HOW OVERLY-SERIOUS PEOPLE GET THROUGH LIFE is a mystery to me. Yet certain people – we’ve all encountered them – seem to lack the most important sense a human being can possess: a sense of humor. Life is just too filled with absurdities to take it without laughing. “If we couldn’t laugh,” sang Jimmy Buffett, “we would all go insane.” I know I would. All around us we see cacophony, nonsense, propaganda, lies, ignorance, incompetence, corruption, hypocrisy, selfishness, cruelty, needless death and suffering. There’s no way to reasonably make sense of it because it is the essence of absurdity. We can’t simply accept it because it is clearly unacceptable. There’s no way to fight it because it will overwhelm you in the end. What we must do is remain clear-eyed because, as Camus mused, “the only thing that can defeat absurdity is lucidity.” So stay focused on the lessons that you’ve learned, the hard-won knowledge you’ve gained through it all, and the humorous if tragic reality that has whacked you upside the head more times than you can count. It’s crazy, and it’s absurd, and as Jimmy sang, if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.
Jimmy Buffett, my very favorite philosopher, "a person whose philosophical perspective makes meeting trouble with equanimity easier."
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"...and as Jimmy sang, if we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane." No truer words were sung! I have no idea where I will go when the volcano blows... might as well laugh.
I'm gonna need to get the dictionary out for some of the words being thrown around in this thread.
I keep an unabridged dictionary opened on my stand-up desk because I'm constantly encountering words I can't define when I'm reading. Once I look them up, I write them down, with the definition. The list is gaining pages all the time. But I figure I've got a better shot at remembering them the next time if I do this. Or not...
I would need an extra desk to hold the tablet and or writing paper it would take to pen all the words I do not know. How can anyone remember anything at this age? Why just the other day I looked everywhere for my bathing suit cover-up. When I couldn't find it, I went to my closet for another one. When I went to put it on, I discovered I was wearing the one I was looking for! What do you think my chances are of remembering word meanings that I have written down? Not only that, but I am quite sure I couldn't find the desk I put the tablets on.
I know what you mean. I got up and walked to the other end of the house, then couldn't remember why I'd gone there.
Hello HenryM.
Another great concept! I like the idea as a part of humour and I nowam concerned that I did not include it in my book 'Laugh or Lament . However, at least you have presented me with the ideal opportunity to share a rhyme on the subject.
Best wishes
Bill
LIFE IS ABSURD.
From the first intake of breath.
To the last upon our death.
Life is life, no more no less.
At meanings we can only guess.
Some recognise that life is odd.
Some console themselves with god.
Some believe that life’s worthwhile.
Some believe it’s all futile.
In search of meaning some will go.
Because they think that they can know.
They find out all sorts of stuff.
But all they learn is not enough.
Their searching goes on undeterred.
They won’t believe that life’s absurd.
They think that knowledge is they key.
A window to eternity.
It might come as some surprise.
That learning may not make them wise.
When they’ve learned all that they can.
They’re just a learning artisan.
Some stay in their naiveté
And think religion is the way.
Blind faith I find is full of rules.
To trap unwary naive fools.
Once knowledge has belief debunked.
Faith’s philosophically defunct.
So those who are much more astute.
Might seek to find another route.
Life can seem hopelessly pointless.
Weird, mad and remorseless.
Your suicide might make you free.
But you would then no longer be.
You could accept life’s meaningless.
With death it has no worthwhileness.
Deep down inside I think you know.
That this is not entirely so.
Your birth is where all things begin.
Value and meaning grows within.
When you accept that life’s absurd.
Then your life might move forward.
B. Withers 2011
(In: My Colourful Rag-Tag-Bag 2012)
Hi Henry, this post couldn't help but make me think of the '60 Minutes' episode I watched last night. Look up "Birds aren't real" and you will find what I'm referring to. It's a movement created by Peter McIndoe, a kid from Tennessee, to highlight how absurd society has gotten with conspiracy theories about everything under the sun. He was interviewed for 60 Minutes and for the first part of the interview, he stays in character as this guy who firmly believes that all the birds in the world have been culled by the government, and replaced with robots that are sent out to spy on citizens. It's hilarious, and the really funny part is that lots of people have actually bought into it and think it's real. When you see birds sitting on power lines, they are recharging!! Who knew? His campaign has gained a lot of momentum and he said he now has about a million followers, like-minded people, who are just trying to poke fun at the absurdities that exist in today's world, and add a little levity. I haven't laughed that hard in a while. I think I might join the movement!
Terry
