For some reason, I feel my mental capacities to be totally awakened at the moment, so I won't miss this rare opportunity to tackle the liquid theory of Postmodernism.
The first thing that we must first understand about Postmodernism, is it's acute lack of understandability. It's an ideology that is to be accepted, not contested, and therefore "transcends" (or in my opinion, purposefully degrades) understanding.
For example:
Looking at my previous blog, I said, "I can't change my world".
That is a very Postmodern statement because I am accepting that things are just the way they are, and there's really nothing I can do about it. It's sort of a self-defeating theory because the word Postmodernism is a word employed to understand this thing or time-flux we currently find ourselves in.
Upon closer scrutiny of my remark, I do not actually think I can not change "MY" world. I can change MY world. It's very easy to change one's own world. But, I think what I meant more to say is that I can not change THE world. There are situations that, no matter how desperately I wish they did not exist (like child abuse, rape, murder, etc.), there is nothing I can do to stop all of these things happening to everybody. I can keep myself from these things, maybe prevent these things in MY world. But my world occupies only a tiny, infinitesimal space in the "real" world, if you will.
What I think Postmodernism is, more than anything, is the existence of individual spheres, each with their own unique mix of cultural identities, products, things, materials, knowledge, education, etc. Everyone has a unique and individual approach to life. Postmodernism simply "accepts" things the way they are by NOT imposing an over-arching social structure. In this way, Postmodernism accepts individuality as part of the inevitable, "That's the way it is" approach.
It is obvious that the Postmodern era is not an apathetic one. Issues are still hotly contested, fought over, and argued.
I think that we can't see what's under our own noses, however obvious it might seem once we step back (or progress forward in time) and observe the era in another context.
I always say it's impossible to self-analyze, because to analyze, you need a source of comparison, and if you're comparing yourself to yourself using yourself, you're just going to end up chasing your own tale/tail.
This is unproductive and looks quite silly.
And does anyone actually understand WHY a dog chases it's tail?
So, that being said.
I think the whole idea of Postmodernism, as regarding trying to decode it TODAY, as a source of understanding is silly. Because, like I said, the defining quality of Postmodernism is it's remarkable lack of the ability to be understood, or explain itself. It's just a piece of fuzz floating in this space called "time".
I say live YOUR life, and figure out how to define it after your actions have defined it for you.
In this way, my earlier blog referencing Two Face, still holds true to me. You make the best decisions you can based on the knowledge you have, or the odds in (or not in) your favor. The rest, is chance.
We can always change our own worlds, simply by the way we think. When someone has a revelation, or a spiritual awakening, what happens first? The way they think changes. They might no longer see God as a heartless dictator, or they no longer see the world as a truly unloving place. But it's their THOUGHTS about the world around them that changes, not necessarily the world itself. The "world" is a personal perception, and we all strive to get the clearest, most truthful and accurate perception possible. But who is to say this perception is "right" or "wrong" or "bad" or "stupid" or "good" or whatever, without first acknowledging their own perception of the world. How you shape your world is how you perceive it. And how you perceive your world shapes your actions.
Then, there is of course other people that are part of your world, and you are a part of theirs. Whether these other "people" belong to the metaphysical world, or the physical one, they still constitute an important aspect of the individual world.
The self-explanation that is very popular in America, the very definitive positions of oneself one hears all the time, what I like to call the "iCulture". Not only does this serve as a nice crossover of consumerism with a nice reference to the "iPod", "iTunes", etc., but taken from another spelling, "eye culture", it also explains that what we understand is what we "see", in a literal and metaphorical sense (hearing stories, gossip, recognizing stereotypes, etc.), and what we see shapes our world and what we understand as OUR culture. "Our" not so much in a collective sense, but "our" as in an individual sense.
In this way, Postmodernism, in my humble opinion, is bunk. Because, honestly, how can we say an entire era in a consumer democracy society (OUR society) can be defined under a single word? Postmodernism takes things as they are, because that's all the philosophers who came up with Postmodernism could think of.
Probably because they were slightly bored and wanted to use their brains for something (like me). But they couldn't figure out exactly what's going on, because like I said, self-analyzation is like chasing your tail.
The dog's going to run out of energy sometime. Or, he'll keep going at least until something else distracts him. Maybe Postmodernism is just waiting for the next distraction.
Postmodernism seems kind of A.D.D. and random to me...
Note the subtle tie to today's youth culture there?
I hope you did.
Thanks for reading my brain ooze.
Cheers!
Hannah
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