Sunday, March 29, 2009

F!

It began with an innocent question to a senior (The honorable Mr. Manmeet, for those who know him) one bumped into, at the NSIT Alumni Dinner 2 days back. And it hasn't reached a logical conclusion yet, and one knows not if it ever will, for no such signs have emerged yet. However, one attempts at summarizing the progress made thus far, lest the burden of age and the like eat away at the 986 bit registers that reside in one's head.

%%-- Approximately 32.8 hours have lapsed --%%

Ok, returning to this blog post, which ideally should've have received my undivided and complete attention. But... well, you know.. Lets get on already!

Question: "Why does one tend to abuse before anything else, upon receiving any news of great sorrow/joy/relief/ in general, emotion?"

This question of course pertains to those of us who have "graduated" to the level of society wherein we feel 'at-home' enough to fling abuses without the weight that those words could potentially hold. It is indeed ironic, that it is actually, at home, that we feel the least 'at-home' for such matters! :)

Well, the answer that Signor Manmeet was kind enough to reply with, as we ambled along the good old lanes of NSIT, was something to the effect of:
Those (abusive) words are the only ones that still have that purity of intent, unhindered by diplomacy, and other related burdens.

His answer got me laughing first, and then suddenly quiet.
The next 3minutes were spent in an active, spontaneous thrashing-out of the subtleties of that point. It concluded with me attempting to summarize the 4 universes we had just traversed, into one line:
(Reproduced and saved on the handy cellphone, some 15minutes later. Hopefully not much of the data, as volatile as it was, was corrupted in the intervening period..)
In reply to the stated question:
"Because society, with its many conditions for acceptability, does not allow the pure to exist as they are, thus condemning those poor, freedom loving beings, to a life in the damned underground."

I shall of course, elaborate. So you may please close your mouth/ stop laughing :)

The general idea was...
In times of "high emotion" (initially described as ∆(emotion)/∆t being high), one longs to express the core emotion that one experiences in that split second. As one browses through one's vast armoury of words, one notices a slimy layer of "sociability", "diplomacy" and general perfunctoriness covering almost every other item there. Now given that the adrenaline has all but reached its destination, and that precious time (out of the 0.001 second that nature allocates for such outbursts) is getting lost, one gradually realizes the futility of trying to use one of those words pertinent to the occasion, and then wash off the slime. This may be attributed to the inherently limited nature of human speech as a means of accurate expression.
Thus, hopelessly constrained by a vocabulary stifled both by one's own limitations, as well as the countless vials of poison gifted by society, one reaches for that rarely opened bottom drawer, marked 'X', and not without reason.
One glances at one's microcosmic watch, and notices that 50.01% of the time has already lapsed. With an even more enhanced sense of urgency, fuelled by the adrenaline kicking in, as well as some bits of Punctuated Equilibrium, one shouts out the first line of the first page in the first file in that drawer.

And in that action, the said time lapses.
The moment passes.
And life moves on.

Thus, the next time you win the Barclays Premier League, score a stupendous 92 in Math, miss out on distinction by .01%, drop a hammer on your foot, catch an unsuspectingly beautiful sunset while labouring through the chores of the day, and you fling out a random expletive; don't feel bad, it's not your fault.. :)

Disclaimer of Prudence:
This blog post, and the sense detailed therein shall not be available to your boss/teacher/bf/gf/sister/mom/dad/mom-in-law/friendly neighbourhood bully. Thus, it is in the best interests of all concerned, to develop the faculty of using the words that are truly pertinent in each case. This shall of course involve unlearning a good deal of what we've learnt since time immemorial, as a collective consciousness, and detoxifying many of the artifacts that lend tangible meaning to our ideas (yes, words they're called!).

The path is treachorous, but the fruits immaculate.
And its easy to sit back, and let the slime grow, and move the bottom drawer to within arm's length from where one reclines, as one increasingly becomes a spectator to life.

Go on. Do not be afraid.
We'll meet on the other side.

--
Edit - 1: An addendum.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Interesting observation, I must say..Although I agree that the expletives are not heard when literally 'at home'...I doubt if one does not express them all the same, albeit in one's own imaginary world for that instant, where there is noone who might be offended... which is to say, one does think it, and well, thinking is almost saying, isn't it?

arvind batra said...

This reminds me of one of my fav quotes by Mark Twain

Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.

And if you areasking why the above is true, i diasgree with both the solutions mentioned in the post.

I think that there should not be a rationale behind everything. Something should be left to instincts.

Justin said...

@Vidya

What one says to oneself is blissfully independent of the bounds of social desirability et al.

And yes thinking almost equals saying. In terms of the 'sin' having alredy being committed, yes, the point stands taken..

But given how the post revolves around the social considerations of a social animal,it is the 'almost' that makes all the difference there.. right? :)

Justin said...

@Batra..

Aah.. I remember that quote from LONG back.. sigh.. how the days hav passed! ;)

anyhoo..
In light of all the thought that led to this post.. the reason behind that quote, from my feeble understanding, lies in the fact that much of our prayer requires words.. And given how words get heavier and heavier with connotations as they are used socially, the strength of the prayer also tends to get diluted..

The antidote to this corruption of what could (/should?) be the most elevated form of human interaction, could be a decrease in the reliance on words, and a greater emphasis on the core of the prayer..

However, i dont think that was the crux of ur point..
in that regard, yes, one is often too tied up in 'intelligently understanding' the wonders all around, to actually appreciate them.. in such cases, it is always advisable to check for the same, and let go of one's mortal logic..

however, in this case, i think this little 'investigation' only adds to the wonders..

finally, i think instincts too have some form of rationale behind them.. and tho its fascinating to study their roots in theory, yes, one is better off respecting them for the critical life savers that they are, rather than bang one's head over understanding and 'mastering' them.. best left to nature they are im sure..

antidefinitionist said...

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/03/30/why-do-we-swear/

However, it is increasingly getting difficult to read your blogposts. They are so goddamn long.

;)

Anonymous said...

Swearing is pretty multi-functional me thinks. It is not always meant in offence. There is a pretty "educational" video on youtube the link to which I have so totally forgotten on the 4-letter F-word. oops...

Cheers to South Park!

Q. - While people will always act within the bounds of human nature -- good people being good and bad people being bad, it takes religion to make good people bad.

A. - "Well, many religions also give people good reasons NOT to do bad things. And while people may do terrible things in the name of religion or via religion, they may have well still done them without the religion there -- it's just a justification provided for a choice already made."

-- Matt Stone & Trey Parker
(From South Park FAQ's)

Bet you didn't expect THIS from the ones who made Cartman and the gang! :)

Dilbert

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