Who knew I was a Taoist all along? I thought I was a nihilist. Not the kind with black turtlenecks but another kind. I've always been a bit interested in Dao/Taoism but never studied. All of the western weirdos who were into Eastern philosophy scared me off. I didn't want to turn into one of them like Steve Jobs or that hippy book about motorcycle maintenance. I believe in living in the moment and always have. Back when I was first studying Chinese I learned all the words for moving around: directions, street signs and so on because those are immediately useful. A lot of them had the character dao in them somewhere, like dadao, boulevard or daoda, arrive.
One day, I step into the vestibule of some random temple and there is a two-story high scroll of the character 到.
As I craned my neck to see the top, I said, "ooooh, I get it! Dao! The way!"
Upon seeing this, I was enlightened.
I have the daodejing in newnorwegian, and it is a very interesting read.
be like water
A bowl is most useful when it is empty. But most useless.
That's what I always disliked about Eastern philosophy, how it doesn't seem to ever actually do anything and tries to think up the most clever tricks of language instead. I caught a podcast on Confucianism and this is the Lawful Neutral ethos I've been looking for. It's one that must be studied, though. The Confucian scholar is all about studying. China is what a country looks like after the brainy nerds won. Not the creepy kind of incel nerd, but the pre-computer nerd kind of nerd.
I actually like Chinese philosophy, particularly Confucianism, because of how materialistic it is. It's about running a state and keeping people from killing each other, while a lot of Greek philosophy is about the nature of the self yada yada.
The development of the various schools, and their support bases, is also interesting from a historical materialist perspective. You have the Confucians (nerds), who look at a world in war and destruction, and say 'this suffering is because of lack of knowledge. If we educate everyone to follow rules, respect their superiors and protect those below them, there will be peace. So we must fund education and research, and thoroughly educate emperors and officers.'
Then the Mohists, who come from the working classes, say 'have you seen these snobs? They exploit us all the time and would start a war if it benefits them, since it'll be us dying for them. So we need to train weaker groups to resist the strong, and do away with useless luxuries like rituals and elaborate musical performances'.
The Legalists (civil servants) attack the Confucians from another angle, pointing out that statecraft is not as black and white as the Confucians think, and that the only quality on which a public servant should be judged is the ability to get things done. 'It does not matter if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice.'
Finally you have the Taoists, who were originally mystics, but whose teaching that government should interfere as little as possible won them the support of the merchants. Absolutely fascinating how each class came up with its own philosophical tradition according to its material interests.
It doesnt do anything? Its a foundation of chinese society, how does that equate to nothing? Yin yang, five elements, taiji chuan, chinese medicine to mention some.
How does fire count? It's not an element, it's a reaction
Ah, I see. You are a materialist.
on hexbear? not likely
Actually, I am a taxonomist.
"The Beginning of Wisdom is Calling Things by Their Right Names"
-- Confucius
I can say that the quote resonates with me in the sense that I do believe that we should challenge the words we are using in our everyday life, and potentially swap them out.
That is straight-up Derrida thinking.
"There's glory for you!"
"I don't know what you mean by 'glory'," Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't - till I tell you. I meant 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you'!" "But 'glory' doesn't mean 'a nice knock-down argument'," Alice objected.
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more or less." "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be Master - that's all."
-- Alice in Wonderland
I havent read Derrida, but to clearify Im very fond of looking into the etymology of words to understand the underlying images of the words.
For instance the word "order" in the expression "in order to find x, we need to..." comes from latin "ordinem" meaning "rank, row, line, series, pattern and more".
It is a word that I associate with authority because it comes from the very hierarchical roman empire, and it is typically used in context of keeping people subordinated. Authority can be justified, but we should not normalize it through language, so therefore I like to weed it out.
In its place I plant the word "fern" which is a symbol of the infinitely shaped, infinitely structured. This word has the benefit of moving our attention towards nature, makes us wonder about the infinite, and removes the authority element of the word.
A common feedback I get is; "If you use words nobody has heard of, nobody is going to understand you". But the context often reveal the meaning of a word as long as you use the word with flow.
I like to call this process relighting. To unlight one word and enlight another in fern to loken the language.
I'll look into it.