project rednoW - Trust or Insanity?

"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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Trust or Insanity?

The Absurd General
Written by Gabe Knipp
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
Description Travis Pastrana, of X-Games Motocross fame, recently went skydiving . Without a parachute. On purpose. He dreamed up this stunt of going skydiving without a parachute, found an operator in Puerto Rico that would help him do it, and, quite literally, jumped at the chance. The way the jumped worked: he jumped out of the plane, did a few flips and flipped open a can of Red Bull (what else?). Then, he "docked" with another jumped to stabilize himself by grabbing hands, belly down. Finally, another jumper came from above him and hooked his parachute to a climbing harness that Pastrana was wearing beneath his shorts. The two of them landed together on a beach in Puerto Rico. When I read this story, my first thought was: "What? No parachute?" As I thought about it more, however, I could see the adrenaline rush. How many people can say they jumped out of a plane without a parachute from 12,000 feet? My guess is not too many. But what intrigues me most is the relationship aspect. At some point, before he jumped out of the plane, Travis had to look at the other jumpers around him. Maybe the door was open and it was only seconds before they jumped, maybe it was when they first met, maybe at takeoff. Who knows? But he had to think: My life is in their hands. He could do nothing to save himself. Nothing. He was freefalling without a parachute. I wonder what it would take to trust someone that much. Does it come easily in the moment, when you're falling and have no other choice? Was it difficult at first, realizing both the adrenaline rush and the absolute powerlessness? I wonder what is attractive about the jump -- is it just the adrenaline, or is there some aspect of the relationship attractive, too? Is it attractive to be saved by someone, to have someone come through for us when we can't do anything ourselves? I wonder what it would look like for me -- without jumping from a plane -- to trust people that much. Bookmark or Share This Article Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Website Title Comment

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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.