Dada is the anecdote to the stoicism of seriousness. The previous sentence, however, does not prove that. Here is some dada I made for you...
Dada Dao Daodao Dow Jones Dada Tao Te Ching Da-da-da-da (Beethoven’s 5th) Dot Tata Dada Papa Dot-dot Dada Daddy Dolly Dada Daoism Data Datum Teeter-tauter Dada Seesaw Heehaw Dada Adad A dad A mom Atom Datum Data Dada Adam Madam Madam I’m Adam Tao is not Tao Dada Fada Father Papa Dada Dao Mao Miao Meow Dada Infinitada Infinity Forever Dada Dumdum Dummy Mummy Mama Papa Dada Gotta Get It Got It Good God Dao Dada Down-down Downtown Daodao Dao Tao Tada! Surprise Hurrah! Dada Maya Mariah Pariah Paris Python Dada Nada Nothing NASA Nassau Bahamas Dadas Doodoo Poopoo Doody Howdy Doody Tooty Fruity Dada Itty Bitty Nitty Gritty Dada Did Did Did It Done That Been There Dada Ada Adelle Estel Dadelle Dadette Dada Dads Root Beer Dada Saddam Adam Had ‘em Radon Dada Salam Shalom Aloha Dada Saudi Gaudy Gucci Dada Gnocchi Dada Water Wader Wafer Vader Darth Dada Yadda Yadda Dada Tao Te Ching Wu Wei Bombay Mumbai Dada Today Dada Tomorrow Gomorrah Sodom Saddam Dada Bladder Blather Data Dada Coddle Whitefish Dada Doctor Doctor Dada Hotter Hotter Hottest Hatter Dada Matter Mother Mama Dada Caca Poopoo Titicaca Itchy Scratchy Dada Itchi Ichi Ni San Nissan NASA Dada Dal Nan Bread Dada Pan Pan Pizza Pizza Dada Stop It
Friday, January 27, 2006
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Pretentious!
For my generation and preceding generations, it has seemed to me that the personal goal for many high school students is to achieve "cool." That is the high school rat-race.
Those who did not want to run the "cool" race, were on the personal goal of "anti-cool." ALTERNATIVE. What the hell? My generation synthesized cool and alternative. After a second of thought, I doubt my generation was first. We've discovered nothing.
After the "cool" race in high school comes the "pretentious" race in college. And this blog is kind of an example. Explaining how you were or were not cool is a little pretentious. The key notion of pretentiousness, or pretention, is an unwarranted claim to importance. Thank you, Wiktionary.
Actually this race to "cool" or "pretentious" is a search of identity. And the more philosophical you get, like this blog, the more pretentious you sound because you believe that you will uncover something important about yourself. When I was in college, many classmates seemed to be on the verge of an epiphany. Many college discussions involved the comparisons and analyzing of epiphanies. It's fun to feel important because you have a great sense of confidence--the confidence that annoys many people.
Do you know all this already? What am I getting at?
I have a friend you loathes people who are pretentious. Who doesn't? But to go out of your way to prove your loathing and to prove you're not pretentious seems a bit pretentious.
The process of labelling what is pretentious starts a spiral into pretentiousness. For example, I am pretentious when I call my pretentious-avoiding friend pretentious. Someone could step in and point at me yelling, "Pretentious!" And I would have to concede.
Those who did not want to run the "cool" race, were on the personal goal of "anti-cool." ALTERNATIVE. What the hell? My generation synthesized cool and alternative. After a second of thought, I doubt my generation was first. We've discovered nothing.
After the "cool" race in high school comes the "pretentious" race in college. And this blog is kind of an example. Explaining how you were or were not cool is a little pretentious. The key notion of pretentiousness, or pretention, is an unwarranted claim to importance. Thank you, Wiktionary.
Actually this race to "cool" or "pretentious" is a search of identity. And the more philosophical you get, like this blog, the more pretentious you sound because you believe that you will uncover something important about yourself. When I was in college, many classmates seemed to be on the verge of an epiphany. Many college discussions involved the comparisons and analyzing of epiphanies. It's fun to feel important because you have a great sense of confidence--the confidence that annoys many people.
Do you know all this already? What am I getting at?
I have a friend you loathes people who are pretentious. Who doesn't? But to go out of your way to prove your loathing and to prove you're not pretentious seems a bit pretentious.
The process of labelling what is pretentious starts a spiral into pretentiousness. For example, I am pretentious when I call my pretentious-avoiding friend pretentious. Someone could step in and point at me yelling, "Pretentious!" And I would have to concede.
Oversimplification
Before I begin, let me quip. Shouldn't the word "oversimplification" be simpler to pronounce and spell? It doesn't make sense for it to be such a long word. Will someone please create more suiting word for the concept of oversimplification?
If you read the subtitle of Daodao, it infers that Taoism is animism. That is a misrepresentation or oversimplification. Animism is simply the belief that everything has a spirit or soul. If you're familiar with the Japanese belief of Shinto, it's kind of like that. If you're not but you've seen Spirited Away, it's kind of like the otherworldly bath house full of the spiritual representations of the real animals, vegetables, and minerals of the real world. That is animism, not exactly Taoism.
Taoism is tricky and cannot be explained adequately. Some may say that is pretentious, so I'll try to explain anyway. Animism is the belief that all things have souls. That's partially true for Taoism. But why not we're all part of the same soul. For monotheists, God is in everything! That statement should satisfy most Jews, Christians, and Muslims. But what about the statement, We all are a part of God. That's probably OK as well.
How about the following?
I am God (and so is everyone else).
I have God and God has me.
God is the universe...the universe is what I perceive...I know God.
OVERSIMPLIFICATION!
But I think that's what Taoism is to me. It's so complex that it is simple.
Scientists are now discovering what one person can discover through meditation.
All you Taoists know this already.
Buddhists and New Age people may too.
If you're not Taoist, Buddhist, New Age, or any philosopher, then thank you for reading this far.
I apologize for sounding pretentious, but that's the other side of the coin--DADA!
If you read the subtitle of Daodao, it infers that Taoism is animism. That is a misrepresentation or oversimplification. Animism is simply the belief that everything has a spirit or soul. If you're familiar with the Japanese belief of Shinto, it's kind of like that. If you're not but you've seen Spirited Away, it's kind of like the otherworldly bath house full of the spiritual representations of the real animals, vegetables, and minerals of the real world. That is animism, not exactly Taoism.
Taoism is tricky and cannot be explained adequately. Some may say that is pretentious, so I'll try to explain anyway. Animism is the belief that all things have souls. That's partially true for Taoism. But why not we're all part of the same soul. For monotheists, God is in everything! That statement should satisfy most Jews, Christians, and Muslims. But what about the statement, We all are a part of God. That's probably OK as well.
How about the following?
I am God (and so is everyone else).
I have God and God has me.
God is the universe...the universe is what I perceive...I know God.
OVERSIMPLIFICATION!
But I think that's what Taoism is to me. It's so complex that it is simple.
Scientists are now discovering what one person can discover through meditation.
All you Taoists know this already.
Buddhists and New Age people may too.
If you're not Taoist, Buddhist, New Age, or any philosopher, then thank you for reading this far.
I apologize for sounding pretentious, but that's the other side of the coin--DADA!
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Indoctrination
Verse One of the Tao Te Ching (Laozi)
A way that can be walked
is not The Way
A name that can be named
is not The Name
Tao is both Named and Nameless
As Nameless, it is the origin of all things
As Named, it is the mother of all things
A mind free of thought,
Merged within itself
Beholds the essence of Tao
A mind filled with thought,
Identified with its own perceptions,
Beholds the mere forms of this world
Tao and this world seem different
But in truth they are one and the same
The only difference is in what we call them
How deep and mysterious is this unity
How profound, how great!
It is the truth beyond the truth,
The hidden within the hidden
It is the path to all wonder,
The gate to the essence of everything!
translated by Jonathon Star (2001). Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition. New York: Tarcher/Penguin.
Compare this to a statement on Dada
Dada is a state of mind. That is why it transforms itself according to races and events. Dada applies itself to everything, and yet it is nothing, it is the point where the yes and the no and all the opposites meet, not solemnly in the castles of human philosophies, but very simply at street corners, like dogs and grasshoppers.
Like everything in life, Dada is useless.
Dada is without pretension, as life should be.
By Tristan Tzara
From "Dada Manifesto" [1918] and "Lecture on Dada" [1922], translated from the French by Robert Motherwell, *Dada Painters and Poets*, by Robert Motherwell, New York, pp. 78- 9, 81, 246-51; http://www.english.upenn.edu/~jenglish/English104/tzara.html
A way that can be walked
is not The Way
A name that can be named
is not The Name
Tao is both Named and Nameless
As Nameless, it is the origin of all things
As Named, it is the mother of all things
A mind free of thought,
Merged within itself
Beholds the essence of Tao
A mind filled with thought,
Identified with its own perceptions,
Beholds the mere forms of this world
Tao and this world seem different
But in truth they are one and the same
The only difference is in what we call them
How deep and mysterious is this unity
How profound, how great!
It is the truth beyond the truth,
The hidden within the hidden
It is the path to all wonder,
The gate to the essence of everything!
translated by Jonathon Star (2001). Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition. New York: Tarcher/Penguin.
Compare this to a statement on Dada
Dada is a state of mind. That is why it transforms itself according to races and events. Dada applies itself to everything, and yet it is nothing, it is the point where the yes and the no and all the opposites meet, not solemnly in the castles of human philosophies, but very simply at street corners, like dogs and grasshoppers.
Like everything in life, Dada is useless.
Dada is without pretension, as life should be.
By Tristan Tzara
From "Dada Manifesto" [1918] and "Lecture on Dada" [1922], translated from the French by Robert Motherwell, *Dada Painters and Poets*, by Robert Motherwell, New York, pp. 78- 9, 81, 246-51; http://www.english.upenn.edu/~jenglish/English104/tzara.html
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