The Last to Comment Wins
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Tempokai
The Overworked One
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Language disguises the thought; so that from the external form of the clothes one cannot infer the form of the thought they clothe, because the external form of the clothes is constructed with quite another object than to let the form of the body be recognized.
ElijahRyne
A Hermit that’s NOT that Lazy, currentlycomplainen
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I am currently winning.
JayMark
It's Not Easy Being Nobody, But Somebody Has To.
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Wow, Tempurakai is super smart. He's going to buy us clothes. Tempurakai is going to buy us clothes made out of Fanta! Tempurakai! Magic clothes that disguise our bodies. Tempurakai is so cool Elijah. And you're cool too Elijah. And Shirirururururururururu is cool too. And we are super cool too. XP
CANDY MOUTAIN IN FANTA CLOAKS!
ElijahRyne
A Hermit that’s NOT that Lazy, currentlycomplainen
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SRB
:Simple Russian Boi:
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What da fuck?
Tempokai
The Overworked One
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Imagine, if you will, a man named Harold.
Harold is sitting at a desk buried in Post-it notes, forgotten passwords, half-written manifestos, and diagrams of how he once believed time travel worked, based entirely on reruns of Doctor Who. Harold believes he is on the brink of discovering the Unified Theory of Everything—he just needs to find the right TED Talk.
Harold’s problem is not that he doesn’t know the answer. No, Harold has been collecting trivia, spiritual slogans, and philosophical footnotes like a doomsday prepper hoarding canned beans. His problem is that he’s been mentally shoving it all into the attic of his mind for decades, where it's been fermenting next to dusty boxes labeled "childhood trauma" and "that time in college with the mushrooms."
What Wittgenstein is suggesting—nay, declaring with the weariness of a man who's watched too many people reinvent the wheel—is that the solution to Harold's existential crisis is not in acquiring more information. It's in realizing that he’s had all the right puzzle pieces this whole time; he just insisted on trying to jam them into the wrong picture.
In other words, if life were a jigsaw puzzle, most of us are screaming “I need more edge pieces!” when we’re holding the whole damn border in our hands but are too distracted arguing about whether the sky goes above or below the unicorn's butt.
Wittgenstein’s sly little aphorism here is, essentially, an academic subtweet aimed at the entire human race: You’re not stuck because you lack knowledge. You’re stuck because your thoughts are lounging around in bathrobes instead of lining up for roll call.
Let’s put it in even plainer terms. You ever clean your room and discover that you owned three of the exact same spatula, none of which you could find when you were cooking? That’s your brain on bad philosophical housekeeping. Most of our “deep” problems—ethical dilemmas, existential unease, the inability to understand why Karen from Accounting chews so loudly—aren’t problems of missing data. They’re problems of misarranged data.
Consider love. Do we lack information about it? Absolutely not. There are thousands of years’ worth of poetry, neuroscience, rom-coms, and breakup playlists clogging the cultural gutters. Yet we keep getting heartbroken in new and exciting ways, not because we don’t know what love is, but because we keep trying to interpret it through whatever Taylor Swift album we’ve emotionally imprinted on.
Or consider death. Humans have always known it’s coming. That hasn’t changed. No new information has really been added to the “you’re going to die” announcement. Yet here we are, thousands of years into this existential rodeo, still treating the concept like it just walked in uninvited to our birthday party.
The brilliance of Wittgenstein’s observation is that it doesn’t just apply to philosophy. It’s practically a life hack.
Trying to understand your feelings? Stop looking for new ones to distract you. Rearrange the ones you already have like mismatched IKEA parts and see if the emotional dresser finally stands up straight.
Trying to “find your purpose”? Maybe don’t. Maybe you already bumped into it three years ago, but you were too busy binge-watching productivity hacks on YouTube to notice.
Trying to fix the world? (How adorable.) Perhaps the solution isn’t another revolution, but finally taking the ancient ideas—justice, fairness, don’t be a colossal jerk—and implementing them instead of just slapping them on bumper stickers.
In this way, Wittgenstein isn’t just speaking to philosophers. He’s basically the ghost of every weary librarian, therapist, and long-suffering mother who’s been screaming, “You already have what you need, just put it in the right drawer!”
Harold is sitting at a desk buried in Post-it notes, forgotten passwords, half-written manifestos, and diagrams of how he once believed time travel worked, based entirely on reruns of Doctor Who. Harold believes he is on the brink of discovering the Unified Theory of Everything—he just needs to find the right TED Talk.
Harold’s problem is not that he doesn’t know the answer. No, Harold has been collecting trivia, spiritual slogans, and philosophical footnotes like a doomsday prepper hoarding canned beans. His problem is that he’s been mentally shoving it all into the attic of his mind for decades, where it's been fermenting next to dusty boxes labeled "childhood trauma" and "that time in college with the mushrooms."
What Wittgenstein is suggesting—nay, declaring with the weariness of a man who's watched too many people reinvent the wheel—is that the solution to Harold's existential crisis is not in acquiring more information. It's in realizing that he’s had all the right puzzle pieces this whole time; he just insisted on trying to jam them into the wrong picture.
In other words, if life were a jigsaw puzzle, most of us are screaming “I need more edge pieces!” when we’re holding the whole damn border in our hands but are too distracted arguing about whether the sky goes above or below the unicorn's butt.
Wittgenstein’s sly little aphorism here is, essentially, an academic subtweet aimed at the entire human race: You’re not stuck because you lack knowledge. You’re stuck because your thoughts are lounging around in bathrobes instead of lining up for roll call.
Let’s put it in even plainer terms. You ever clean your room and discover that you owned three of the exact same spatula, none of which you could find when you were cooking? That’s your brain on bad philosophical housekeeping. Most of our “deep” problems—ethical dilemmas, existential unease, the inability to understand why Karen from Accounting chews so loudly—aren’t problems of missing data. They’re problems of misarranged data.
Consider love. Do we lack information about it? Absolutely not. There are thousands of years’ worth of poetry, neuroscience, rom-coms, and breakup playlists clogging the cultural gutters. Yet we keep getting heartbroken in new and exciting ways, not because we don’t know what love is, but because we keep trying to interpret it through whatever Taylor Swift album we’ve emotionally imprinted on.
Or consider death. Humans have always known it’s coming. That hasn’t changed. No new information has really been added to the “you’re going to die” announcement. Yet here we are, thousands of years into this existential rodeo, still treating the concept like it just walked in uninvited to our birthday party.
The brilliance of Wittgenstein’s observation is that it doesn’t just apply to philosophy. It’s practically a life hack.
Trying to understand your feelings? Stop looking for new ones to distract you. Rearrange the ones you already have like mismatched IKEA parts and see if the emotional dresser finally stands up straight.
Trying to “find your purpose”? Maybe don’t. Maybe you already bumped into it three years ago, but you were too busy binge-watching productivity hacks on YouTube to notice.
Trying to fix the world? (How adorable.) Perhaps the solution isn’t another revolution, but finally taking the ancient ideas—justice, fairness, don’t be a colossal jerk—and implementing them instead of just slapping them on bumper stickers.
In this way, Wittgenstein isn’t just speaking to philosophers. He’s basically the ghost of every weary librarian, therapist, and long-suffering mother who’s been screaming, “You already have what you need, just put it in the right drawer!”
Shiriru_B
Book binge in progress.
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The unicorns hijacked Tonies profile, as well as his kidneys.
YOU WON'T FOOL ME UNICORNS!
JayMark
It's Not Easy Being Nobody, But Somebody Has To.
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Hey look everybody, it's Temperaaaaaaaaaaaaance! YAY! Temperaaaaaaaaaaaance! Let's go together to Candy Mountain Temperance. It's an adventure. This is Elijah, Tempurakai, and ShiriririririririririrRuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! We're going to the magic soda fountain and then Candy Moutain! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Shiriru_B
Book binge in progress.
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STAY BACK THESE KIDNEYS ARE MINE! THEY WERE STOLEN FAIR AND SQUARE!
ElijahRyne
A Hermit that’s NOT that Lazy, currentlycomplainen
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I am currently winning.
Tempokai
The Overworked One
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Candy mountain was closed down because of a dufe called Gustavo Fring. His chicken empire wasn't growing well, so he sued them in terms of drug usage and Saul Goodman shut them down
SRB
:Simple Russian Boi:
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*un-unicorns you, turning you into spagetti*
JayMark
It's Not Easy Being Nobody, But Somebody Has To.
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Noooooooooooo, it's candy Shiriruru. Candy from Witty Frankenstein will ease your existential dilemnas. Tempurakai said so. Everybody loves candy Shiriru. We can all win together. With Fanta and Candy from the king of Candy Moutain. Witty Frankenstein. Isn't that right Elijah?
Wait Candy Mountain. No, the Banana king would never let them shut down Candy Mountain Tempurakai, CANDY MOUNTAIN!
Temperance is gonna make spaghetti for lunch! Spaghetti lunch Shiriiiiiiiru!
Oh no, he's winning again. Elijaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
ElijahRyne
A Hermit that’s NOT that Lazy, currentlycomplainen
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I am winning currently.
SRB
:Simple Russian Boi:
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Christ, reading this makes my brain hurt. Is this what a memetic hazard feels like?
JayMark
It's Not Easy Being Nobody, But Somebody Has To.
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ElijahRyne
A Hermit that’s NOT that Lazy, currentlycomplainen
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I am currently winning.