Literary News

[Speaking Mute]

The one person I knew who was into NLP and transcendental meditation was also a hardcore Objectivist. Lynch is also something of an Objectivist or libertarian, isn't he?

[Hidden X]

I don't know if this is just a meme, but Lynch being great defender of Reagan is something that you often see mentioned online.

There is this habit that people have, where they automatically assume that any avant-garde artist has to have progressive worldview. Weird that this is still common, given the number of occasions where said assumption turned out to be far from reality. Don't know if this is true of Lynch, as I honestly don't know anything about his politics outside of the above Reagan meme.

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

I had heard is that Lynch is Republican and anti-abortion, but I think it is accepted that he was a Reagan supporter and had a meeting with him after Elephant Man. Apparently he's been a Democrat for a long while.

Here's some quotes about his positions.
David Lynchs Religion and Political Views | HollowverseThe Hollowverse
Twin Peaks's David Lynch Admires Ronald Reagan, Supports Natural Law Party's John Hagelin

[Speaking Mute]

Quote Originally Posted by Robert Adam Gilmour

I had heard is that Lynch is Republican and anti-abortion, but I think it is accepted that he was a Reagan supporter and had a meeting with him after Elephant Man. Apparently he's been a Democrat for a long while. Here's some quotes about his positions. David Lynchs Religion and Political Views | HollowverseThe Hollowverse Twin Peaks's David Lynch Admires Ronald Reagan, Supports Natural Law Party's John Hagelin

Interesting - I knew a little bit about the Natural Law Party and assumed it was a personality-based splinter from the Libertarian Party, but it's apparently Libertarianism overlaid with a heavy does of TM.

Quote Originally Posted by Hidden X

There is this habit that people have, where they automatically assume that any avant-garde artist has to have progressive worldview. Weird that this is still common, given the number of occasions where said assumption turned out to be far from reality. Don't know if this is true of Lynch, as I honestly don't know anything about his politics outside of the above Reagan meme.

It's a reasonable conclusion from Lynch's work that he's not a conservative "values voting" Christian - hence his support for Reagan was a bit odd and requires either nuance or cognitive dissonance on Lynch's part.

Quote Originally Posted by Robert Adam Gilmour

I didn't know Transcendental Meditation was a cult. I thought it was just a way of relaxing and focusing.

Too much money involved in it for me to not be suspicious. I'm sure it helps Lynch and others, but the constant pay walls put me off when I can just learn about meditation for free elsewhere.

[gveranon]

Transcendental Meditation: How I Paid $2,500 For a Password to Inner Peace | Alternet

People pay thousands of dollars for their own super-secret personal mantra, which has magical powers specially selected just for them!

A fool and his money are soon parted.

Read through to the end, and you'll find that the article also goes into other cultish aspects of TM.

[Druidic]

TM is a cult as are so many other 'movements' these day. Spiritual, political movements, Scientology, even sex, all a substitute for a traditional religion that few can believe in anymore.

Don't tell me that people don't need the meaning religion gives them. Only a small number of people can function well in a purely rational world. Human beings need illusion; that's why materialists like myself love Weird Fiction. Almost everything is a substitute for religious belief; that's why people get so crazy and irrational when you argue politics. They see a dissenting voice as attacking the very thing that gives their life meaning, although it's meaning as illusory as any in trad religions. The bare bones of human life--born, live, die, oblivion--are just too stark for most. So you end up trying to find Meaning in a meaningless Universe.

But Ligotti is right; some can hide from horror in the very heart of horror. As long as its pretend.

[Masonwire]

TM can be even more expensive.

[Arthur Staaz]

Quote Originally Posted by Druidic

\Human beings need illusion; that's why materialists like myself love Weird Fiction. Almost everything is a substitute for religious belief; that's why people get so crazy and irrational when you argue politics. They see a dissenting voice as attacking the very thing that gives their life meaning, although it's meaning as illusory as any in trad religions..

Not sure how being a materialist leads to love of Weird Fiction. Could you explain the connection? If everything is born, live, die, oblivion, what is there to argue? It doesn't matter, does it?

[Druidic]

You mean there's more to life, Arthur? Born, live, die, oblivion doesn't work for you? Please fill me in LOL.

We all need illusions to make life bearable and we get them. From Romantic love to the Drug Culture, it's all about finding meaning. Even materialists long to believe in the unreal. Lovecraft understood the link between religious belief and supernatural horror in literature. The need for meaning can only be satisfied by illusion.

Being a nihilist who only values Logic but has a (too) high degree of compassion for animals and human beings is a bitch.

My advice to others is simple: do the Right Thing in every circumstance. You'll know what it is if you have a drop of empathy; and even if your actions are arbitrary, DO IT. Meaning be damned.