"Philosophy begins in wonder.  And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best...
the wonder remains."

- Alfred North Whitehead (Philosopher) 

 

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rednow The Absurd

The Absurd
Categories in section: The Absurd
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Coal: Cheap. Abundant. Cheap   Hot
Tuesday, 20 November 2007 ,  Written by Matt Browning
It's amazing what some fun music and intermittent slow motion face shots can make one believe. I didn't realize that this type of advertisement had become such apart ...
Country Hip-Hop (Kanye-Style)   Hot
Tuesday, 07 August 2007 ,  Written by Bob Davidson
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The Absurd
Title: Can't Tell Me Nothing
Artist: Kanye West
Type: Video
Princeton dictionary defines absurd as "inconsistent with reason or logic or common sense". As we are honing in on our own thoughts about "the absurd", we could not pass on ...
David Elsewhere
Sunday, 15 July 2007 ,  Written by Matt Browning
You may not know David Elsewhere by name, but you know his moves. He's been in Ipod commercials, 7-11 commercials, Heineken commercials and all over the web. He ...
Flight of the Conchords
Tuesday, 24 July 2007 ,  Written by Bob Davidson
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The Absurd
Title: Think About It
Artist: Flight of the Conchords
Type: Video
The following should be the definition of "the absurd". Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement (a.k.a. Flight of the Conchords) have been all over YouTube for some ...
For the Widows in Paradise and the Fatherless in Ypsilanti
Tuesday, 17 July 2007 ,  Written by Matt Browning
What a strange (but beautiful) little video of the Sufjan Stevens song For the Widows in Paradise and the Fatherless in Ypsilanti.  Notice the lapel mic on the collar of ...
Geico Family Fued
Friday, 24 August 2007 ,  Written by Matt Browning
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The Absurd
Type: Video
 "When it comes to Mike Wallace the story ends with me puttin' him into the wall" --Warren Wallace.  I saw this commercial on TV a couple weeks ago and couldn't ...
Human "Video" Games
Saturday, 19 January 2008 ,  Written by Matt Browning
Remember the very first 8-pixel video games? So does Guillaume Reymond, a Swiss artist who created these stop-motion videos of the old school video games Pong, Space Invaders, ...
I am America...
Tuesday, 23 October 2007 ,  Written by Gabe Knipp
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Brooke and I were sitting at Chipotle this past Sunday afternoon, and she mentioned seeing Stephen Colbert on Meet the Press. Now, I've seen clips of his show, ...
It's Not a Metaphor... Seriously.
Friday, 14 December 2007 ,  Written by Matt Browning
American folk music has been mother of metaphor for hundreds of years, creating some of the most beautiful metaphors in the English language. But seriously, there is a bear ...
Jesus Jokes Around
Saturday, 11 August 2007 ,  Written by Matt Browning
I love the animation of this video.  That alone makes me laugh. You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video
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About "The Absurd"

When we think of the wondrous and the mysterious we often think of the deep and the profound. The deep and the profound obviously create a sense of wonder in us and move us in ways that we can't explain. But there is another aspect of wonder that often gets overlooked-the ABSURD. In the same way that there are things that move us because of their profundity and beauty, there are other things that move us to a joy that cannot be intellectualized, a sense of enjoyment that has no explanation. The author G.K. Chesterton describes this inability to explain these things that move us to joy as the "problem of pleasure."

"Why is sex fun? Reproduction surely doesn't require pleasure: Some animals simply split in half to reproduce, and even humans use methods of artificial insemination that involve no pleasure. Why is eating enjoyable? Plants and the lower animals manage to obtain their quota of nutrients without the luxury of taste buds. Why are there colors? Some people get along fine without the ability to detect color. Why complicate vision for all the rest of us?"

It is this pleasure and joy that we cannot begin to explain (why the lip gloss song is so catchy, why Strong Bad's randomness is so funny, why Sufjan's costumes and inflatable props make the concert so much more than a concert, etc.) that we hope you can experience in the Absurd section of this site. There are many times when exploring mystery and wonder expand our understanding... but there are also times when we must revel in the absurdity and let a piece of art, a song, a video, etc. simply be what it is and to enjoy it at that level.

Welcome to the Absurd section of rednow.