November 17  2003                                                                 © 2003: JAN COX
 
 
 
 

As they were wandering around,
looking at the activities that normally go on in the city, a father said to a son:
"Everything men do is either useful or entertaining;
this is true from their food to their arts, but especially pertinent in their thinking,
and a man dedicated to getting-to-the-bottom-of-things
could pursue no more profitable line of scrutiny than this fact.
Your mind may initially want to dismiss it as being too obvious and simple
to be worthy of inquiry con brio, but be assured that no one’s natural born thinking
is capable of naturally grasping the full nature of this all encompassing mortal situation.

Ordinary men are not programmed to have any interest in this quite clear division of activity that prevails in every corner of human affairs;
men are moved to do what they do by instinct-seeking-satisfaction;
move above the brain stem into the cortex and world of thought,
and you enter an area where man alone of all creatures receives pleasure through activities that serve no strictly useful or tangible purpose,
but everyday men are not wired to note this distinction, with the result that the two
are so intermingled in consciousness that activities which are merely entertaining
are routinely proclaimed by men to be useful  --  even essential,
and the uber result of this is for the few, catastrophic (figuratively speaking).

For the certain man with the irrepressible hunger to understand what is going on beyond the explanations commonly available,
not marking cleanly the clear difference between activity that is useful,
and that which is entertaining  --
particularly in the realm of thought and the intangible world of culture it creates  --
guarantees that he will never see that for which he seeks  --  guarantees it.
You can never grasp the nature of a cow if you are studying butchery but
confuse serious cuts of meat with avocational ones;
there are times to party and times to eat  --  and it is always the hour for
the hungry man to be relentlessly aware of the distinction
both when he is observing the goings on, and is a participant therein.

Even if there were no Zeus, and Henny Youngman --  you still must tell them apart;
for a human: it is useful to be mentally entertained;
for a few humans it is imperative that they mentally grasp
the significance-of and difference-between things humans do that are useful,
and those that are simply entertaining.”
 
 

One city celeb’s personal theme song:
 “I may be wrong but,
           I think I’m marvelous,
           but I’m never wrong so,
           how can I tell.”
(Same as any standard synapse's.)
 
 
 

A distinction between ordinary men’s study of man (Psychology)
and the certain man’s secret quest is that the former’s focus is on what seems to be
malfunctioning while the rebel's interest in only in the well and the super-well.
Further note: The certain man’s activities supportive of the quest
ultimately become the quest, and are thus themselves only interested in
their own well and super-well facets.
The city’s psychiatric view is:
“Feeling mentally unwell doesn’t require much  --  just being alive’ll do it.”
As simple as it sounds when put in plain words,
it’s still a fact that the certain man alone in this planet’s population gives no attention
to things non tangible which do not usefully entertain him and stout up his inner world.
 
 
 

Being mentally uncertain and off balance is man’s natural state,
but when you personally see what is behind this,
your individual state can wander from the norm.
 
 
 

There is one thing that no human, or teaching can force you to do (and that is):
give up being unnecessarily serious.
Note: There is nothing more serious than survival,
and nothing less so than entertainment.
 
 

One man says he is doing much private work in the area of Artificial Intelligence,
(and especially he adds, for personal use in himself).
 
 

From a passing car a voice shouted out:
“Only dopes quote,” and a strolling son asked his dad:
“Did he mean that only dopey, ignorant people quote,
or people on dope?”  and as they waited on the corner for the light to change, the elder rubbed his chin and mused a bit --  then replied:
“Well, how about this: why would naturally dopey people need to get on dope?”  --
and as traffic stopped,
they continued on down Curious Blvd.
 
 

*Parting the red sea in your  head is the trick.