The blogger Burt Prelutsky recently wrote, “Every day in just about every way, the world keeps getting
spookier. Not necessarily in a Stephen King/Dean Koontz kind of spooky way, but
more in a Three Stooges nonsensical sort of way.[i]” Perhaps it is just that in modern places like
Hong Kong we are increasingly reliant upon technology that we don’t really
understand, or perhaps it has always been that way and we were too young,
unobservant, or busy to notice. It might even be a combination of the two.
A last option, one less comfortable to think about, is that
it isn’t the world that is becoming nonsensical but us.
Upon reflection, it seems that the world has always been
pretty much what it is. Rocks and trees and birds and bees and the whole mélange[ii]
that comprise nature seem to be pretty
much the same as they’ve always been, at least in the last million years or so.
Maybe it is people who have changed since I was a child. The nonsensical thing is we don’t look any
different, but we are different, though I am not sure we are better for the
differences.
This is, I believe, the actual font of what we perceive as a nonsensical world. We see the good, we do not do it; sometimes even when we want to. We desperately want to be good people, even if we don't believe in absolute good. What we are left with is not so much moral relativism as moral comparisonism. We know our flaws, but at least we are better than "X" or don't do "Y" or we tell ourselves that our intentions are good and hope that is enough. At the minimum, we can say "I followed the rules."
When we cheat, just a little, when we get ahead by moral sleight of hand, we have shown why we need the ethics and morality we were taught as children. It is morality, ethics, and culture that allow us to see that the world makes sense. When we deny the evil before our face, we make the world a nonsensical place. Maybe, we don’t need to simplify our lives as the psychologists are so fond of telling us so much as to reform our lives. Maybe we should remember words like dignity, respect, courtesy, and manners. Maybe we should make a better effort to live ethically. Maybe we should examine how we treat each other. Maybe in doing so, we’d be able to make sense of it all. I doubt it would make life easier.
You do not have to be very old to remember people not needing to
have security gates in front of their doors or alarms on their automobiles; many
people can remember a time when manners were the normal mode of behavior. It
wasn’t a simpler time, just less electronic. It wasn’t a more innocent time
because we all, every one of us, were beset by the same temptations faced by
people today. It was a time when the world made sense. Some of this is just growing older because I
think almost everyone looks back on their childhood or youth as a golden age. But,
there is more to it than that.
Perhaps the world appears nonsensical to us because we engage in nonsense. The Three Stooges are funny precisely because they react to events in socially, psychologically, and morally nonsensical ways. The eye-poke, the pie in the face the saw across the ears are only funny because as much as we might want to act at least occasionally by poking an eye or throwing a pie we don’t. Our laughter is a nervous, hand over the mouth laugh while looking to either side, hoping that nobody else knows what’s in our heart.
We have all felt the appeal of the criminal. We can all secretly agree with H.L Mencken, who wrote that: "Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats (iii)"
The late Mark Heard put it less humorously when he sang;
"Now and then the criminal in my skin lets out a sigh
He'd like to think he's innocent
But he cannot tell a lie
Truth is like a knife
And I'm crying again (iv)"
We may not throw pies at people as retribution for insults, real or imagined, but we do, at least sometimes, really wish we could. Worse, we sometimes act on those dark thoughts if not completely. There is a pirate in every man desperately looking for his pistol, cutlass, and parrot. Most of the time, we seek to repress these alter-egos. We all, every one of us, want to believe we are good people, but our deeds and motives betray us. Deep down, we are all crying, not again, but continually. Perhaps the world appears nonsensical to us because we engage in nonsense. The Three Stooges are funny precisely because they react to events in socially, psychologically, and morally nonsensical ways. The eye-poke, the pie in the face the saw across the ears are only funny because as much as we might want to act at least occasionally by poking an eye or throwing a pie we don’t. Our laughter is a nervous, hand over the mouth laugh while looking to either side, hoping that nobody else knows what’s in our heart.
We have all felt the appeal of the criminal. We can all secretly agree with H.L Mencken, who wrote that: "Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats (iii)"
The late Mark Heard put it less humorously when he sang;
"Now and then the criminal in my skin lets out a sigh
He'd like to think he's innocent
But he cannot tell a lie
Truth is like a knife
And I'm crying again (iv)"
This is, I believe, the actual font of what we perceive as a nonsensical world. We see the good, we do not do it; sometimes even when we want to. We desperately want to be good people, even if we don't believe in absolute good. What we are left with is not so much moral relativism as moral comparisonism. We know our flaws, but at least we are better than "X" or don't do "Y" or we tell ourselves that our intentions are good and hope that is enough. At the minimum, we can say "I followed the rules."
When we cheat, just a little, when we get ahead by moral sleight of hand, we have shown why we need the ethics and morality we were taught as children. It is morality, ethics, and culture that allow us to see that the world makes sense. When we deny the evil before our face, we make the world a nonsensical place. Maybe, we don’t need to simplify our lives as the psychologists are so fond of telling us so much as to reform our lives. Maybe we should remember words like dignity, respect, courtesy, and manners. Maybe we should make a better effort to live ethically. Maybe we should examine how we treat each other. Maybe in doing so, we’d be able to make sense of it all. I doubt it would make life easier.
Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who will try not to poke you in the eyes like Moe
