I've just finished reading Luke Rhinehart's "the Dice Man" which in the vein of "Illuminatus!" is an intellectually stimulating (but still filled with tons of sex, humor and ontological revolution) novel of the 70s.
The primary two focuses of the book, which happen to be intense interests of mine as well, are chance and psychotherapy. The protagonist is a disaffected psychotherapist who realizes that he's making minor to no change with all his patients and that much of his field is a complete fraud. In a moment of inspiration he turns to
- dice.
He decides to make his decisions based on the rolls of the dice - you pick the options, but it's best to include some good, some bad, and some ugly. This allows all aspects of the personality to be explored as eventually through chance you'll hit upon everything. It's an oddly compelling, and strangely liberating idea.. so naturally.. I'm exploring it.
A fascinating pairing in terms of reading would actually be this novel coupled with James Carse's excellent - Finite and Infinite Games, the idea of the "Dice Man" being what Carse would term an infinite game, as the purpose is to keep playing (not to win) and the rules are certainly always changing.
So if you see me rolling dice - it may be due to an experiment in possibility, possibly insanity. But when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
Side note -
I'm a terrible romantic. People don't seem to believe it. Is it because I'm a gutter filthy bastard with sexual lexicon more befitting a scurvied deep-sea pirate, who spends his spare time getting his kicks in Bangkok opium dens and with the nomadic yurts of the Mongolian horde?
Personally I see no incongruity with being jaw-droppingly libertine and Don Juaningly romantic in the same sentence.
But I'm a bad, strange man haunted by the same refrain; the things you make us do, the things you make us do Mr. Jones. But always with the same wicked smile.
Sweet sweet sweet sweet bulbs grow in m' lady's garden
Warm warm warm warm warm sun fingers wave
In m' lady's garden
Flowers dance their faces brave
Come talk freely in the garden of m' lady
The primary two focuses of the book, which happen to be intense interests of mine as well, are chance and psychotherapy. The protagonist is a disaffected psychotherapist who realizes that he's making minor to no change with all his patients and that much of his field is a complete fraud. In a moment of inspiration he turns to
- dice.
He decides to make his decisions based on the rolls of the dice - you pick the options, but it's best to include some good, some bad, and some ugly. This allows all aspects of the personality to be explored as eventually through chance you'll hit upon everything. It's an oddly compelling, and strangely liberating idea.. so naturally.. I'm exploring it.
A fascinating pairing in terms of reading would actually be this novel coupled with James Carse's excellent - Finite and Infinite Games, the idea of the "Dice Man" being what Carse would term an infinite game, as the purpose is to keep playing (not to win) and the rules are certainly always changing.
So if you see me rolling dice - it may be due to an experiment in possibility, possibly insanity. But when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
Side note -
I'm a terrible romantic. People don't seem to believe it. Is it because I'm a gutter filthy bastard with sexual lexicon more befitting a scurvied deep-sea pirate, who spends his spare time getting his kicks in Bangkok opium dens and with the nomadic yurts of the Mongolian horde?
Personally I see no incongruity with being jaw-droppingly libertine and Don Juaningly romantic in the same sentence.
But I'm a bad, strange man haunted by the same refrain; the things you make us do, the things you make us do Mr. Jones. But always with the same wicked smile.
Sweet sweet sweet sweet bulbs grow in m' lady's garden
Warm warm warm warm warm sun fingers wave
In m' lady's garden
Flowers dance their faces brave
Come talk freely in the garden of m' lady
VIEW 8 of 8 COMMENTS
pygmy:
happy birthday, my most favored of citrus children!
amadio:
Happy Birthday