senseless nonsense & serious nonsense (impossible & possible)
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“Thinking again?” the Duchess asked.
“I’ve a right to think,” said Alice sharply.
“Just about as much right,” said the Duchess, “as pigs have to fly.”
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Alice in Wonderland
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Well. This is about ‘impossible versus what is possible’ and the absurd discussions that takes place around this phrase.
Let me begin where I will end <just in case you don’t want to read everything in between>.
Impossible versus possible is the ultimate Life conundrum <at least for today’s piece>.
The ‘let me tell you what is possible’ people are most strident in identifying ‘the possible’ utilizing something called “an objective knowledge approach” <‘the world as it really is’>. They seek to provide their beliefs from ‘nowhere & everywhere’ or maybe better said by providing perspective by looking at it from all angles. Well. Someone named Donna Haraway called this “the God trick.” In other words … it is impossible.
Oops. In order to explain and clearly define ‘what is possible’ <therefore by doing so … by a process of elimination … defining a set of ‘what is impossible’> someone needs to … well … do the impossible.
Yikes. Now there is a Life, and business, truth (conundrum) to ponder.
Ok. With all that senseless nonsense, or was that serious nonsense, out of the way … let me move forward.
If you ever want to have a seriously nonsensical discussion with someone just bring up ‘impossible.’ And as soon as impossible is brought up you may as well quote Alice in Wonderland … ‘I think of 6 impossible things before breakfast.’ Personally, I have a love/hate relationship with the impossible. I truly understand that some things are impossible. Yup. Believe it or not … there are truly some of those out there. But I also have heard so many times ‘that is impossible’ only to find out it was, well, actually possible <assuming you spent some time breaking apart the impossible and putting it back together again in a way that is possible … kind of like the Rubik’s cube style of thinking> that I am quite cynical of “impossible”.
I also admit that I find impossible interesting. Certainly more interesting than the possible. Likely my interest is they both, mixed together, can seen from two different and opposite perspectives.
Anyway.
Alice in Wonderland <and the Looking Glass> are outstanding examples of how to have serious nonsensical discussions on impossible. And it is a good reminder that while it may seem like senseless nonsense <wasted time> to us old folk … it is important serious nonsense to young people.
Alice <as in wonderland> is but a 7 year old in literature but metaphorically she symbolizes all that the youth has to offer. She questions everything and all questions seemingly directed through an intrepid attitude all the while constantly using her intellect to solve problems. Oh. And she always speaks her mind.
In fact … the lesson she shares is in her growing belief that very few things “indeed, were really impossible.”
A message all young people have at the forefront of their minds.
It is also a message most old people have in their mental waste can.
Just as all youth in today’s world … Alice is plucky, undaunted, and impervious to the dangers that may lie in world. These attributes typically lead the young to eagerly and curiously delve into a world seemingly challenged by being stuck only in what is possible. And, just as the young have an aggravating habit to do, Alice literally has to open the door for herself.
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Alice finds herself at the Duchess’s door and knocks, but to no avail. This exchange between Alice and the Frog – Footman follows:
“But what am I to do? ” said Alice.
“Anything you like,” said the Footman, and began whistling.
“Oh, there’s no use in talking to him,” said Alice desperately: “he’s perfectly idiotic!”
And she opened the door and went in.
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What a marvelous thought with regard to impossible … and possible.
Ah, so what am I to do? … anything you like.
The elder generation <the Frog doorman> doesn’t limit possibilities by suggesting impossibilities but rather opens up opportunities to what is possible … and empowers thinking. The answer opens up all possibilities for her. She begins to question following tried & true <accepted> beliefs and wondering by just following ‘rules’ it will get her nowhere and that it is within her power to do anything she wants … to achieve her desired results.
In this case? She opens the door.
Once through the door? Alice experiments as she realizes that all the traditional rules and ‘possibilities’ aren’t necessarily the only way to do things … and by experimenting not only does she make shit happen … she experiences new things <impossible things>.
Basically she is challenging what I believe philosophers call logical possibility and impossibility. I probably do not have this exactly right but this philosophical thought is something along these lines:
There are some things that we simply can’t imagine regardless of how hard we try, since they’re inherently contradictory or nonsensical. And then there are many other things that we improperly judge to be impossible for no other reason than that they don’t conform to our established ideas about how the world normally goes <Hume called these ‘matters of fact’>.
Matters of fact constitute one of two categories into which Hume sorted the things about which people make inquiries and exercise their reason. The other category is relations of ideas. Relations of ideas pertain to the truths of mathematics <2 + 2 = 4>, pure logic <frogs are frogs> and “every affirmation that is either intuitively or demonstrably certain.”
Therefore Hume suggests because the negation of any true statement of this sort is impossible it’s unimaginable <like 2 + 2 could add up to anything but 4>.
Anyway. Imagination is essential to this type of thinking – Alice’s as well as the young. In many ways imagination is the same as … yet opposite at exactly the same time … reality. Just as the impossible is simply some warped version of possible.
This may all sound absurd … as does anything that seems impossible. Impossible rationally discussed remains in the impossible category, unfortunately, it is only when you think irrationally that impossible becomes … well … possible.
How absurd is that?
Ambrose Pierce wrote in the Devil’s Dictionary: Absurdity – A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one’s own opinion.
That which is deemed impossible is often simply a thought encapsulated within one’s own opinion.
Which is nonsensical in itself.
Making sense of the nonsensical is serious stuff. And it takes some imaginative thinking. Because, frankly, most nonsense about ‘impossible’ is actually provisional … circumstantial. In other words … change the circumstances and you can often discern a completely new & unexpected rule of cause and effect which ultimately makes the initial impossible … well … possible.cWe often get frustrated by that which we expect just to ‘be’ as we challenge what we understand is the natural order of the world or the ‘accepted rules of what is … and what will be … if you follow this thinking.”
I know it is frustrating to me <but I like ‘impossible things’>.
All that said.
It makes the everyday world is frustrating to those who challenge impossible things because this type of thinking challenges most people’s desire to fit experiences in a logical framework where they can not only make sense of the relationship between cause and effect but also draw up a list of rules to insure impossible is clearly defined <and can be avoided>. And, yet, a quest for true knowledge would suggest ignoring those ‘impossible rules’ as often as is feasible.
<that all made my head hurt>
Ok. Back to Alice as an example. Alice is on a quest for true knowledge. Wonderland <or youth> is a place where one can release inhibitions, to release preconceptions of ideas and to start really questioning to gain true wisdom and … I assume … true knowledge.
In its youthful insanity, in its complete separation from the world of adults, one can begin the long journey to true knowledge and defining truth in that impossible things are often quite readily possible.
Making the possible from the impossible is a journey. With obstacles and twists and turns … and often some discussions that will make your head spin like the girl in The Exorcist and spew forth green stuff:
In fact … Alice shares a discussion like this:
“… I believe I can guess that,” (Alice) added aloud.
“Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?” said the March Hare.
“Exactly so,” said Alice.
“Then you should say what you mean,” the March Hare went on.
“I do,” Alice hastily replied, “at least – at least I mean what I say – that’s the same thing, you know.”
“Not the same thing a bit!” said the Hatter. “Why, you might just as well say that ‘I see what I eat’ is the same thing as ‘I eat what I see’!”
“You might just as well say,” added the March Hare, “that ‘I like what I get’ is the same as ‘I get what I like’!”
“You might just as well say,” added the Dormouse, which seemed to be talking in its sleep, “that ‘I breathe when I sleep’ is the same thing as ‘I sleep when I breathe’!”
“It is the same thing to you,” said the Hatter, and here the conversation dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute, while Alice thought over all she could remember …
Whew. What a delightful episode in Wonderland or, uhm, is this a business meeting I was in?
We older folk can twist words using preconceived thoughts to design impossibilities better than anyone. And the young struggle to unwind the tangled web of reasoning because ‘impossible’ is a roadblock they aren’t willing to admit exists until they actually run into it.
The young rarely hesitate to discard preconceptions <those roadblocks> when they come across situations that seem to obviously refute them. In their youthful vim & vigor they display a consistent readiness to encounter reality on their own terms. An attribute, or character trait, essential in the discovery of truth … and the abolition of the impossible <we older folk have stated as truth>.
Obviously I am overstating the youth versus older folk. Because we older folk don’t come up with our ‘that is impossible’ crap willy nilly. Our ‘matters of fact’ beliefs are based on what we have experienced — seen, smelled, touched, and tasted. It is impossible <oops … didn’t mean to use that word there> to observe a future objectively this way. It was Hume who suggested that the only reason we don’t think that the world will radically change tomorrow is that it hasn’t ever changed in this way before.
It was also Hume who believed all of our beliefs about ‘unobserved matters’ rest on the one key assumption that the future will resemble the past.
This may sound irrational but there is no rational way of convincing someone they are wrong about this or, as a corollary, that tomorrow will be different.
You are stuck. Stuck in what is possible and the impossible behind some door you cannot see behind.
<back to Alice>
What does Alice do in this case? She literally opens the door for herself.
“What am I to do?”
The Frog Footman’s response … “anything you like.” The response opens up all possibilities. She has the power to do anything she wants. She has the opportunity to define what is possible. Possibilities are like opening a door that you have either been told will not open or you hesitate to open because of some preconceived notion <like in Alice’s case … she seeks permission>.
Anyway <here is the big close>.
The Duchess keenly observed, “Everything’s got a moral, if only you can find it.”
The moral of this rant/observation/babble?
Geez.
I am not sure I am qualified to offer a moral to this story. But maybe a thought on the impossible <or a couple of thoughts>.
First thought.
While there are certainly ‘impossible’ things there are far more possible things than we believe. In fact, maybe the problem is that most of us struggle with the infiniteness of possibilities and therefore seek to expand the ‘impossible’ to decrease the possible <and make it slightly more palatable and less stressful>.
Sound nuts? No more nuts than arguing something is impossible only to find out somebody made it possible.
Second thought.
Logical thinking about impossibilities is actually illogical <if you want to think about it effectively>.
Logical thinking shouldn’t see possible or impossible but rather possible but inappropriate actions and decision.
I say this because we are ultimately confronted by an infinite number of possibilities. Sometimes we can resolve them through simple rules and yet sometimes we need additional rules to decide which of the simple rules to use.
And when completely unfamiliar situations arise we have to imagine new rules <or use what has been believed in the past> that include or discount the previous ones therefore either redefining rules or creating new ones <in a never ending cycle>. Using that kind of logic … the only mistakes we can truly make are in our application of rules … choosing one over another. Maybe the only mistake is to believe something is impossible.
Third thought.
Impossible is all about fear. Yup. Because the possible is comfortable. It is the known. It is the pleasant company of friends in a warm comfortable room with your favorite drink in hand speaking of this and that. The impossible is the unexpected factor. It is … well … fear.
Fear as the sudden shattering discovery of a reality that while it may only decide to reveal itself at the moment … has always been present, simply unseen, in your warm comfortable room. It is a fear embodied in a crushing end of an ignorance … or simply an uncomfortable disruption of easy comfort. Impossible means being swept into a vast emptiness of bottomless black depths of oceans where, as you are driven deep, you have the unpleasant certainty that your feet are far from any steady ground. It is a fear in which unlike a dream <or nightmare> you are unsure you will awake and see the familiar you left behind when you fell asleep.
Enough poetic descriptive … impossible is about fear. And overcoming it.
Anyway.
Remember <please>.
In order to explain and clearly define ‘what is possible’ <therefore by doing so … by a process of elimination … defining a set of ‘what is impossible’> someone needs to … well … do the impossible.
Which begs me to conclude with some words from my friends at TopModels:
‘Begin by stopping.
Stop believing every study you read.
Stop believing every platitude <capitalism needs growth, education is the key, etc.>.
Stop believing there is such a thing as objectivity – you will always find somebody who thinks exactly the opposite is ‘objectively true.’
Start to be curious – and critical – about the attitudes <and beliefs> of others and about your own.”
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