So many scribbles lately in my notebook and scraps of paper: observations and ideas! As a rule of thumb I’ve become suspicious of mere ideas—I mean those that need words, often long sophisticated ones. I don’t mean simple ideas, like these walls would look good painted in yellow: I could visualise that without knowing the words “wall” or “yellow”, which might in any case be inadequate to express my vision.
When I have an idea which depends on verbal identifying and naming, I find myself pausing, as it were asking the relevant Muse for guidance. So it is in the present case, where I’ve been toying with a paradox:
– Conformist behaviour leads away from common humanity.
– Eccentric behaviour takes us straight to the centre.
Conformism, when you trace its root, often starts with a “leader” serving his own interests. Eccentricity is a conscious attempt to break free by following one’s inner impulse.
You’ll know where I am coming from when I confess that my heroes include William Blake and Vincent van Gogh, whose lives defied society but who speak to the soul today.
Jeanne Calment of Arles was 13 when she knew Vincent as a customer for cloth to make his canvases. She recalled him as “very ugly, ungracious, impolite, crazy and bad-smelling”. Vincent cannot be blamed for Jeanne thinking him ugly. But Martin Gayford, from whose book The Yellow House my quote comes, comments: “[this] was characteristic of the impression poor Vincent made on people, especially the opposite sex”. If the name Jeanne Calment is vaguely familiar, it’s because she lived to be 122, and there are many stories about her. For example she appeared in two movies, one being Vincent et Moi (1990), in which she played herself. She gave up smoking when she was 117: not for health reasons, but because she was going blind, and found it embarrassing to have to keep asking for a light.
Yes, I am learning to be very careful with ideas, especially those which are not rooted in my bedrock experience of Nature—the world’s or my own. What is an idea? I woke in the night and wrote this: “Ideas are action with no substance, like fire. Their curse and their blessing is that they burn. We cannot build anything real with them, but they serve by destroying dead brushwood.”
We might imagine theories and ideas as harmless fluffy clouds, like the “thinks” bubbles that appear above strip cartoon characters, but they are wildfire: crazy, untamed, no respecters of important values. Are we not the children of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods?
To punish Prometheus for this hubris (and all of mankind in the process), Zeus devised “such evil for them that they shall desire death rather than life, and Prometheus shall see their misery and be powerless to succour them. That shall be his keenest pang among the torments I will heap upon him.” … Zeus was enraged because the giving of fire began an era of enlightenment for Man …(Wikipedia)
Thoughts on “Like wildfire”
Anonymous
– Conformist behaviour leads away from common humanity.
– Eccentric behaviour takes us straight to the centre.
that’s a great quote!
iteresting to learn about Jeanne Calment of Arles, she gave up smoking at 117 and lived to 122! Wow! that is amazing!
ghetufool
learned many things. about Gogh, Jeanne Calment and the most important of all, about ideas…that we cannot use them to construct but destroy dead brushwood. Excellent!
Vincent
Indeed, Kathy, you have every justification to be sceptical. My idea (about the nature of ideas, i.e. theories) has not been tested too much, but let me give you just one example.
We cannot build much with the Evolution idea—I speak as a non-scientist—but it serves to discredit the Creationist idea, that the Universe was built by God in six days a few thousand years ago.
The new idea burns up the old one.
rama
Hullo! I remember what you told me when we met in London recently:
“It is important to be a nobody.”
Thanks a lot for visiting my blog and your feedback.
Best, rama
CE
Ideas are just opinions. My opinion. I don’t worry about saying what I think anymore. I try to think for myself. And of course the more we speak the more likely we are going to be wrong or wronged. Just an idea. 😉
Conforming or non-conforming, let us be. Maybe conscience plays an important role.
Anonymous
Vincent, I’m reading the Tao Te Ching and my Hmmmmm came from reading #19 of the ching (its on my blog today)where it says, “Give up sainthood, renounce wisdom. And it will be a hundred times better for everyone.”
So what you said about Ideas is what Lao Tzu was saying too in the Tao? maybe I’m confused with this…but i don’t think so.
I like what you said.
Rama
“It is important to be a nobody.” I like that! i found this quote once. It said: I am a nobody. Nobody is perfect, therefore I am perfect. LOL