Thursday, December 3, 2009

What's in a Name?

I imagine some of you are wondering what the **** I was thinking when I created the domain name for this blog, as well as the title.  (Those who've known me longest won't be surprised one bit).  So I guess explaining this tedious link might be a good first post. 

First, I created this on somewhat of an impulse -- so I wasn't really prepared with a name and all.  Plain old "geekchick" was taken, so I had to come up with something else.  Not being one to sleep on things, I had to do it RIGHT THEN.  (Yes, I am a little OCD).  So I started thinking about what the purpose of my blog is, what the main content will be like.  The first thing that came to mind was the old SNL Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey....But being a coastal, blue state elitist, I needed something a tad more intellectual.

Ubermensch is from Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra."  It translates as "overman" and refers to the next step in human evolution, a man greater than what we are today.  We are to the overman as chimps and apes are to us --  not in a physical sense but intellectual. 

And that's what I'm all about -- transcending our animal nature and undergoing constant evolution.  This may take form as spiritual or intellectual growth, or an increase in one's social consciousness.  It may take different forms at different stages of our lives.  But the bottom line is that we have the ability to rise above our mammalian passions. 

So, there you have ubermensch.  But what's up with the Existential Manifesto part?  Well, manifesto is one of my favorite words, so when in my browsings I saw it, I said, "That's it!"  But what kind of manifesto?  Ponderings on the state of humanity, our relationship to the Cosmos, and how badly we are screwing things up seem pretty existential to me. 

But don't worry;  I hope to be way more readable than Nietsche....though if I'm lucky I might blow your mind now and again.  Or at least inspire you.

2 comments:

  1. Short snapper: "transcending" is a term ... a word ... a sign ... a concept ... a notion. Which isn't to say it's an empty abstraction, not at all. Just to indicate (rather assertively) that a) its social meaning is a construct and b) its actual meaning (to the individual in time ... see "cognitive schema" and "discourse ethics") is subject to enormous variance.

    I bet 2/3 of those who recognize the term interpret it in an escapist sense. Which brings me to my point: "evolution" is profoundly existential ... kinda like karma ... elemental, primitive, primordial even. "Escaping" is a sure way to develop some pathology; hardly "transcendent".

    Zen 101 dictates relating to what presents itself in the moment ... hence the "throwness" of existentialism.
    A people who entrust themselves to sophistry have invested themselves in escapism. That's my cohort ... those of us who were "on the bus" in the late 60s, who cared so much about rights and dignitities. While I rebelled against the sell-out of the 70s, they became opportunistic careerists, bleating about pragmatism and "working from the inside" while they banked the proceeds of selling their souls. (There's a number of "Faust" texts, did you know?)

    I'm quite sure we will survive as a specied. I don't (now, nor never have) have that as a fear.
    I'm quite sure bourgeois culture will be exposed as fundamentally corrupt. Call me an optimist.
    heh

    cheers

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  2. p.s. No "Edit" function? I can't fix a dumb typo?!
    Blogspot is lame ... primitive. Lame ... lazy ... all sizzle, no steak. Contemptuous of the user community. Is why I left many years ago to adopt WordPress.

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