Non-sequiturs
I love non-sequiturs, this is no lie. The phrase is of course latin meaning, "it does not follow." While occasionally cropping up as a logical fallacy, the non sequitur is most often used as a comedic literary device where it's lack of meaning relavent to the comment if follows is absurd to the point of being humorous. Often it is described as being socially inappropriate, but it is the absurd quality that I find so wonderful. I tend to see life as fundamentally absurd, and that so many things people do illustrate this point.
I once heard that laughter is an emotional response to one's "reality" breaking down. This seems appropriate since a person can respond to an absurd situation or comment in a variety of ways, laughter being just one. Absurity is also often uncomfortable because it gives rise to a feeling of uncertainty of how to act in the face of it. Indeed, Sartre's character Antoine Roquentin in the novel "Nausea" is the quintessential literary embodiment of this. However, while this novel is usually characterized as dark and depressing, Sartre claimed that it wasn't the only authentic reaction to an absurd exisence. Quite the contrary, he felt strongly about the liberating, and even theraputic possiblities of acknowledging that life is, at bottom, absurd.
This is how I view the non sequitur. It has an element of dynamism and, while essentially meaningless, it destroys preconception, mocks stereotypes, and turns convention on it's head. In short, it's a slap in the face that one can be offended by or laugh at.
Of course this is all fine and good and at face value appears to be very erudite commentary. However, it was all a simply a deception to allow me to type, "soft, fleshy, man-boobs."
I once heard that laughter is an emotional response to one's "reality" breaking down. This seems appropriate since a person can respond to an absurd situation or comment in a variety of ways, laughter being just one. Absurity is also often uncomfortable because it gives rise to a feeling of uncertainty of how to act in the face of it. Indeed, Sartre's character Antoine Roquentin in the novel "Nausea" is the quintessential literary embodiment of this. However, while this novel is usually characterized as dark and depressing, Sartre claimed that it wasn't the only authentic reaction to an absurd exisence. Quite the contrary, he felt strongly about the liberating, and even theraputic possiblities of acknowledging that life is, at bottom, absurd.
This is how I view the non sequitur. It has an element of dynamism and, while essentially meaningless, it destroys preconception, mocks stereotypes, and turns convention on it's head. In short, it's a slap in the face that one can be offended by or laugh at.
Of course this is all fine and good and at face value appears to be very erudite commentary. However, it was all a simply a deception to allow me to type, "soft, fleshy, man-boobs."
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