to eat at you and leave or tackle it head on. Accept them for who they are and move forward. Knowledge is power and wielded correctly combats “evil forces” disrupting the spiritual fluency of information. 

The newfound reality realised is a prophetic passibility. The wonder associated with the cognitive advancement is a double-edged sword. Learning new things brings new obstacles. Knowledge is powerful capable of grace and disgrace. Overwhelming heteronomy pierces the soul of the curious learner. Deepening knowledge in vast efforts brings new signification to life. Nothing is as it seems. The surface categorisation supplying the reality is muddled obscurity. There is deeper conversion and division than terminological difference. The literal liturgy is standardised but its noun may not align with its verb. Better yet, it may not actualise its function properly. The realiser is confused and compounded by this new reality. It is new and a breakthrough. Internalising this new perspective is an identifier that reshapes his worldview. The once enjoyed music does not fit and is disturbing.

The realiser has entered a new outlook, one that conceives of the “truth”. The details that disrupt the musical excellence are bemoaned. He spends time racking his head around these issues. So attuned to the disgruntled voice of instrument incoherence. He cannot un-hear that which has been revealed him. He did this to himself. He snooped into the music department. His love and interest in the subject, inspired to probe deeper. Little by little, gradually, he learns of the musical rules. What instruments match with others. How they are to go together. There are infinite combinations but there are no-nos. The combination like chess must accord to the beat. It must stay on-clash. Intentionality is a path to apprehension. A goal does not come without unintended consequences. Knowledge of musical fundamentals beholds a methodical philosophy. Instruments blend to make a beautiful sound. Listening for that clash differs from the sound. 

He has entered his own world. His new knowledge distances himself from others. He perceives music differently than others. His joy and anger are not only more inclined to the instrumental coordination but the manifestation in a song. Though he may enjoy instruments mashing together its completion lyrically fosters a completed asset. His cute remarks about the chord prognosis is dismissed by others as weird. His insights displace him. Yet he does not only think differently but acts as such. He implements his variance. Most would not know of this transformation if not told. Though they themselves are unaware of its origin and uncertain of its crystallisation. They do not recognise knowledge as the pretext for his outlandish presentation. He is viewed obscurely for such positional thinking. Their lack of interest and awareness keeps them on the sidelines. They do not look deeper so they enjoy the surface enjoyment without realising nor combating the deeper darkness lurking below. The hidden demons so easily illuminated with some flashing study.

His knowledge isolates him from his peers. He is more enlightened than them. He further alienates himself the more he preaches his perspective. It is a realisation that cannot be untold. Passionately wishing to salvage good music and destroy bad music. He can start a movement to educate the masses. Yet is it his job to open the eyes of the blind? Defend authenticity? Give a voice to the downtrodden musical incoherence? Save people from foolish musical imperfection? Becoming a protester he raises an issue not realised by the people. He lights up their conscious. He need not hold rallies but mention the inconsistency. Elucidate the forgone knowledge. A teacher not criticising but inspiring. Music is a tempting subject, it need be cared for and respected. Yet by doing so he is stealing their ignorance. Once internalised they will no longer be able to see the world in the old way. They must now on their own deal with the consequences. Ethically he is at an impasse. Is he to reveal his findings that will disrupt the flow of knowledge? Was Galileo’s heliocentric protest in the catholic church immoral? He corrupted much of the human knowledge so entrenched and did so publicly putting everyone’s ideas in disarray.

Mass ignorance is in need of salvation. Music is a science and like chess must be recorded correctly. The pleasant sound from surface adherence is actually revolting. A toxin has consumed their minds. They are engulfed in improper musical conduction. It may sound nice, it does not mean its good nor correct. The ethical imperative to upend pleasure for precision is delicate. Knowledge liberates the blind. Chained to a false reality. The counterbalance outweighs the promotional securities. The darker dimension is only pitch-black to the ignorant. Blinders are afforded to those uninterested in the deeper layer. Living aimlessly with the knowledge petitioned to them. People were not searching for answers Galileo pointed out. Nor are the people seeking the workings of the instruments. Ignorance points to a lack of interest. It does not matter nor is it necessary. The beckoning is not reciprocated. While some take the deep dive, red pilled, they are the small minority. The platonic philosopher kings are the sole brazen few that are strong enough to break through the darkness. To quash the not-so-obvious disgruntled meta-narratives. They are the saviours who can bring about change. Though they may have a rebellious audience. 

The holes in the meta-narratives are on both sides of the aisle. While liberals will acknowledge the failures of modernity, they downplay the revolutionary progress. Conservatives will admit imperfection but fail to understand the depth of the insecurity. Women can vote but are ostracised in the workplace. Yet, how and to what degree is exaggerated. Racism exists and racist cops overuse their power but not all cops are racist. There is a balance. Both meta-narratives of no racism and all-racism is untenable. Both these issues highlight ethical conundrums. Women should work without harassment but the ruse of a systemic issue must be heavily considered. Abolishing racism is a top priority (if even possible given our innate tribalistic perceptions) need not make ridiculous generalisations and further racist claims. The Matrix’s ingenious muddling of reality with the Architect and Neo’s powers converge reality and illusion. Hyperreality works in both ways. Galileo’s discovery of the heliocentric model is not technically accurate. Planets do not rotate circularly around the sun nor is the sun the centre. Planets move in oval path ellipses and any point in space can be the centre. Newfound knowledge is not absolute nor genuine. Progress aims to finally reach truth. The philosopher king only teaches what he has discovered but it is his finite imperfect present knowledge. Ideas that will be eventually overturned. 

The contemporary fiction is a statement of reality. Remiss of every detail to present a solid case. We may debate our side but we choose a side negating the honest inquiry of the other. It becomes utilitarian over objective. By choosing it does not mean we denigrate or find zero value in the other but our energy into our position misses the necessary steel-manning. In sum, like the matrix, the illusionary fits both paradigms. Both Zion and the Matrix are illusionary. Though Morpheus in his Humean empiricism deems realistic perception as the sole authentication of reality. Zion is another matrix. Red-pilling does not provide the ultimate truth. It may just lead one to different dogmatic understanding that is illusionary. Contra Hegel, we may not be moving to human excellence. Backsliding democracies and neo-nationalism thwart the Hegelian prophecy. Forbidding the opportunity to escape the second matrix may be its own detriment. Even if life is a simulation, the inception dream layers still allow the freedom to travel to them. What is real and what is fake does fall to empiricism. The dialectical scientific program continues to re-evaluate the situation. The red-pill is its own illusion, a powerful educational one, but at least an unintentional one. 

Red-pilling is the free choice but it isn’t really. It opens the mind to a grander illusion. Exiting a contemporary paradigm for another does not necessitate evolution. It is not a solution that needs a paradigm shift. To dismiss the old and in with the new. The rejection of old values for the today’s liberalism is problematic. The tyrannical democratisation and liberal propaganda voids its limitations and its disastrous ramifications. The political discourse surrounding red pill conservatism is genuinely combating leftist extremism but their extreme market based capitalism ignores the predetermined nightmares of social classism. Ironically, the red pilling was also used in a film documenting Marx’s “reaction” to the 08’ financial crisis called Marx Reloaded. Both sides can use the motif since no side is absolute despite its feeling to be absolute. Both have their pros and cons. In all cases red pilling is designed to provide a varied measure. Red pilling escapes the enduring echo chamber. It is a virtuous aspect but it also must be contested. Not everything brought up is correct. It is to be respected and analysed. Everything should be taken with a grain of salt.        

New knowledge has been acquired and the old cannot be seen the same way. Yet the novelty does not erase the old as irrelevant. Acknowledging the failures of the past does not negate the entire enterprise. Tani has been autonomously red pilled into the musical intricacies and thus is stuck in his new framework with no returning to the ignorant bliss. His ears hurt to hear the wrong. Yet his overt focus can be neutralised. If music is cultivated that people enjoy even if off beat, it transcends chess. Chess cannot be altered. Once chess is altered it isn’t chess. Though it can be argued what is chess, the pieces or the plot? If a peasant piece was added or the king gained new abilities would it cease to be chess? No, historically chess has had different pieces (advisor, elephant) and the queen initially could only move one square diagonally to its current unlimited use and the bishop could move two diagonally and even jump over a piece not existent anymore. The language game isn’t fixed but more the accepting lingo of the people. In Coverian interpretative theory it is the people who create the ideal through their narrational hermeneutic. Red pilled Tani is open to fixed manner of instrumental use. Yet the creative artistry of Dylan’s Newport rock n’ roll revolution away from folk or Davies’ raunchiness guitar at first were disregarded but in time it was internalised as so elemental.                           

Ironically, Tani’s explanation is a self-red pilling. Though unwilling to accept an alternative model outside the frame. Though uninterested and disgraced. Mayer’s acceptance as well as others leads to a phenomenon. Many felt rap music to be nonsense but its prowess and influence are global. It comes down to societal acceptance. The simulation is the current frame of value. What is in today may not be in tomorrow. While my love for rock isn’t appreciated by my friends (with the exception of my rock heavy roommates), its acceptance across the world is still strong. Paradigm shifts to a new method of songwriting is difficult for those in the game. Tani is heavily indebted to songwriting. For him there is a way of writing a song. Someone profiting and growing in popularity from off-clash songwriting is heresy. His ears hurt and his principled mentality will continue to make music he wishes but in a decade or two this may become the favourite model of writing music. This may steal some of the beauty but just as technology has replaced archaic jobs with newfound interesting ones, so too with music.         

We live in an enduring simulation compounded with consent red-pilling. Those who take the blue pill are passively ignoring societal progress. Yet the blue pill isn’t gratuitous. Both sides of the aisle are a matrix. Each side poses incomplete narratives as absolute pathways. They are potential options diverting into oblivion. The stereotypical attitudes whether of leftist snowflake tyrants or right wing supremacy anti-women bigots are deeply amusing but deeply flawed. Fringe groups cling to these theories though the masses may get caught up in the extreme facilitation. Still the average individual does not ascribe to either craziness. Finding value in the other is a good start, meshing together for a common good. For Mayer that is appreciating the instrumental analysis and for Tani it is the overwhelming beat. The simulation is of either perfection. Such a paradise is hell on earth. Edenic serenity is recognising the limits and open for forward thinking. Nothing is set in stone and there is always room for improvement. The deeper knowledge is not always the correct answer nor the optimal solution.