on change...
change itself changes. to say that "all things change" is a bit inaccurate because of the limitations of language. interpret it in the loosest manner possible. all things change; all change; change changes; change changes itself; all things must change; all things can change; all things will change... "all things" refers to totality - an absurd totality or reality. and even "change" is not so simple. does schroedinger's cat "change" upon observation? we know from studies of quantum mechanics that reality is almost essentially absurd - that the world of everyday things is an oddly stable layer built on a foundation as unstable as the decay of an isotope mysteriously linked to the fate of a poor cat in a box. change is such an unstable thing that it is almost a meaningless concept. yet i obsess over changes that affect me as if those changes were existential shifts of being and beings. therein lies the roots of possessiveness, of a stodgy science. it is not enough to possess things - we desire to possess even the changes that affect them. and so we see how even change itself is capital.
if a language of words is too clumsy and causes collateral injury, a concept of change as a commodity is just as clumsy and harmful. obviously the free must reject any notion of "natures" or "nature" for such things contradict even the most superficial reading of "all things change". but even deeper than that, the third ethical postulate has to do with the freeing of personal identity. it calls us to not be possessive in either of two ways:
1. to not fight to control "my" identity. identities are constructed geographically. because geography is always changing, it is ludicrous to say that i must have control over "my" identity. if i claim to own a house built on a land, does not the creator of that land have equal "right" to name me a squatter? just as a notion of a creator is mystical, so is the notion of "me". why do i take the external world so seriously when it does not regard me seriously? to take ones identity seriously is to implicitly recognize how little control i really have over it. national flags are waved in times of crisis - not security. the world is not serious. seriousness, importance, obsession, is a mystification of the real. only tools are serious - and few things are more serious than a bloodied sword. do not guard the boundaries of your identity with a red line and red blade. the border will change, the sharp edge will dull - all things change. therefore, receive freely.
2. also we must give freely. give everything to your fellow traveler. especially memories, knowledge, technology, experiences. those are just as much capital as as material capital. such things are material. all things change. what is a thought today can be art tomorrow. wealth of any kind should not be accumulated - all should be given. the third commandment is a fulfillment of the second. to learn one anothers' languages is merely a key. the complete exchange of knowledge and goods is the unlocked box. hold nothing back. no memory is sacred, no technology forbidden, no resource precious. what is valuable today can be worthless tomorrow. the free do not scheme or speculate or conspire. they give all they have.
an atom is never at rest. absolute zero is death - it is an impossible state. even I is an uncertain existence in a warped, unstable space. all things change. and especially ideals - they do not exist except as words. the idealist is but fuel for the capitalist's fire. ones beliefs should change with the changing winds - not as words in a sentence but as molecules atoms and quarks in a stream of energy, matter and information. not as a landslide of boulders but as a breeze of fresh air. the clunkiness of ideals makes them suitable for war - the war of capital - a corruption of the organism that leads only to death.
my friend today can be my enemy tomorrow and vice versa. nothing is sure so put no faith in gods - bow to noone. even I, the surest thing that exists, must change location. to stay in one place on earth will not prevent the earth from spinning and moving about the sun and the sun from moving about the galactic core. the very ground you stand on changes. how can I not change? so one should catch and receive and give and throw away capital freely - to stay afloat on the every changing face of the sea one should be light. and what is lighter than dance?
change itself changes. so expectations are not to be trusted. time does not obey the protocols, the axioms of our ethics. so don't trust time. the predictions of science are for sport - a game. they are not "truth". when the sun rises in the east tomorrow morning, don't go your way normally (there is no normal!). rather, exclaim in delight: "oh look! the sun came up! and it's in the east! look how the shadow it makes my body cast falls on your doorstep! my eyes follow it to your feet. let me step aside so that your legs are more brightly lit. i wish to see their beauty in two shades. yes, even your pretty feet, like all things, change."
[special copyright applies to this entry. see bansuki's user info for details.]
if a language of words is too clumsy and causes collateral injury, a concept of change as a commodity is just as clumsy and harmful. obviously the free must reject any notion of "natures" or "nature" for such things contradict even the most superficial reading of "all things change". but even deeper than that, the third ethical postulate has to do with the freeing of personal identity. it calls us to not be possessive in either of two ways:
1. to not fight to control "my" identity. identities are constructed geographically. because geography is always changing, it is ludicrous to say that i must have control over "my" identity. if i claim to own a house built on a land, does not the creator of that land have equal "right" to name me a squatter? just as a notion of a creator is mystical, so is the notion of "me". why do i take the external world so seriously when it does not regard me seriously? to take ones identity seriously is to implicitly recognize how little control i really have over it. national flags are waved in times of crisis - not security. the world is not serious. seriousness, importance, obsession, is a mystification of the real. only tools are serious - and few things are more serious than a bloodied sword. do not guard the boundaries of your identity with a red line and red blade. the border will change, the sharp edge will dull - all things change. therefore, receive freely.
2. also we must give freely. give everything to your fellow traveler. especially memories, knowledge, technology, experiences. those are just as much capital as as material capital. such things are material. all things change. what is a thought today can be art tomorrow. wealth of any kind should not be accumulated - all should be given. the third commandment is a fulfillment of the second. to learn one anothers' languages is merely a key. the complete exchange of knowledge and goods is the unlocked box. hold nothing back. no memory is sacred, no technology forbidden, no resource precious. what is valuable today can be worthless tomorrow. the free do not scheme or speculate or conspire. they give all they have.
an atom is never at rest. absolute zero is death - it is an impossible state. even I is an uncertain existence in a warped, unstable space. all things change. and especially ideals - they do not exist except as words. the idealist is but fuel for the capitalist's fire. ones beliefs should change with the changing winds - not as words in a sentence but as molecules atoms and quarks in a stream of energy, matter and information. not as a landslide of boulders but as a breeze of fresh air. the clunkiness of ideals makes them suitable for war - the war of capital - a corruption of the organism that leads only to death.
my friend today can be my enemy tomorrow and vice versa. nothing is sure so put no faith in gods - bow to noone. even I, the surest thing that exists, must change location. to stay in one place on earth will not prevent the earth from spinning and moving about the sun and the sun from moving about the galactic core. the very ground you stand on changes. how can I not change? so one should catch and receive and give and throw away capital freely - to stay afloat on the every changing face of the sea one should be light. and what is lighter than dance?
change itself changes. so expectations are not to be trusted. time does not obey the protocols, the axioms of our ethics. so don't trust time. the predictions of science are for sport - a game. they are not "truth". when the sun rises in the east tomorrow morning, don't go your way normally (there is no normal!). rather, exclaim in delight: "oh look! the sun came up! and it's in the east! look how the shadow it makes my body cast falls on your doorstep! my eyes follow it to your feet. let me step aside so that your legs are more brightly lit. i wish to see their beauty in two shades. yes, even your pretty feet, like all things, change."
[special copyright applies to this entry. see bansuki's user info for details.]