Ready for some Cassiopaean-Style Absurdity?

[Natus Videre]

JN: Do you see light at the end of the tunnel?
JN: See some light, but no tunnel.
JN: Do you see the tunnel from which light emanates?
JN: See a tunnel, but no light.
JN: Is there any hope?
JN: Yes.
JN: Great.
JN: Depression.

JN: Sometimes I wonder why we are here...
JN: Learn.
JN: Learn what?
JN: Learn.
JN: Can you be more specific?
JN: LEARN.
JN: I don't get it.
JN: Let. Each. Answer. Resonate. Now.

JN: Did you see what just flew by?
JN: Yes.
JN: What was it?
JN: Something.
JN: ??
JN: One more strike and you're out.

JN: What is love?
JN: Four letters.
JN: That's it?
JN: Never been so easy.
JN: Really?
JN: To lose.

JN: What comes after tomorrow?
JN: Yesterday.
JN: What comes after yesterday?
JN: What comes after tomorrow?
JN: Yesterday.
JN: What comes after yesterday?
JN: I see what you did there.
JN: Was about time.

JN: Do you ever feel anything?
JN: Sometimes.
JN: When exactly?
JN: Now.

JN: What time is it?
JN: Time to fly.
JN: Do I need a parachute?
JN: You don't need it.
JN: What if I fall?
JN: You already did.

JN: Is there a way I can merge these two concepts together?
JN: Twoconceptstogether.

JN: Do you like prime numbers?
JN: Not the first one.
JN: It takes two to tango.
JN: Exactly.

JN: Do you like me?
JN: Subjective.
JN: Why is it subjective?
JN: That is more objective.

JN: I'm running out of ideas.
JN: Ideas are walking by.

JN: What is the meaning of life?
JN: All of the above.

JN: Is science corrupt?
JN: If you cut a branch from a tree, will it fall?
JN: Well, yeah. Duh.
JN: There is your answer.
JN: So it is?
JN: See previous answer.
JN: I get it.
JN: No, you don't.

JN: What goes up must...
JN: Do what it will do.

JN: Are we free as in free speech?
JN: Free as in free beer.
JN: Cheers.
JN: Cheers.

JN: Why is the sky blue?
JN: Contemplate.
JN: Sometimes, it's red.
JN: Discover.
JN: But now, it's...
JN: You.

JN: Why does it have to be so complicated?
JN: So simple, you mean.

JN: Why do I forget my dreams?
JN: You are in one.

JN: I saw a policeman the other day.
JN: Maninpolice.

JN: Okay, I'm done.
JN: Wait and see!

JN: Is history corrupt?
JN: Yes.
JN: From which point?
JN: This one.

JN: Why do we need to wear a mask all the time?
JN: Scaring is caring.

JN: How do animals perceive us?
JN: Fewer contradictions.

JN: Guess what I bought for Christmas.
JN: New sandals for Caesar.

JN: So we live in 3D?
JN: Depends on the movie.

JN: Tell me what I should do.
JN: Nothing.
JN: Do nothing? Are you serious?
JN: Nothing is so serious.

JN: What makes you laugh?
JN: Ha!
JN: Ha?
JN: Aha!

JN: This game drains my energy.
JN: Restart.
JN: You mean, my life?
JN: The game.

JN: Why do we have to eat everyday?
JN: Try it.
JN: Try what? Not eating?
JN: Yes.

JN: Some people just don't realize it.
JN: You were one of them.
JN: Not anymore.
JN: As you measure it.

JN: Lesson 1: Always...
JN: Lesson 2. Never.

JN: I woke up in the middle of the night.
JN: Replace night with day.

JN: Is life coming to an end?
JN: Like a waving flag.

JN: Is that it?
JN: That it is.

 

[Michael B-C]

I have to admit the above did make me laugh at times Natus Videre but I have to also confess to having an absurdist sense of humour alongside a more general one (I hope!) Brought to mind that old chestnut of Oscar Wilde's:

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.

And don't worry; we're all mediocre before the face of the knowledge shared by the C's!

I take your wry offering as being an awe inspired, if self-effacing, homage when faced by the universe the C's reveal. But dare I ask - is the above not also as much about revealing something of yourself and your worldview as it is any puzzlement before such an edifice? Just wondering - maybe you'd like to share on where this offering sources from for you?

By the way, as you know loving parody has a long and ignoble history. One of my favourites (which I can't sadly find online but I have in a book somewhere) was by the great literary/theatre critic Kenneth Tynan, who back in 1957 famously composed his whole review of the premier of Samuel Beckett's Endgame in the style of Beckett, full of stage directions (pause!) and oblique non sequiturs.... but all deeply meaningful of course! Your post reminds me of the enigmatic Nobel honored Irishman. I have to confess whilst I respect Beckett, (I've even directed work by him... and by so doing really come to understand his mastery), I have always thought his coming among us a terrible sign of our times - a dead end... Endgame. In the final analysis he leaves me musing, 'I know he's a genius, but I really wish he hadn't had to have happened!'

 

[Natus Videre]

Not so long ago, I felt a strong urge to find the meaning of life. I couldn't accept the fact that human beings had seemingly no purpose. How can such complex beings be reduced to nothing? There must be more to life than pushing a rock à la Sisyphus, only to watch it fall down a hill!

Little did I know that an existential debate would ravage my mind for months.

Dark, depressive thoughts fueled by nihilism landed on my conscious strip. A black cloud was cast over my head and interfered with all my attempts to secure a satisfying conclusion to the debate. I felt imprisoned by my own mind, a mind that was spinning its wheels
and desperately searching for answers. It was unbearable. Paralyzed, almost to the point of giving up, I took a step back.

Does life really need a meaning?

Maybe I was trying to find an answer to a non-existing question! What a relief!
Needless to say, that was enough to free myself from the shackles of self-destruction.
I reclaimed my mind after considering the following statements:

Life doesn't need to have a meaning. You need to give it a meaning yourself.

Sometimes, all you need is a change of perspective.
The puzzle rearranges itself; new pieces come into play.

And this is what the Cassiopaean Experiment has given us: a new perspective.
If, from an angle, you see a dead end, change the angle. Zoom out. Try it. Discover.
Absurdity stems from the unwillingness to shift focus.
What may seem absurd, may not be absurd after all.