Chaos order. Order chaos.

Chaos order. Order chaos.

A topic I have been reflecting on quite seriously in the past while: order. I live in China. You think my musing comes from reflecting on the Chinese leadership and its compulsive mania for normality. But no.

My reflection on order and chaos stems from groups who are much closer to me, namely my expat friends, my tango dancers comrades. And then the whole world in general. No it’s not the Chinese this time. (Welcome to Beijing, land of chaos, more likely than order).

I am reflecting on “order” as being the ultimate goal. “Chaos” being the thing to avoid. I wonder why it is that once we give freedom to an individual, this individual will as soon go back to a world where (s)he’s been taking orders, rather than experiment with unstructured chaos. I should define freedom here as in 1) relaxing laws and leaving it up to the individual to decide on the definition of right and wrong, 2) removing the leader from a group and giving each individual equal opportunity to voice their concerns and wants—the democratic voting system being based on this freedom, 3) giving individual responsibility and asking for accountability in return, 4) giving a range of choices—why does it always comes down to two—one being the good, the other the bad.

“Out of chaos (s)he created order.”

This sentence is somewhere in all the religions I have heard of. And why does order seem to reflect progress in the human condition? I think not. I think in the beginning all was good and then shit hit the fan. That’s what’s happened. I’m not yet worried about whether or not God is responsible for the fan, (though my exploration goes on...).

Why is it we die anyways? Because we have a system which deteriorates. Systems aren’t made to last forever. They are not built to be sustainable to infinite. What is sustainable for infinite are “systems” of chaos such as “microbes”, “falling in love”, “gene selection”.
Order dies. A gash in order creates chaos. Chaos is an entity. It survives as such. It lives as such. Chaos is born and lives on. Until order comes around. And dies out.

This said, why is it the human condition to search so deep, look so high, cry so loud, to attain a model of order? Multiple explanations come to my mind, such as controlling the mass (the order working for you), survival of the fittest (in order from top to bottom one is at the top), immature, irresponsible, non-accountable, feeble individual (having the order work for you), etc...you know I know we know they know. It’s a known fact.

But in an order of 0-10, where we started at zero (ze big bang hitting the fan) and striving to get to 10 (according to global warming we’re about 9.7) is it possible we’re actually not going forward but backwards? I mean, striving to put order in all of that hasn’t led to any outstanding bettering of the condition overall of the humans. We do wear clothes, we do have vaccines, we do live longer sure yes and I’m very happy not to be walking around, showing off my smallpox scars, shivering naked in the cold. But in light of human “happiness”, the feeling of being on track, in tune with oneself etc...Existential crisis is more or less the same. Wars start for the same reasons. Again and again the same aspects of women are preached as the all sins of the earth while the characteristics of a winner is a fairly international standard, we still haven’t been saved by God. Not as a living being in any case.

So is it possible we are actually devolving? From the point of perfection (chaos is self regulated interactive anti-systems etc.) Is it possible we are going further and further away from “it”? I don’t see regulating parking lots against skateboarding as bringing up better or worse adults!
And so, if order is an anti-climax, then is chaos a progress? Would it explain why cultures as old as the earth (I exaggerate) Iran, India, China, display far more chaos than anywhere new?
...
(On this, my exploration goes on)
Cricri, yet another fruitful bicycle ride along the east (now demolished)wall of the forbidden city from the slaughter house district to the filling your stomach before the long walk district.

Freedom of speech vs. egocentric thoughts

Ultimately a society that restricts freedom of speech is balanced by so many people doing and thinking their own thing.

Politically correct doesn’t apply. White people are white. Black people are black. Yellow people are white...mercury cream and umbrellas. More so than other places I’ve been, conversation starts with “no” (bu). At any moment the listeners interrupt to cry out their opinions, assuming it must be different from their interlocutor. Why? I am not sure. Is an opinion valued only when it is in opposition to the headlining statement? At any rate, I have to remind my students (adults) they get much more out of a discussion (in English) when they stimulate exchange rather than go ahead full on confrontation. Most of the time, a “no” means, “yes, AND also...” I do make them aware their opinion is the same, so why start the sentence with a “no.”

Sidetracking a wee bit here. Though the essence of this blurb remains about people thinking individually in an environment of forced unification. English: Whereas in Spain people are individual with freedom of speech granted mucho, activists gang up and create movements (with strict rules and guidelines, manifesto to be taken seriously) while in China tulips go up on the tv screen when the news introduces a controversial topic, or news source BUT. But it’s unsettling at best having to deal with a Chinese mind owing honest loyalty to themselves truly and only.

In a society where context is dictated, the word stereotype is hard to understand. Not because it isn’t acceptable as a human rights standard, but because outside of oneself, everybody is the “other”, and so every “other” is the same as the “other”. “They” just aren’t “me.” Which means to say, I am very unique.

True freedom of speech/mind is not dictated through manifesto. It is an egocentric verbal/mind frame.

(No judgement were made while weighing the opposing sides.)
On difference, my exploration goes on—it’s homônumos no. 6 issue’s topic
Christine
Sept. 05 08. Yet another fruitful ride back home from Wanfujing to Dongsishitiao, Beijing