The Descent from Suspicion to Paranoia

I think it's something everyone suffers at least once, and the delusional cases will imagine otherwise and go on their way, so there is probably little to gain 'blogging' about this. The best things are of course suspicions one holds about one's own self, they are like gold nuggets in this context. I don't think enough people are paranoid about their goals and raison d'etre, and many of those that are should probably calm down a bit. That's right: the wrong people doubt their goals and dreams; the wrong people also embrace them. I find it all quite odd to be honest.

But also amusing. If you are mendacious enough you can of course turn people into paranoid wrecks with a bit of clever spitefulness and without 'too much effort'. Paranoid people cause all kinds of things to happen – outbursts and shit ranging from 'humorous', to 'disturbing', and all the way down into 'fatal and misguided'. Paranoia has contributed to or caused most of the greatest crimes in history, and at least as many wars and ideological conflicts as insecurity.

Fear is an important primal emotion. It has kept alive more animals than it has killed, but with the expansion of human culture, fear remained largely ubiquitous, creeping into each new facet of life and leading to all kinds of skullduggery and shenanigans. Add to that fear a good measure of anxiety, and you have the recipe for today's fearful, angsty environment... just waiting to see what or who betrays it, what or who is looking, what or who is next going to do a bad thing that justifies the fear and qualifies the anxiety as logical. The outcomes are everywhere but are epitomized in the rise of super surveillance culture. Yea, they did in the past worry about God's judgement, but now there are others who can count the hairs on one's head and the evil plans in one's heart, and judge one for it...

Most people cross the descent pretty quickly and find it incredibly uncomfortable, even in hindsight. Some people actually grow from it, though, and replace their saner selves with characters they actually admire. Thriving paranoids. I wouldn't pretend to know how or why this happens in some cases – probably related to some kind of dissociation or depersonalization – because I never pretend to be an expert. Have we descended to a point of cultural hallucinatory paranoia? Is it already schizophrenic? Do we care?

When the descent drags on it can really mess people up, but sometimes also provide them with moments of lucidity wherein change is possible. Generally there is a lot of suffering and anxiety, the ability to trust others is diminished, and in the final stages all kinds of the worst suspicions are confirmed without any resort to fact or reality. It is quite sad, and sometimes incurable. 

So be safe: paranoia is the common cold of mental illnesses, and your contribution to it could upset the balance of the world you live in, to even your own detriment (until you disarm your perception of the world with willful ignorance, deceive yourself, etc). Ways of combating paranoia can include reassuring a paranoiac of the fallibility of all people, if they can handle it telling them about the basic uncertainty of life may also help. Society at large is kind of paranoid, and a lot of people get caught up in that, and mostly it's a waste of time that limits potential and enjoyment of life.

Hopefully this post helps someone who is piece-of-shitly considering messing with somebody. Decide against it. People are generally too dumb for hi-octane mind games without suffering a bunch. Your negativity spreads and has actual effects on the world.  It's not worth it: you might win a few points, but you will compromise the game.

Community, Season Three

Community, sit-com extraordinaire, has returned to grace network TV with madcap hijinks and rapid-fire reference jokes. It's like a gorgeous hipster chick with severe personality disorders, and also she is kind of a pariah. Excuse that sentence... it doesn't seem right somehow.

But a third season was unthinkable two years ago. In fact, a third season was unthinkable a year ago. Truthfully it's still kind of unthinkable, so when I watched the premiere I watched carefully, as if holding a priceless, ornate, fragile thing with my eyes.

The season opened with a completely ridiculous musical piece which promised a very normal, happy, and good year that would be different from the other two years. This is because lots of people complained about the show being wacky. Some people don't like crazy shit on TV. Community courts this disaster of cognitive dissonance because some episodes are serious while others include scheming, simulated warfare, imagination, or madcap hijinks. I'll explain quickly - some episodes do not have zombie invasions and some episodes do not have characters confronting inner demons and other problems d'esprit.

The show's approach has meant that certain characters have changed from being near-sympathetic to unthinkable jackasses. The show has toyed with characters who are annoying catchphrase shouters. The show plays with identity because life plays with identity. If the game becomes a neon-lit nightmare where raw humor is overtaken by spectacle then it attracts some viewers and disappoints others. So, in essence, the show is probably the most challenging show out there. Even if you want to try to catch more than half of the references in an episode, for the watching to be worthwhile you need a belly laugh at least once.

For me, the show has delivered. It has had low points, certain characters been uncomfortably weak, and some situations and premises did not interest me. I watched regardless. I kept my distance from the hype/anti-hype machine of fans on the internet. In a way I treat Community as I treat Minecraft, except that Community has no risk of overdose. The once-a-week model fits it perfectly. There is suspense, there are character arcs, there are laughs and even though the first season will always be assessed as superior: it's only because it came out of the blue, because it was new at the time, and because of nostalgia.

I haven't said much about the show's third season. There's only been one episode. It reminded me a lot of the previous seasons' first episodes. Lots of promise, no way to know what's going on, and mild disappointment. But the first season took a few episodes to start rolling, and it rolled like a beautiful bastard all the way to its finale. Season two managed to function under the sophomore curse. Season three has looked back and laughed about the past, which implies self-consciousness and purview. This could mean anything.