the desert of the real

“…modern societies don’t lose reality all at once. Instead, it’s gradually replaced by copies of copies until the original version disappears completely.”

give me one example of something we do that resembles the original. is there anything left? laughing at farts, maybe?

even realness itself has been replaced by so many copies that it’s been rendered meaningless.

• “no-makeup” means painting an entirely different face onto your face
• “conservative” isn’t conserving any real historic principles. it’s trying to conserve something that never really happened.
• “beauty” as a behavior instead of a state
• “health” as a mental illness
• “success” and “progress” as destruction of environment
• “tolerance” instead of community membership
• “hygene” as consumption of disposable products
• “smelling good” = artificial smell, “smelling bad” = healthy smell
• sex as “performance” or “intimacy”
• “normal” birth is medicalized birth
• people of high “status” are the least respected people in society
• religion is used as a cover-up for abuse and amorality
• we think it’s normal for clothing to be made of microsplastics for it to be rare to find plastic-free clothing
• menstrual products are “gross” if they don’t produce plastic waste
• women are “radical” if they don’t remove their body hair
• employment as the only acceptable norm. (the whole concept of a job as “work” is less than 200 years old)
• shampooing our hair and going outside without a hat
• dead internet
• dead art/culture
• death of 3rd places

i could go on forever with this list but i need to stop. the purpose isn’t to complain. the purpose is fun!

surrogate activities

“We use the term “surrogate activity” to designate an activity that is directed toward an artificial goal that people set up for themselves merely in order to have some goal to work toward, or let us say, merely for the sake of the ‘fulfillment’ that they get from pursuing the goal.”

Surrogate activities are the activies that replace the real activities.

They can replace realness by overshadowing the real thing OR come in to existence after the realness has already left, to fill the gap the lost realness left.

In the second case, it can be helpful. When there’s a gap in realness, we can only either repress that need, which causes it to explode in neurosis, or replace it with a surrogate activity. In that case, it’s better than nothing.

We should be avoiding the first case at all costs. We’re not, but we should.

example

let’s take some examples to illustrate my point.

1. Work - our current definition of “work” is like, being employed and earning money. A woman who raises her own children and keeps her home but does not earn money “doesn’t work.” A primitive tribesman who spends his time chilling with his friends and devotes most of his energy to satisfying his biological needs “doesn’t work.” This is some fake and unfun bullshit. “Work” as we know it is a surrogate activity for real work. We hear old people say that young people “don’t want to work anymore.” Of course they don’t. Who would? It sucks. “Get a job!” say the normies to the ones trying to have fun, trying to have real connection, trying to be real. “You need money to survive” no you don’t. That’s stupid. “Life is suffering” no it’s not. A life comprised exclusively of surrogate activities is suffering. This is neither universal nor transhistorical. Just a couple of generations ago, no one said “oh fuck another Monday.” The biological needs, emotional reactions, and spiritual needs we evolved over the past million years matched our lifestyles. Our lives were real, our activities were real, our suffering was real, and our work was real.
2. Status - our current definition of who has high status is basically just the rich and or famous, right? It has nothing to do with merit, honor, loyalty, honesty, strength, bravery, reliability, or any other real positive character qualities. This fakeness is older than the work fakeness - i guess it started when leadership becccame heritable? When the king’s son became the next king instead of the guy who was strongest and smartest and who protected the rest of the crew the best? Is there even research on this? Someone should study when all of our different fake shit started and why. Anyway, trying to get rich or famous to satisfy our real need for status and respect is unfulfilling. Why? Because it’s a surrogate activity. Nobody really respects the rich and famous. They suck.

application

so what do we do in a fake world where our only options are surrogate activities? we be radical. we reject convenience. we ignore the norm. we have fun!

Here are some exercises to get you back in touch with what is REAL:

Exercise 1: smell the smells

Stop wearing deodorant for a while. Your own smell gives you information about your health. Bad body odor means stress, disease, bacterial infection, anxiety, and other bad stuff. Good body odor means good health, sweat from exercise, peaceful interior, equilibrium. If you think your good body odor smells bad, you are blinded by your programming. If you are afraid of what others will say, your friends suck. Deodorant itself is not bad for you. Not recieving the information your body odor wants to give you is bad for you. Stop perfuming your house permanently. The bad smells are important information. Recieve the information. Don’t cover it with fake shit.

exercise 2: feel the feelings

What are your feelings right now? Decode them.

• Anger is our natural response to not being able to control something we wish we could control. Either control the thing or accept you can’t.
• Anxiety is to keep us safe from future danger. What are you anxious about? Research and planning are the cure.
• Trauma is to prevent us from reliving past danger. Learn the lesson and stay away from that danger.
• Fun is our natural reward for doing biologically advantageous behavior. Do more of it.
• Depression is our need for deep rest (to save calories in winter or famine). Get comfy and give in to it. You’ll know you’re done when you get bored.
• Sadness is our natural response to biologically disadvantageous events. Remember that this, too, shall pass.
• I will explain more of them another time if anyone is interested. When you know what your emotions are and what they mean, you will be in touch with what is real and what is not. You will develop a sense for fakeness. You will notice you’re living in the uncanny valley. Your emotions are logical. Logic is emotional. There is no separation between logic and emotion. The venn diagram is a perfect circle.

The more you can differentiate between real and fake, the better your life will be. PRACTICE IT AND HAVE MORE FUN!!