Deliberately doing things wrong.

[Ambrose_Bierce]

Okay from the top I am not talking about harming or cruelty here.

 

Have you ever done things knowing the outcome, still doing it anyway?

Do you find it humourous? Inspirational? Does it stimulate anything that you like to do normally?

 

I like returning items to the same place but not always the same way. Doing things in reverse. Sometimes doing things out of the ordinary.

People become irked by this. Is this a need to control or think some patterns are normal? Maybe.

 

Calm...

A

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Okay from the top I am not talking about harming or cruelty here.

 

Have you ever done things knowing the outcome, still doing it anyway?

Do you find it humourous? Inspirational? Does it stimulate anything that you like to do normally?

 

I like returning items to the same place but not always the same way. Doing things in reverse. Sometimes doing things out of the ordinary.

People become irked by this. Is this a need to control or think some patterns are normal? Maybe.

 

Calm...

A

 

Reminded me of this interview with slam poet Saul Williams talking about how the black community loves to play with language rather than using the same old words in the same old way all the time:

 

about 3:15 into the video

 

[Ambrose_Bierce]

Reminded me of this interview with slam poet Saul Williams talking about how the black community loves to play with language rather than using the same old words in the same old way all the time:

 

about 3:15 into the video

 

 

I had an experience with some indigenous people regarding this same situation. Currently they dont seem to live very long maybe 50-60 years. I notice them making "misteaks" in their life however it seems based upon older philosophies. Philosophies that are forced to live in this industrial age.

How much of this "Old Knowledge" is lost? Is it only the indigenous that instinctively operate at this level?

[Harmonious Emptiness]

I had an experience with some indigenous people regarding this same situation. Currently they dont seem to live very long maybe 50-60 years. I notice them making "misteaks" in their life however it seems based upon older philosophies. Philosophies that are forced to live in this industrial age.

How much of this "Old Knowledge" is lost? Is it only the indigenous that instinctively operate at this level?

 

Hm, also reminds me of a traditional (Peruvian if I remember correctly) culture who would collectively build the houses so that they would not last very long. This way they would always have the community bonding exercise of building each other's houses. This isn't really a far stretch of the way software and technology works in the western world, though without the altruistic motivations....

Edited August 23, 2011 by Harmonious Emptiness

[orb]

Hm, also reminds me of a traditional (Peruvian if I remember correctly) culture who would collectively build the houses so that they would not last very long. This way they would always have the community bonding exercise of building each other's houses. This isn't really a far stretch of the way software and technology works in the western world, though without the altruistic motivations....

 

 

Now I know why american cars r so crappy but people keep making and buying them - to keep the bond.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Now I know why american cars r so crappy but people keep making and buying them - to keep the bond.

 

yeah, it does also serve to keep people employed, and the economy turning. The cars are also a lot more affordable than other makes (Honda, Nissan, VW).

[Otis]

Okay from the top I am not talking about harming or cruelty here.

 

Have you ever done things knowing the outcome, still doing it anyway?

Do you find it humourous? Inspirational? Does it stimulate anything that you like to do normally?

 

I like returning items to the same place but not always the same way. Doing things in reverse. Sometimes doing things out of the ordinary.

People become irked by this. Is this a need to control or think some patterns are normal? Maybe.

 

Calm...

A

Great topic!

 

I've made a huge batch of prank, play and dance videos based on that idea. Friends and I take household items or trash, and juggle with them, make music with them, find ways to interact with them that has nothing to do with what the item is for. Or we go out in character, and misbehave in public, interacting with random people. Everything is improv, and there is rarely any direction, mostly just collaboration. Also, I've made several in which I stunt or dance in public, interacting with the physical environment in ways that are "wrong".

 

I have a strong desire to explore the "wrong" way, to try the unmarked door, to forget what things are supposed to be, and re-find them through playful interaction. I see the belief in a "right" way as a trap, one that emphasizes ritual and concept over immediacy and relationship.

 

No one video covers the range of what we've explored, but here's one from a series in which I brought a bunch of stuff from the 99 cent store (in this case, toilet-related items), and just invited friends to play. It's definitely about doing it wrong.

Edited August 24, 2011 by Otis

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

Gurdjieff describes a way of self-develpment where one separates from the false self, sometimes called 'The Way of Blame'. One actually places oneself in a position to look foolish, rather than always trying to feed the ego, all done as a spiritual practice:

 

"Friends of the false ego are foes of the essence. An essence friend is no flatterer and does not admire the antics of the inner fool. It was well said by the Sufi poet, Jalaluddin Rumi, that the friendship of a fool is like the friendship of a bear. He added, in another story, that even Jesus fled from the fool, saying: "I can make the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame run and raise the dead, but I cannot turn the fool away from his folly." 70) So the practical student of Creative Psychology learns to avoid those people and circumstances which encourage the manifestations of the false ego. Instead, he seeks essence friends whose aims are similar to his own. This does not mean that he lacks compassion or is excessively critical. He is simply a realist who knows his own limitations and does not propose to make a hard task still harder by deliberately fostering his own delusions.

If a man really wishes to see his false ego, all he need do is to put that entity in a situation in which it looks foolish, contemptible, inept or unsophisticated. To do this deliberately, not as a means of self-punishment or as an excuse for playing the buffoon, requires considerable effort and constitutes an aspect of Outer Theater which is as profitable as it is difficult. The extent to which we identify with the false ego becomes painfully obvious the moment we attempt intentionally to place it in a bad light. The attempt may consist of nothing more than making a naive remark in a company that considers itself sophisticated or intentionally appearing not to know something one should know and actually does. This trick of playing dumber than one is gives insights not only into the structure of one's own false ego but also into the false ego of others, whose reactions (scorn, condescension, polite contempt or tolerant smiling) give a clear indication of where they stand on the scale of being.

It has been said: "Only a very clever man can intentionally play the role of a fool." Shakespeare knew this. The whole of King Lear is a profound representation of the interplay between false ego and essence. The two aspects of man's psyche are dramatically juxtaposed against a background of storm and catastrophe; the conscious element deliberately plays the role of Fool while the false ego, in the role of the Mad King, struts and declaims in the face of the indifferent tempest, putting the blame for his misfortunes on everything except his own stupidity. Again and again King Lear (King Lear, IV. i, Laurel edition) confronts his mentor, but every time he fails to hear the message.

LEAH: Dost thou call me fool boy? FOOL: All thy other titles thou hast given away, that thou wast born with."

[Otis]

Gurdjieff describes a way of self-develpment where one separates from the false self, sometimes called 'The Way of Blame'. One actually places oneself in a position to look foolish, rather than always trying to feed the ego, all done as a spiritual practice:

 

"Friends of the false ego are foes of the essence. An essence friend is no flatterer and does not admire the antics of the inner fool. It was well said by the Sufi poet, Jalaluddin Rumi, that the friendship of a fool is like the friendship of a bear. He added, in another story, that even Jesus fled from the fool, saying: "I can make the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame run and raise the dead, but I cannot turn the fool away from his folly." 70) So the practical student of Creative Psychology learns to avoid those people and circumstances which encourage the manifestations of the false ego. Instead, he seeks essence friends whose aims are similar to his own. This does not mean that he lacks compassion or is excessively critical. He is simply a realist who knows his own limitations and does not propose to make a hard task still harder by deliberately fostering his own delusions.

If a man really wishes to see his false ego, all he need do is to put that entity in a situation in which it looks foolish, contemptible, inept or unsophisticated. To do this deliberately, not as a means of self-punishment or as an excuse for playing the buffoon, requires considerable effort and constitutes an aspect of Outer Theater which is as profitable as it is difficult. The extent to which we identify with the false ego becomes painfully obvious the moment we attempt intentionally to place it in a bad light. The attempt may consist of nothing more than making a naive remark in a company that considers itself sophisticated or intentionally appearing not to know something one should know and actually does. This trick of playing dumber than one is gives insights not only into the structure of one's own false ego but also into the false ego of others, whose reactions (scorn, condescension, polite contempt or tolerant smiling) give a clear indication of where they stand on the scale of being.

It has been said: "Only a very clever man can intentionally play the role of a fool." Shakespeare knew this. The whole of King Lear is a profound representation of the interplay between false ego and essence. The two aspects of man's psyche are dramatically juxtaposed against a background of storm and catastrophe; the conscious element deliberately plays the role of Fool while the false ego, in the role of the Mad King, struts and declaims in the face of the indifferent tempest, putting the blame for his misfortunes on everything except his own stupidity. Again and again King Lear (King Lear, IV. i, Laurel edition) confronts his mentor, but every time he fails to hear the message.

LEAH: Dost thou call me fool boy? FOOL: All thy other titles thou hast given away, that thou wast born with."

Nice. Laughing at my own mistakes is another way of embracing the parts of me that are foolish, rather than trying to deny and cover up.

[Otis]

Wanted to share another video about doing it wrong. This was our tribute to the Grinch, and was shot on Christmas Day. My main collaborator, Nick (who plays the Grinch) and I (as Max, the dog) went around "ruining" people's Christmas. Which involved stealing stuff from them, kidnapping people, and generally celebrating suffering! Nice to play being despicable, to play around at being wildly inappropriate.

 

[Mandrake]

 

Hilarious! I love this. Now I know that I'm not the only one in the world!

 

Still laughing

Mandrake