The word ridiculosity exists from the mid-nineteenth century. But it is still considered ridiculous to study ridiculosity. It is high time humanity declared ridiculosity an important field of eduction and research. Please don't say "how ridiculous is that!" Everyone should realize the importance ridiculosity has for our existence. No one believes me still! All of you look at me with pity and say "poor fellow, he never stops talking nonsense." But it is flow from nonsense to humour and ultimately to ridiculosity that would help save humanity (not the planet; the planet can take care of itself - it has and it will). Let me try to elucidate through two example of current day incidents.
Let us look at the Sabarimala row. There is a hue and cry about women in menstrual age entering the shrine. Almost everyone I have met seems to have very strong opinion about it. If you don't have an opinion then each party assigns you to the opposite camp. One lady asked what my stand about it was. I said its not important. It has only caused a lot of trouble and will not change anything on the ground. The Supreme court should have probably left the issue alone and looked at something else. I was promptly assigned to the male chauvinist pig category. There are girls and women being kept away during their menstrual cycle in all parts of our country. I have heard of two instance of deaths caused in such cases. Does anyone think that letting women in menstrual age to Sabarimala would change such ostracism? The small change will lead to the betterment of women all around the world is what I get as a response. Right! Like reservation has changed the lives of the Dalits and Schedules Castes and Tribes.
Now let us look this issue through the multicoloured lens of ridiculosity. Look at the Pro-Hindu groups standing and fighting for this issue on the streets as though the God's reputation depended on their actions. The God is so fragile that he will break down if women of the said age enter one of his temples. Why do we pray to such fragile Gods who cannot take care of themselves? The gheraoing of the Kochi airport when the activist Trupti Desai landed was ridiculous beyond anyone's imagination; even mine. One lady said "I am from Palakkad. I saw in the news early this morning that a set of women is flying in to Kochi to try and enter Sabarimala. I decided to drop everything I was doing and come to the Kochi airport to protest. BTW, this is the first time I am seeing the Kochi airport". If this isn't ridiculous, I am not sure what is.
Through the day, different channels showed Trupti Desai and her group sit and stand at various parts of the airport. They were looking into mobile, talking to each other, talking animatedly to the police personnel or sometimes staring at the protesters. At the end of the day, she calls for a press meet and declares victory. "We have made the protesters come to the airport and protest. That in itself is a victory". Of course, the protesters also claimed victory. I think J Krishnamurthy would have loved this situation. Everyone's winning and no one's losing.
I also loved the coverage of the women in the said age attempting to enter Sabrimala. It was a competition for who gets in first - to have their names written in history. They announced their intention on the social media and any other media that listened to them. The police were present and so were the local, national and international media. Somewhere in the crowd the members of the Guiness and Limca book of records might have been present too. Of course on the opposing side multitude of Bhatkhs, Sanghis and other right-wingis were present. Then the race sets off. The police ran with the women in the middle. The opposition ran along chanting saranam to their beloved God. At some point, they gave up and ran back faster than earlier. The opposition continued chanting. Maybe someone should make a collage of these video with the Pink Floyd track "Run like hell" in the background. The saviours of the women's issues and Swami Ayyappa made a joke out of their respective issues.
Finally, the new year produced the first women in the menstrual age to enter the Sabarimala temple post the Supreme court decision (Phew!). Two women risked their lives to enter the temple complex at 3:34 am. The Kerala Police planned and executed the operation in a manner that it should inspire a movie on the lines of Uri. The women were sung as heroes (or heroines, I am not sure which is more appropriate) by one section of the society. They were shunned as villains by the other. They went into hiding to save their precious lives. Two weeks later, when the situation seemed to have cooled down, they came out of hiding and go home. One of the women was given an hero's/heroine's welcome. While the other was hit on her head with a log by her mother-in-law. She landed in the hospital and was seen in photographs with a collar around her neck. A few weeks later, the Supreme court or high court ordered that she should be let into the house. Her mother-in-law, husband and family walked off the house and left her alone in the house. I have not heard about a case being filed against the mother-in-law for violence. This does not sound like life. This seems like a scene from some black comedy. I am reminded of the movie Panchavadi Paalam.
How can anyone take all this seriously! I think the big problem the world faces today is that we take everything seriously and so spend all our effort convincing people that the issue is serious and we should all take it seriously. We do a lot of talking but no action. So while women across the world continued to be abused grievously we are busy labeling each other.
The other case requiring urgent attention are the issues related "saving the environment"and "global warming". Every one has an opinion with respect to these issues and everyone's convinced that their point of view is correct. Not just that everyone's convinced that the other side is composed of fools. So no one quite explains the meaning of global warming and many do not bother to understand the phrase's meaning. Trump takes advantage of this fact and comes up with a statement that all the snow is the North of US proves that the world is cooling down and global warming is a preferred situation. It's unbelievable that the President of the US can come up with a statement like this one. As much as we like to believe that he is a fool I don't think it is true. I think he is sure that there are people foolish enough to believe what he says and on the other hand people are foolish enough to believe that he is a fool. Both ways he wins.
While there is so much noise about these issues in the media ,very little action happens on ground. Many a times, conferences are held at exotic locations to discuss these issues, which by itself add to the harm caused to the environment. We are in the age of cloud computing where everyone can interact with everyone else through any device and we are always in possession of at least one device that is capable of connecting to anyone else around the globe. Yet, everyone travels everywhere. There are no work from homes, e-conferences or e-meetings. Where is the reduction in the abuse to the environment? All we do is talk. These are the disturbing aspects of the world today. Ridiculosity comes in when people talk about saving the environment and tch-tchs at people buying bottled water as they carry their own water bottle while they travel around the city in their own private cars. When holding placard on the road seems to make a difference. Yesterday, I saw a set of students standing in front of college holding placards about road safety photographed by two people standing in the centre of the road. The traffic rushing on the two sides of the road nearly mashed the two people taking the photograph. Should we feel angry or sad about such a situation? Its ridiculous and deserves to be laughed at.
As I have said earlier, the problem in both the above cases is that we seem to take ourselves too seriously. Worse, we want everyone to believe that we are serious about some issue or other and this becomes more important than the issue itself. You shout from the rooftops that you have a serious outlook about a serious issue that everyone should take seriously. The issue itself gets addressed poorly. As an example, I have used so many words telling how serious I am about ridiculosity rather than getting into ridiculosity itself.
Ridiculosity is the analysis of every thought and event from the point of view of it being ridiculous. The intent of the analysis is to determine the lack of intention or presence of dubious intention behind each thought. Sometimes, the analysis also tries to bring out the presence of intention behind a ridiculous thought. The study of ridiculosity is important to differentiate it from absurdity. Many a times, we believe ridiculosity and absurdity are same but I believe that is not true. I am not sure any of us understand the reason for this but it should be understood. Ridiculosity is important for the well being and ultimately the survival of mankind.
Here are some example of analysis of perceivably ridiculous statements.
Let us look at the Sabarimala row. There is a hue and cry about women in menstrual age entering the shrine. Almost everyone I have met seems to have very strong opinion about it. If you don't have an opinion then each party assigns you to the opposite camp. One lady asked what my stand about it was. I said its not important. It has only caused a lot of trouble and will not change anything on the ground. The Supreme court should have probably left the issue alone and looked at something else. I was promptly assigned to the male chauvinist pig category. There are girls and women being kept away during their menstrual cycle in all parts of our country. I have heard of two instance of deaths caused in such cases. Does anyone think that letting women in menstrual age to Sabarimala would change such ostracism? The small change will lead to the betterment of women all around the world is what I get as a response. Right! Like reservation has changed the lives of the Dalits and Schedules Castes and Tribes.
Now let us look this issue through the multicoloured lens of ridiculosity. Look at the Pro-Hindu groups standing and fighting for this issue on the streets as though the God's reputation depended on their actions. The God is so fragile that he will break down if women of the said age enter one of his temples. Why do we pray to such fragile Gods who cannot take care of themselves? The gheraoing of the Kochi airport when the activist Trupti Desai landed was ridiculous beyond anyone's imagination; even mine. One lady said "I am from Palakkad. I saw in the news early this morning that a set of women is flying in to Kochi to try and enter Sabarimala. I decided to drop everything I was doing and come to the Kochi airport to protest. BTW, this is the first time I am seeing the Kochi airport". If this isn't ridiculous, I am not sure what is.
Through the day, different channels showed Trupti Desai and her group sit and stand at various parts of the airport. They were looking into mobile, talking to each other, talking animatedly to the police personnel or sometimes staring at the protesters. At the end of the day, she calls for a press meet and declares victory. "We have made the protesters come to the airport and protest. That in itself is a victory". Of course, the protesters also claimed victory. I think J Krishnamurthy would have loved this situation. Everyone's winning and no one's losing.
I also loved the coverage of the women in the said age attempting to enter Sabrimala. It was a competition for who gets in first - to have their names written in history. They announced their intention on the social media and any other media that listened to them. The police were present and so were the local, national and international media. Somewhere in the crowd the members of the Guiness and Limca book of records might have been present too. Of course on the opposing side multitude of Bhatkhs, Sanghis and other right-wingis were present. Then the race sets off. The police ran with the women in the middle. The opposition ran along chanting saranam to their beloved God. At some point, they gave up and ran back faster than earlier. The opposition continued chanting. Maybe someone should make a collage of these video with the Pink Floyd track "Run like hell" in the background. The saviours of the women's issues and Swami Ayyappa made a joke out of their respective issues.
Finally, the new year produced the first women in the menstrual age to enter the Sabarimala temple post the Supreme court decision (Phew!). Two women risked their lives to enter the temple complex at 3:34 am. The Kerala Police planned and executed the operation in a manner that it should inspire a movie on the lines of Uri. The women were sung as heroes (or heroines, I am not sure which is more appropriate) by one section of the society. They were shunned as villains by the other. They went into hiding to save their precious lives. Two weeks later, when the situation seemed to have cooled down, they came out of hiding and go home. One of the women was given an hero's/heroine's welcome. While the other was hit on her head with a log by her mother-in-law. She landed in the hospital and was seen in photographs with a collar around her neck. A few weeks later, the Supreme court or high court ordered that she should be let into the house. Her mother-in-law, husband and family walked off the house and left her alone in the house. I have not heard about a case being filed against the mother-in-law for violence. This does not sound like life. This seems like a scene from some black comedy. I am reminded of the movie Panchavadi Paalam.
How can anyone take all this seriously! I think the big problem the world faces today is that we take everything seriously and so spend all our effort convincing people that the issue is serious and we should all take it seriously. We do a lot of talking but no action. So while women across the world continued to be abused grievously we are busy labeling each other.
The other case requiring urgent attention are the issues related "saving the environment"and "global warming". Every one has an opinion with respect to these issues and everyone's convinced that their point of view is correct. Not just that everyone's convinced that the other side is composed of fools. So no one quite explains the meaning of global warming and many do not bother to understand the phrase's meaning. Trump takes advantage of this fact and comes up with a statement that all the snow is the North of US proves that the world is cooling down and global warming is a preferred situation. It's unbelievable that the President of the US can come up with a statement like this one. As much as we like to believe that he is a fool I don't think it is true. I think he is sure that there are people foolish enough to believe what he says and on the other hand people are foolish enough to believe that he is a fool. Both ways he wins.
While there is so much noise about these issues in the media ,very little action happens on ground. Many a times, conferences are held at exotic locations to discuss these issues, which by itself add to the harm caused to the environment. We are in the age of cloud computing where everyone can interact with everyone else through any device and we are always in possession of at least one device that is capable of connecting to anyone else around the globe. Yet, everyone travels everywhere. There are no work from homes, e-conferences or e-meetings. Where is the reduction in the abuse to the environment? All we do is talk. These are the disturbing aspects of the world today. Ridiculosity comes in when people talk about saving the environment and tch-tchs at people buying bottled water as they carry their own water bottle while they travel around the city in their own private cars. When holding placard on the road seems to make a difference. Yesterday, I saw a set of students standing in front of college holding placards about road safety photographed by two people standing in the centre of the road. The traffic rushing on the two sides of the road nearly mashed the two people taking the photograph. Should we feel angry or sad about such a situation? Its ridiculous and deserves to be laughed at.
As I have said earlier, the problem in both the above cases is that we seem to take ourselves too seriously. Worse, we want everyone to believe that we are serious about some issue or other and this becomes more important than the issue itself. You shout from the rooftops that you have a serious outlook about a serious issue that everyone should take seriously. The issue itself gets addressed poorly. As an example, I have used so many words telling how serious I am about ridiculosity rather than getting into ridiculosity itself.
Ridiculosity is the analysis of every thought and event from the point of view of it being ridiculous. The intent of the analysis is to determine the lack of intention or presence of dubious intention behind each thought. Sometimes, the analysis also tries to bring out the presence of intention behind a ridiculous thought. The study of ridiculosity is important to differentiate it from absurdity. Many a times, we believe ridiculosity and absurdity are same but I believe that is not true. I am not sure any of us understand the reason for this but it should be understood. Ridiculosity is important for the well being and ultimately the survival of mankind.
Here are some example of analysis of perceivably ridiculous statements.
1. H and B are brothers with one being more rounded than the other.
The two character display an obvious similarity when placed next to each other. But in the alphabet series they are separated by five characters and these distract our attention for one should remember that the most frequently used character in English 'E' lies right in the middle of the five. There are some lessons to be learned.
The two character display an obvious similarity when placed next to each other. But in the alphabet series they are separated by five characters and these distract our attention for one should remember that the most frequently used character in English 'E' lies right in the middle of the five. There are some lessons to be learned.
- We are not capable of observing everything that is obvious.
- Our similarities will become more obvious than our differences when the distance that separates us decreases.
- Differences exist so don't try to hide them.
2. I discovered something interesting today. Take the word teaching. Exchange the position of 't' and 'ch' in teaching results in the word ...
First we were taught that the Earth is flat. After many centuries, we were told "Forget that flat earth nonsense; the Earth is spherical." Now we are told it is not exactly spherical. In another 500 years, students would be taught that the Earth is a cube. Is this teaching or cheating?
3. Some of us are non-vegetarians and others "naan vegetarian"
This statement is beyond my abilities of analysis.
This statement is beyond my abilities of analysis.
4. When there are many objects moving in different directions, even the object moving straight seems to move randomly.
Even when you are surrounded by chaos, you should move in a straight path. But you should understand that for an observer, you will be a part of the chaos and hence would only perceive your movement as chaotic. Thus, if you choose to move along a straight path, you should only do it for your on self but not for any observer. If you are doing it for an observer, the point is lost and you are no better than the others.
Even when you are surrounded by chaos, you should move in a straight path. But you should understand that for an observer, you will be a part of the chaos and hence would only perceive your movement as chaotic. Thus, if you choose to move along a straight path, you should only do it for your on self but not for any observer. If you are doing it for an observer, the point is lost and you are no better than the others.
5. A brahminiccal view of a predator: a predator is a non-vegetarian.
As offending as it sounds, it seems to be true. One cannot find an argument against it. A non-vegetarian is a predator.
As offending as it sounds, it seems to be true. One cannot find an argument against it. A non-vegetarian is a predator.
6. Take leader and exchange the positions of 'd' and 'l'. You end up with the true nature of leadership.
A leader is nothing but a dealer. Its like Clark Kent becoming Superman and vice versa. Dealing, compromising and solving issues form a major part of a leader's activities. No wonder the two words are alike.
7. After death there is no sense; there is no nonsense either.
This is a comforting thought. The nonsense that one goes through in life makes life unbearable. All the sensibility in one's life is not sufficient to bear the pain caused by the nonsense. So one should not rue about death but welcome it as it would be the end of nonsense.
This is a comforting thought. The nonsense that one goes through in life makes life unbearable. All the sensibility in one's life is not sufficient to bear the pain caused by the nonsense. So one should not rue about death but welcome it as it would be the end of nonsense.
8. As the old Nordic saying goes "If you want an ear to hear, there are two here"
The saying shows that people don't have the ability to identify the support and resources present around them. They require constant reminders.
The saying shows that people don't have the ability to identify the support and resources present around them. They require constant reminders.
9. I have heard of the existence of an old Celtic saying that goes "To sin with sugar is divine for even the Gods cannot resist the temptation of the sweet."
The whole world is out to destroy sweets. Every wall on every street has posters on the ill effects of sweet and sugar. But it is said that the Celts had direct connections with the Gods and they are aware of the goodness of sweet and sugar.
The whole world is out to destroy sweets. Every wall on every street has posters on the ill effects of sweet and sugar. But it is said that the Celts had direct connections with the Gods and they are aware of the goodness of sweet and sugar.
10. Loftiness and humility are always in the listener's head and not in the utterer's tongue.
How can someone insult you if you don't consider the words uttered at you as insult? So you are responsible for the insult and not the utterer.
How can someone insult you if you don't consider the words uttered at you as insult? So you are responsible for the insult and not the utterer.
11. Never leave a sentence hanging. It could land anywhere and then there will furore.
In reality, even a non-hung sentence could cause a furore. This is a good complement for point 10. One has no control where a sentence would land and furore it would cause.
In reality, even a non-hung sentence could cause a furore. This is a good complement for point 10. One has no control where a sentence would land and furore it would cause.
12.A post lands up on the wall and says "Witzelsucht is a medical condition in which one makes puns in socially unacceptable situations". The owner of wall instantly realizes this condition exists in him. He decides to advantage of the situation and posts it in a WhatsApp group with the line "I was diagnosed of this illness last evening :(". Concern starts flowing in the group. One raises a question "Who is your doctor?", which is responded with a prompt "Dr. Punjabiskesan". The group went silent for the next two days.
Ultimately, the irrepressible urge to pun is a necessity for ridiculosity. Some might find the pun to be a punishment but they don't understand that life itself is a punishment and hence they tend to wrongly believe that pun's are punishment.
Ridiculosity would help humanity survive the oncoming centuries. If we take ourselves seriously, we will feel miserable when our house sinks in the rising oceans. But bring in ridiculosity and you will laugh at the time and effort you spent on the sunken house. Your most important possession would be housing fishes. You built a house for fishes. Isn't that ridiculous?
Ultimately, the irrepressible urge to pun is a necessity for ridiculosity. Some might find the pun to be a punishment but they don't understand that life itself is a punishment and hence they tend to wrongly believe that pun's are punishment.
Ridiculosity would help humanity survive the oncoming centuries. If we take ourselves seriously, we will feel miserable when our house sinks in the rising oceans. But bring in ridiculosity and you will laugh at the time and effort you spent on the sunken house. Your most important possession would be housing fishes. You built a house for fishes. Isn't that ridiculous?
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