{∅, {∅}, {∅, {∅}}} : Rage Against the Meat Grinder

Hola Raul,

I think mi sobrino had to leave Ecuador in a hurry and most likely will end up in Columbia ... He and his wife trust in "the Universe," so I worry, since I have no such faith that this universe cares one iota for any of us in particular.

It is tough here as well for the youth who aspire to enter the university.  Many join the military as a way to pay.  Myself, I say I am liberated from all that since, for me personally, studying has nothing to do with employment.  Actually, it never has.  For me and countless others, there has never been any chance to get "into the job market".  If we want a job, cleaning public toilets is it for us.

No matter how much we study, we will not be granted social status.

Do you believe in conspiracies?  I sure do.  There have been open conspiracies to replace entire populations with more servile workers who will accept harsher conditions out of desparation and hunger for prosperity (social status).   Maybe I have been targeted (blacklisted) for suicide, and my continued interest in geniune education has foiled the plot.  Unfortunately for those who see my banishment as a punishment, I embrace it as an unusual opportunity to lead a scholarly lifestyle.

The youth ought to study out of interest in the subject, even if it is a technical subject.  This way, no one has the power to deny them entrance into the temple of their own minds.

I know I must sound impractical considering I depend on government relief payments, but education and employment may have nothing in common.   Those who seek training for some specific job are like insects in a giant hive.  It is called "specialization".

I'm afraid some of us will never be turned into insects, and so we exist as domesticated animals on the prison farm plantation.  We have learned to use our uselessness to our advantage.

We live as a kind of parasite, but a humble parasite with a conscience, getting by with as little as possible.

I suppose I would never be trusted to instruct the youth since my entire "philosophy" or "psychology" seems to be rooted in a firm acceptance of the limitations of our mental capacity.  Whereas the established status quo (the marriage of academia with corporate competetive values) encourages displaying false confidence, what I call credentialism.  They worship social status and seem to take morbid pleasure in displaying their status symbols.  Ostentatious consumption.

Not me.  I do not measure myself by the commodities I acquire.  Books, computers, calculators, notebooks ... none of these are displayed as wealth, but simply enjoyed by me as personal treasures that motivate me to stay out of trouble so I might continue to have access to them.

Looking for employment is like asking to be abused and tormented.

Imagine how many sadistic and cruel personalities are placed in positions of authority.

As for the royalty of England, there is a similar phenomenon here with "celebrities".

I don't spend too much energy hating those in such postions since I do not envy them in any way.

At the end of the day, ones world is most influenced by the head on the shoulders perceiving that world; so, literally, one type of person might experience more peace of mind in a prison cell than a totally vain nincompoop would experience in a palace.  (paraphrasing Schopenhauer - he expressed it much better, I'm sure). 

I really believe that there are very few "professionals" with "degrees from universities" and comfortable salaries who would ever be inspired to revisit "high school mathematics" presented in a formal and rigorous manner.  Some might view my efforts as commendable while many more would find it worthy of mockery.

You see, their status symbols, access to gadgets, and obsession with being kept entertained has destroyed their capacity to put any mental effort into anything that does not "pay off in dollars or sex or status".

I say I am liberated because I have contempt and disdain for the society which has rejected me.

I have no desire to instruct their children, nor do I ever want to put myself in a position where I am at the mercy of cruel, insensitive blockheads.

No ... I am quite content out to pasture.  Let me be considered useless and lazy, for I do not share the same values as the "productive and ambitious gort-insects" who aspire to land some kind of "career opportunity" with a corporation.

Like you, Raul, I prefer to consider myself "no good". 

I don't like bullshiit, and I am too old to pretend I ever want to play those games ...

If everyone thought like me, civilization would most likely collapse.

Oh well.  It is not my responsibility to ensure the trains run on time.   

I just don't care.

I study because I feel somewhat stupid, not because I feel particularly smart.

Too many enjoy making others feel stupid, and so I suspect that there is a conspiracy against true education as the great majority are either victims of the conspiracy or aspire to be co-conspirators.

It's best to trust your paranoia and suspect a great deal of lying taking place. Mind-fuuckery.

Many people are very full of shiit.   What is social status anyway?

I have gotten respect from people in the most unlikely places, psychiatric wards and county jails ... Some people would see me as a "natural philosopher" as opposed to an "academic philosopher".

Perhaps I am also a "natural mathematician/logician" as oppossed to a trained academic professional mathematician.

I admit up front that my ignorance is astounding, and I have no false expectations of ever becoming well trained in the craft.

Now, at my age (we are about the same age, you and I Raul), I like to think of my current studies as a spiritual discipline aimed at cultivating humility and deeper intellectual satisfaction.  I do not need society's approval nor its status symbols in order to practice this "studious way of life".

I think you are correct, Raul, in your assessment that I may be unknowingly, a distant disciple of Pythagoras.

Also, I like to show my disdain for all the phonies by making it perfectly clear that I am inwardly focused on my intellectual development, and do not study in order to win their favor or to become one of their useful slaves.


From Dead End:

November 2006

Intrusive thoughts … unfulfilled desires … society – a network of lies and deception. We live in a society which encourages playing a role, being phony. People seek the rewards of a good reputation. Individuals low on self-deception are at such a disadvantage in social life that this increases anxiety levels, even leading to a psychopathological personality. An extraordinary amount of energy is devoted to “impression management,” the effort to establish credibility, to acquire the finances needed to purchase the paraphernalia (designer clothes, luxury automobiles, etc) to impress with. I have long since stopped caring about such superficial status symbols.

The “old” natives of the “New” World knew how to handle the phenomenon of resentment caused by the aristocratic snobbery brought over by the lords and masters from across the pond. They recognized that such snobbery was used by a small handful of Europeans in order to shame all the other Europeans (which the natives thought were actually slaves, since they all seemed to have a “boss”). They (the natives hostile to such gortdom) just got rid of anything anybody wanted. They didn’t own property and they dressed in rags. They laid low and let the aristocrats, egalitarians, sycophants, and government-paid assassins all look on them as worthless.