Subvert the Dominant Paradigm
Change your life and change the world
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A long time ago in a share house not so far away my sister lived with a rather eccentric man (who is actually a good friend of my family). He had a penchant for playing practical jokes, telling dirty jokes in inappropriate company, a beret/hat fetish and he used to dry his underpants in the microwave. He was and still is a music teacher and quite a smart guy, just a bit strange (now that’s the pot calling the kettle African American).
Anyway one day I noticed he’d written the following phrase on the fridge in my sister’s flat:
Subvert the Dominant Paradigm
Now being young and naive (I’d never heard the word paradigm) and also having been thrown off by the poor hand writing the phrase had been written in I asked the question ‘Who is ‘Su-bert the dominant Para-dig-em (sic)?’
The eccentric housemate then explained that we live in a disposable society and we show total disregard for the environment etc. etc. The dominant paradigm is that we seem to put short gains before long-term losses. He believed that everything is connected and that all the shit we are doing to the environment is going to come back to bite us in the arse. I couldn’t agree more.
I later found out that the phrase is popular with activists in general and is used by those protesting against a range of issues from the destruction of the environment to unfair parking tickets.
Today I’d like to encourage you to subvert a paradigm that has been shitting me for ages. The paradigm I refer to is “It is better to remain silent and let people think you’re a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” I find myself in a lot of situations where people hold back just because they are afraid of looking stupid. For example in classes when a teacher asks a question and nobody answers, or when at karaoke night people refuse to sing. I personally have no problem making a fool of myself as long as it is on my own terms (as opposed to someone playing a joke on me) and I find it a most liberating experience. I think the vast majority of the world is missing out by simply being cowardly mainstream idiots rather than daring renegade fools.
So next time you have a thought in your head you think people will laugh at and you bite your tongue-unbite it-and let loose with your stupid philosophies, designs for perpetual motion machines or your feelings for a pretty girl/boy. Embarrassment will pass but occasionally your reckless stupidity will pay off and the glory will last forever.
Be strange but not a stranger,
Toblerone J. Aardvark
P.S. If you want to dry your undies in the microwave use the defrost setting....trust me on this one
Anyway one day I noticed he’d written the following phrase on the fridge in my sister’s flat:
Subvert the Dominant Paradigm
Now being young and naive (I’d never heard the word paradigm) and also having been thrown off by the poor hand writing the phrase had been written in I asked the question ‘Who is ‘Su-bert the dominant Para-dig-em (sic)?’
The eccentric housemate then explained that we live in a disposable society and we show total disregard for the environment etc. etc. The dominant paradigm is that we seem to put short gains before long-term losses. He believed that everything is connected and that all the shit we are doing to the environment is going to come back to bite us in the arse. I couldn’t agree more.
I later found out that the phrase is popular with activists in general and is used by those protesting against a range of issues from the destruction of the environment to unfair parking tickets.
Today I’d like to encourage you to subvert a paradigm that has been shitting me for ages. The paradigm I refer to is “It is better to remain silent and let people think you’re a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” I find myself in a lot of situations where people hold back just because they are afraid of looking stupid. For example in classes when a teacher asks a question and nobody answers, or when at karaoke night people refuse to sing. I personally have no problem making a fool of myself as long as it is on my own terms (as opposed to someone playing a joke on me) and I find it a most liberating experience. I think the vast majority of the world is missing out by simply being cowardly mainstream idiots rather than daring renegade fools.
So next time you have a thought in your head you think people will laugh at and you bite your tongue-unbite it-and let loose with your stupid philosophies, designs for perpetual motion machines or your feelings for a pretty girl/boy. Embarrassment will pass but occasionally your reckless stupidity will pay off and the glory will last forever.
Be strange but not a stranger,
Toblerone J. Aardvark
P.S. If you want to dry your undies in the microwave use the defrost setting....trust me on this one
