As you are well aware, recently I have been trying to do 'nothing', especially activism.Pondering upon this, whilst trying to do my essays, I have discovered that not only is doing nothing practically impossible (ie how on earth can an activist switch off completely?) but, also, philosophically/biologically it cant be done. Has anybody ever written on this subject? Perhaps Alan Badiou? I would be interested to read.
Nothing, even in its state of being a big fat zero, is still doing something; not only to itself in whatever form it is ie lying on the piece of paper or being spoken out aloud, but also to the thing that receives said information; the person, animal, mineral etc. The point being that it hits the senses is one way or another.
To do nothing is to still to consume; oxygen for example, is still to interact and transform the material world around us; oxygen into carbon dioxide, and, to do nothing is, therefore, always doing something. We, as individuals, are never ever free-floating; we participate in the material world around us whether we like it or not.
All I can say is, in the words of my son, 'i not doing nuffin' forever...
Long live optimism.
Just found wikipage that explains how to do something nothingly but...
1 comment:
i think you're mistaken. a few things come to mind :p
a) a friend of mine not too long ago was talking with another friend who had passed by. they discussed the issue of retirement, which was looming for both. the gem of wisdom my friend had was to say that in retirement, the trick is to apply oneself with the same vigour to what one wants to accomplish for oneself (in a non-monetary way...) as one did in work. this trick is lost upon most, as they go from 'doing' to become couch potatoes.
b) the second thing that comes to mind is the act of doing nothing. if you truly were doing nothing, your mind would quieten, and you could, if 'looking for it', identify the 'mind', thereby entering the contradiction that could lead to a better understanding of our greatest influence upon ourselves, the mind.
c) i also think you confuse the 'doing something' with being part of the totalizing environment. while it is true that even in doing nothing, one breathes, that this is part of us being connected and inter-dependent, etc, with the entirety of the universe around us. to confuse this state as one where it is impossible to do nothing would be to remove the possibility of agency, free will, for if the inter-connectivity with everything is the denial of the possibility to do 'nothing', then one could extend this to the act of 'doing something' as just a continuation of our links, our path(s) and consequently, our destiny.
To take another view, our inter-connectivity is the conditions we live in, as set by the myriad of 'items' around us, influencing us no doubt, but it is our awareness of ourselves and our environment which enables us to take an action or decision (choice) as independently as possible. Here the relativity of independence is down to...awareness of the mind. Our inability to overcome this 'first hurdle' is what keeps us stuck in a frenzied state of 'doing something', meaningless as it might be, just for the sake of doing something, even if we really want to be doing the opposite, nothing.
I also think your doing nothing is canceled out by the fact that you're doing something in your head. As such, you were never doing nothing, you're still the activist you were before. Which is why I suppose some of us love you so :p
-s
Post a Comment