The nihilism of cold
Jan. 31st, 2010 12:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
imomusSeven months ago, while holidaying in Athens, I made an argument about The nihilism of heat. Citing solid empirical data from reputable sources like Camus' The Outsider, Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Greene's The Power and the Glory, I stated that there was little doubt that a clear, demonstrable link existed between heat and nihilism. In the light of chilling new evidence, I want to revise that statement.
To recap my argument: A sense of rationality and fairness prevails where it's cold. Human life is worth more, and humane values flourish. "In cooler, more northern countries a fundamental sense of fairness informs the idea that sidewalks are for pedestrians," I wrote. As a result of this, traffic accidents are less common and less dangerous where it's cold, I claimed.
I want to change my mind. It's not that I was wrong about the nihilism of heat, or the cultural connection between hot places and a certain moral insouciance. It's that I didn't give the whole picture. There's a nihilism of cold too.
Let's start with the traffic stats. Sure, in general there are fewer accidents in more northerly countries. But when it gets cold and icy, when road and pavement alike are white, accidents happen. The BBC reports that "heavy snow and high winds have caused traffic chaos across Germany with at least three deaths reported nationwide. Conditions closed some motorways and caused long traffic jams on many others. Public transport in some areas has been shut down and police have advised people not to travel if possible." In these conditions, even getting into your car is dangerous. Let's not even talk about the slithery time I had on my bike yesterday as I traversed treacherous ice and snow to see the new exhibitions at NGBK and Kunstraum Kreuzberg. I'm lucky to be alive.
In sweaty Athens I may have painted too rosy a picture of the thrillingly chilly life of winter, evoking freedom organised with Scandinavian efficiency and cheerful fishermen reeling the umpteenth plump fish up through their ice holes. But how could anything other than nihilism and despair greet the news that snow and temperatures of minus forty have killed over a million livestock in Mongolia this winter, and threaten to grip the Mongolian people in a downward spiral of hunger and poverty?
It's not that I was wrong about nihilism and heat, it's that this winter has shown me there's a nihilism of cold too. I could cite all sorts of Russian literature to "prove" this with literary "data" and establish a correlation between extremes of temperature and states of the soul. But, to be quite frank, I can't be arsed. My fingers are too cold to turn the pages. The ink in my pen is a black solid, and my computer keyboard is sputtering out. It's minus ten here today, and I'm stocking up on orphans to feed the brazier.
To recap my argument: A sense of rationality and fairness prevails where it's cold. Human life is worth more, and humane values flourish. "In cooler, more northern countries a fundamental sense of fairness informs the idea that sidewalks are for pedestrians," I wrote. As a result of this, traffic accidents are less common and less dangerous where it's cold, I claimed.
I want to change my mind. It's not that I was wrong about the nihilism of heat, or the cultural connection between hot places and a certain moral insouciance. It's that I didn't give the whole picture. There's a nihilism of cold too.Let's start with the traffic stats. Sure, in general there are fewer accidents in more northerly countries. But when it gets cold and icy, when road and pavement alike are white, accidents happen. The BBC reports that "heavy snow and high winds have caused traffic chaos across Germany with at least three deaths reported nationwide. Conditions closed some motorways and caused long traffic jams on many others. Public transport in some areas has been shut down and police have advised people not to travel if possible." In these conditions, even getting into your car is dangerous. Let's not even talk about the slithery time I had on my bike yesterday as I traversed treacherous ice and snow to see the new exhibitions at NGBK and Kunstraum Kreuzberg. I'm lucky to be alive.
In sweaty Athens I may have painted too rosy a picture of the thrillingly chilly life of winter, evoking freedom organised with Scandinavian efficiency and cheerful fishermen reeling the umpteenth plump fish up through their ice holes. But how could anything other than nihilism and despair greet the news that snow and temperatures of minus forty have killed over a million livestock in Mongolia this winter, and threaten to grip the Mongolian people in a downward spiral of hunger and poverty?
It's not that I was wrong about nihilism and heat, it's that this winter has shown me there's a nihilism of cold too. I could cite all sorts of Russian literature to "prove" this with literary "data" and establish a correlation between extremes of temperature and states of the soul. But, to be quite frank, I can't be arsed. My fingers are too cold to turn the pages. The ink in my pen is a black solid, and my computer keyboard is sputtering out. It's minus ten here today, and I'm stocking up on orphans to feed the brazier.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 12:17 pm (UTC)I love you. And not, not in a friendly way, although I think we're great friends. And not in a misplaced affection, puppy-dog way, although I'm sure that's what you'll call it. I love you. Very, very simple, very truly. You are the-the epitome of everything I have ever looked for in another human being. And I know that you think of me as just a friend, and crossing that line is-is-is the furthest thing from an option you would ever consider. But I had to say it. I just, I can't take this anymore. I can't stand next to you without wanting to hold you. I can't-I can't look into your eyes without feeling that-that longing you only read about in trashy romance novels. I can't talk to you without wanting to express my love for everything you are. And I know this will probably queer our friendship - no pun intended - but I had to say it, 'cause I've never felt this way before, and I-I don't care. I like who I am because of it. And if bringing this to light means we can't hang out anymore, then that hurts me. But God, I just, I couldn't allow another day to go by without just getting it out there, regardless of the outcome, which by the look on your face is to be the inevitable shoot-down. And, you know, I'll accept that. But I know, I know that some part of you is hesitating for a moment, and if there's a moment of hesitation, then that means you feel something too. And all I ask, please, is that you just - you just not dismiss that, and try to dwell in it for just ten seconds. Nick, there isn't another soul on this fucking planet who has ever made me half the person I am when I'm with you, and I would risk this friendship for the chance to take it to the next plateau. Because it is there between you and me. You can't deny that. Even if, you know, even if we never talk again after tonight, please know that I am forever changed because of who you are and what you've meant to me, which - while I do appreciate it - I'd never need a painting of birds bought at a diner to remind me of it.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 12:38 pm (UTC)Who's like me? Nobody! What'll you do when I'm gone? What'll I do when I'm gone?
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 01:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 05:30 pm (UTC)-jamal
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 02:28 pm (UTC)"Gefühlskälte ist kein Kennzeichen von Vernunft. Objektivität und Gleichmut angesichts unerträglichen Leidens können in der Tat mit Recht Furcht erregen, nämlich dann, wenn sie nicht Ausdruck der Selbstkontrolle sind, sondern die offenbare Manifestation der Unrührbarkeit." – "Coldness is not a sign of reason. Objectivity and equability in the face of unbearable suffering can indeed arouse fear, namely when it is not an expression of self-control, but the apparent manifestation of immutability."
And: "Das deutlichste Zeichen der Entmenschlichung ist gerade das Ausbleiben aller Reaktionen." – "The clearest sign of dehumanisation is precisely the absence of any reactions."
Both from "Macht und Gewalt". My translation might be bad, maybe someone else can help.
Last minute requests from the peanut gallery
Date: 2010-01-31 10:16 pm (UTC)2. Do a top ten-like accounting of the books that have influenced you most -- preferably from various disciplines/fields. Likewise, in the case of music albums, too.
Btw, have you ever taken any psychedelic substances?
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-01 01:16 am (UTC)mr currie
would you please tell me the name of a documentary that featured you talking about how you lost your eye? supposedly the documentary was about parasites???
thank-you
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 12:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 01:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 01:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 01:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 01:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 01:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 01:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 01:51 pm (UTC)...Though, Luffys Mugiwara may throw some people off.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-01 10:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 02:30 pm (UTC)"Gefühlskälte ist kein Kennzeichen von Vernunft. Objektivität und Gleichmut angesichts unerträglichen Leidens können in der Tat mit Recht Furcht erregen, nämlich dann, wenn sie nicht Ausdruck der Selbstkontrolle sind, sondern die offenbare Manifestation der Unrührbarkeit." – "Coldness is not a sign of reason. Objectivity and equability in the face of unbearable suffering can indeed arouse fear, namely when it is not an expression of self-control, but the apparent manifestation of immutability."
And: "Das deutlichste Zeichen der Entmenschlichung ist gerade das Ausbleiben aller Reaktionen." – "The clearest sign of dehumanisation is precisely the absence of any reactions."
Both are from "Macht und Gewalt". My translation might be bad, maybe someone else can help.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 10:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 02:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 05:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-31 06:10 pm (UTC)I think this film should interest you... It's called My boyfriend is a gaijin
You can also say cold weather breeds Russian mafia, can't you? Seems that the rationality from the North only stays within Holland, Germany and Scandinavia... The northern Canada, Greenland and Siberia seem not to share those qualities
cold
Date: 2010-01-31 06:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-01 12:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-01 01:28 am (UTC)Oh, come on, -10 after the unforgiving chill of japan in winter is nothing!you know that, dont be so lazy, the subject is promising. I remember an issue of vice magazine dedicated to russia where the bottom line was something like "life in russia is worth less than elsewhere, its a widely spread knowledge and this is why theres so much crazy stuff happening here all the time, what with the mafia and the bloodthirsty skinheads beating people to death and the soldiers who pull deadly pranks on newbies"
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-01 01:30 am (UTC)Oh, come on, -10 after the unforgiving chill of japan in winter is nothing!you know that, dont be so lazy, the subject is promising. I remember an issue of vice magazine dedicated to russia where the bottom line was something like "life in russia is worth less than elsewhere, its a widely spread knowledge and this is why theres so much crazy stuff happening here all the time, what with the mafia and the bloodthirsty skinheads beating people to death and the soldiers who pull deadly pranks on newbies"
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-01 02:08 am (UTC)there's all sorts of nihilisms actually...
whenever I wake up and look in the mirror ... I get a big hello from the one that seems to be following me around lately...
oh by the way... do you know this website?
http://genki-genki.com/modules/tinyd36/index.php?id=75#getn007
kind of fun
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-01 02:20 am (UTC)Lurv,
A fellow pirate
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-01 02:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-01 06:15 am (UTC)Tokyo sex and cold これを喜ぶ読みなさい
Date: 2010-02-01 06:27 am (UTC)I can't help thinking that the lack of central heating in some Japanese homes and coldness in general is a contributing factor to the sexlessness here.
I can't help wondering why Tokyo (Japan?) is so sexy but seemingly sexless. Along with South Korea, Japan gets the top sexlessness awards (may have learned that here), as well as high ratings of internet and thus sex addiction. Sexology happening. Do any Japanese readers in particular have any insights?
-no personal space / sharing with families, even for adults
-no time -work till 10 5-6 days a week
-no energy
-walking/biking in the cold isn't hot
-porn everywhere
-futons (which not everyone uses) are not as supportive as mattresses
-working out, which for me increases blood flow, self-confidence and general well-being, seems a luxury
-stress from trying to be number two in the world in a country with half the population as the US stuffed into a quarter of California, with all the social and familial obligations that come with it.
A side note: it is funny that puberty seems to mean a lot on nature's terms but nothing in legality's terms.
Re: Tokyo sex and cold これを喜ぶ読みなさい
Date: 2010-02-01 08:20 am (UTC)