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

From Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf:


There was never a man with a deeper and more passionate craving for independence than he. In his youth when he was poor and had difficulty in earning his bread, he preferred to go hungry and in torn clothes rather than endanger his narrow limit of independence. He never sold himself for money or an easy life or to women or to those in power; and had thrown away a hundred times what in the world's eyes was his advantage and happiness in order to safeguard his liberty. No prospect was more hateful and distasteful to him than that he should have to go to an office and conform to daily and yearly routine and obey others. He hated all kinds of offices, governmental or commercial, as he hated death, and his worst nightmare was confinement in barracks. He contrived, often at great sacrifice, to avoid all such predicaments. It was here that his strength and his virtue rested. On this point he could neither be bent nor bribed.

Pretending to be mad is as good a plan as any, I suppose.

They are generally-

'...rather odd, uncommunicative, solitary fellows, who despite these common characteristics resemble one an­other really less than the host of the banished.What led them into the Temple? One of the stron­gest motives that lead men to art and science is flight from everyday life with its painful harshness and wretched dreariness, and from the fetters of one's own shifting desires. A person with a finer sensibility is driven to escape from personal existence and to the world of objective observing (Schauen) and understanding.

This had me thinking about how, while the small handful of us who post here may each share the common characteristics of being rather odd solitary fellows, this does not necessarily mean we are very much alike.   

I used to upload code I had written here, or attempt to articulate some details about whatever it was I might have been engaged with at the time.   Now I have come to realize that this message board may not be the best place to articulate such things.  In fact, it is much better for me to devote such energy into keeping notes for myself.   

Just because we are each misfits does not mean we are alike.

Is this a kind of Temple?    Well, if this message board is some kind of haven, it may only be because there seems to be an unwritten code of conduct.   We are fortunate not to be bombarded by advertisements or spam or preachers warning us to claim "Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior" or other such annoyances as being called infidels for not praising words such as "Allah" or Mohammad.

We each get through our days, our lives, in our own ways.

As for the incompatibility between science and society, that is, between human creativity and political power, I have noticed this directly in conversations with an old friend of mine (from childhood).   Now, people may not think of the power structures involved in finding employment and keeping oneself employed as having to do with "political power," but it has everything to do with this.   When I speak of politics, I do not necessarily mean the propaganda of elected government officials or political parties, Socialist versus Nationalist versus Democrat versus Republican versus Theocrat, etc; no, I see the politics that play out in the power structures one encounters in collecting a pay check.

So, this old friend of mine is confounded over the disparity between the kinds of things I am engaged in all day, day after day, and the lack of interest I show in finding gainful employment.

For me, this is a clear example of the incompatibility between science and society.

The gorts want the study of math and science to lead naturally to taking on the role of employee subservient to some form of political power, an economic boss, a corporate or corporate-funded academic agenda.

A pure interest in mathematics or science (mathematics is the queen of sciences), with no kind of ambition to transform it into a career grounded in obedience to authority, subservient responses to alarm clocks and phone calls, etc is mocked as an amateur dilettante, never to be shown any kind of genuine respect, since the mantra of gort society is "money talks, bullshiit walks."

This is why I say that pretending to be mad sounds like an almost perfect modus operandi for one who wants to make clear to society their indifference toward social status and actual contempt for the "professional" class since it is so very clear that in order to acquire political power (economic power), the professional must obey and try to impress his or her masters; that is, they must become at most a servile scientist.  There is no room for spontaneity or following one's own agenda.


PS:  While pretending to be insane is as good a plan as any, I'm for avoiding incarceration in any psychiatric wards.    That's one of the motivations for remaining off the booze.  It only takes me getting drunk for me to put myself in a position to be hauled away by the zoo-keepers.  My very own mother would most likely be the one to alert the authorities.

Don't panic and keep your cool.   I will be hiding in a room with my math and science, in my little Temple, that is.