"Do You See the Fnords?"

Let's start with what a fnord is. While best known from a book called the "Illuminatus Trilogy" by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, it actually originated in a work called "Principia Discordia". "Principia Discordia" is a foundational text for the Discordian religion.

Discordianism is a modern, chaos-based religion, or perhaps a parody religion, depending on one's perspective, which venerates Eris, the Ancient Greek goddess of chaos. The "Principia Discordia" was authored by Greg Hill and Kerry Wendell Thornley. The two used the pseudonyms Malaclypse the Younger and Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst, respectively, within the book.

In this context, a "fnord" can be thought of as a type of misinformation or disinformation, a deliberately implanted falsehood or distraction. It's a part of the overall Discordian theme of chaos, confusion, and seeing through the illusions presented by societal systems and the media.

The "Illuminatus!" Trilogy later adopted and expanded on the concept, presenting fnords as subliminal, anxiety-inducing messages. Simply put, a fnord is "a piece of disinformation in plain sight," and the news and media in general are full of them. Most headlines and snippets are fnords. Here's an example, a major news story right now is that the Republicans might impeach Merrick Garland.

Today on Twitter, NewsMax posted a story about this. The attention-seeking headline was,

"POSSIBLE IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY: House Speaker McCarthy suggested the lower chamber might launch an impeachment inquiry into AG Merrick Garland after an IRS whistleblower said he interfered with an investigation into Hunter Biden."

Whoa, all caps must be very serious and real, you don't just use all caps willy-nilly, do you? Anyway, a guy with the Twitter handle @Shorting_Bull responded with this, ' "Suggested"...."might" '

My response was, "You're not supposed to see the fnords," and he then responded with, "It's like those damned pictures they sold at the mall where you could only see the sailboat if you stared at it the right way."

What a great point, and it led me to the reason it is so hard to talk to people who do not yet "see the fnords". If you remember those pictures he referenced, once you can see the boat (or whatever is in the given picture) you can never not see it again. Yet if you show it to someone, point right at it, draw a circle around it, they still do not see it.

No one can see a fnord for you, you must see it for yourself. Once you do, you get really good at seeing them really fast. Remember the movie "They Live" and those glasses in it? With the glasses on, the characters saw the truth of modern society. All the media went from pretty pictures to simple black and white messages like....

"Consume"

"Obey"

"Do Not Question Authority"

"No Independent Thought"

"Conform"

"Submit"

Etc.

"They Live" is a fictional movie that explains the reality of fnords. It had to be absolutely over the top to break through the mindset of modern man who thinks he is free and yet is enslaved by the system he has been conditioned to defend since birth. It was taking the fnord to the maximum and entertaining sci-fi extreme.

The real fnords, though, are more subtle; you either see them or you don't. Yet, if you look for them, if you clear your mind, you will see them. Once you do see them, you will be like characters in "Illuminatus!" who, after waking up, ran around shouting, "I see the fnords," and ended up at a loss for how others couldn't see them. I mean, they are right there, in the open, so obvious. Just remember, a day before, you didn't see them either.

Then, just remember standing in a mall at Spencer Gifts in the '80-'90s (assuming you are old enough) and shouting at your friend,

"I see it, there's the boat, right there, don't you see it? It is right there!"

And your friend tilted their head like a German Shepherd hearing a strange noise and said, "I don't see it." It is like that. They are not going to see it until they are ready to see it for themselves.

In real life, there are no magic sunglasses to see the fnords. It remains the job of each individual to see them for themselves. So, do you see the fnords? If not, keep looking. Once you see them, you will never not see them, ever again.

#grownostr #jacksthoughts