The essay is loosely based on several confused ideas. Thoughts dressed up and embellished for the occasion, hanging together like loose sand. But also forming an intellectual playground. A gymnasium in which my thoughts can playfully tumble over each other. Sitting on the seesaw together, spinning around each other like on a merry-go-round and swinging until nausea strikes. A playhouse far beyond the boundaries of pragmatism, conformity, or illiberal American opportunism. The 19th-century values with which we now defend ourselves in an almost republican manner against the demands of what many consider outdated ethics. A sense of morality that sets limits on unbridled freedom, in which the conceited royal individual wallows like a fattened pig on too tight a leash. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiek
HE BEGINNING OF THE CONFUSION
Having reached an age at which my intellectual capacities are greatly diminished, I can only distinguish two ways of thinking. Two models that differ from each other in their straightforwardness, a confusing complexity, and a (despairing) intertwining. Which, like climate models, beg for refinement to be able to adjust expectations for the future. Or form a time portal to a lost time of innocence. Two approaches I can use to approach and explain the physical world and the world of the mind, the human consciousness that cannot know its limitations. By assuming that everything can be mirrored in each other. To the loss we suffered from an abundance of enemy images. Two limited models of thinking, restricted to this body, which, due to the inherent poverty of language, my unique lack of mastery of it, which resembles the stratigraphic layering of the intellect and Thus automatically leads to confusion, I can only describe as dualistic, and the second with the neologism ;multithesis. A linguistic emergency measure that offers an escape from the idea or hypothesis* that everything is intertwined. That every thought is the mother of another. That corresponds to a certain extent, and that this intertwining is determined by and in family similarities, which determine the direction of change. In, with, and through time, the answers to questions multiply. Even though alienation constantly lurks around the corner of what I find acceptable about myself.
LIFE IN THE BREWERY
Life in the brewery that owes its origins to the foaming primordial soup in which the first beginnings of life began as a self-reproducing element thereof. The unknown composition of the atmosphere. The varying resistances of which were an integral part of the process of creation. And that is both infinite. A: In what we do not know about it, we will never know. B; as limited by the current knowledge of nature. A knowledge so fragmented that we cannot estimate its true extent. The basic components that are subject to laws. Elementary elements that are part of the field of research of numerous other sciences, not just the earth sciences. In addition, the cellular building blocks of life must not conflict with the laws of nature. Of course, it may also be that the primordial soup came to life as a whole. Just as interstellar dust condenses into stars. Under the influence of increased gravity, nuclear fusion occurs. Which in turn makes black holes comical anti- stars, due to the opposite of what we cannot perceive. Or, fantasizing a little further into imperceptible power stations, because the energy stored in the hole cannot escape. Into the free field of space. Just like the verbiage of my creativity. The only thing I have left is an exhausted positive freedom. Everything can be love. How one molecule of a given substance can attach itself to the molecule of another substance. Which brings to mind an almost universal or cosmic declaration of love. An attachment to a suitable anchorage under the influence of physical and chemical forces. The love for the universal solvent makes the change happen. The change through each other as a joyful evolutionary adaptation. Which makes it strange that for creationists, God is the only one, or the five-star chef, or the master brewer of the primordial soup. The one who knows the secret recipe, the magic potion. In contrast, for me as a skeptic, God is a superfluous product or ingredient of human shortcomings. This makes me readily apply Ockham’s razor to keep things clear and manageable in my quest for unification. The substitute for merging with the Lord Jesus or the primordial sea.
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ockhams_scheermes
That a certain proximity of neurons determines and limits the path along which we think of as an act of will. Just like the time of life. To complete the confusion for myself, I ask whether the location of the genes on the DNA helix influences the characteristics. Whether it makes any difference in which chromosome the genes are located. Not to mention the question of whether chromosomes, like sperm cells, have a head and a tail? And whether it matters how the DNA is read, from left to right or from right to the left. It’s not as crazy a question as it seems when you know that it makes a considerable difference to the characteristics or spatial structure whether the protein is folded to the left or to the right, compared to a predetermined reference point. Progress in a frivolous confusion! Reduced to its essence, the assumption of a multithesis can be understood as that which has a certain congruence will influence each other more than something that is diametrically* opposed to it. The concept of diametrically fits better with dualistic thinking, which assumes that everything within a framework of thought or reality has an individual Platonic revelation* that is its opposite. The logical idea that A absolutely cannot be B, whatever A may be. What could you argue makes things so simple for the less frivolous of mind through unambiguity? * The concept of revelation is used here specifically to express an emotional state of calm in which emotion can serve as a starting point and motivation, the preliminary stage for a reasonable assumption. Several of these can lead to a conclusion, which in turn can serve as a milestone on the mountain path to wisdom.
The reason I started thinking about this had to do with getting an eye injection. After this minor operation, the umpteenth in 12 years, I invariably retreat into complete darkness to give my eyes and the associated area of the brain some rest. Simply by removing all visual stimuli. If I’m lucky, I fall asleep, which of course promotes recovery, but without that blissful sleep, I concentrate on the questions I ask myself. Questions that are as wide-ranging as how do I build a 140-meter-high pyramid without using a wheel or its predecessor, the roller? Or why am I not a Neanderthal if I want to be the strongest? What materials, technical skills, and knowledge are indispensable for this? Assuming that a certain minimum level of technology, materials, and skill is always required to achieve a certain result. This makes the geographical distribution of, for example, sand-lime brick around the world is more likely to result in the construction of large stone structures in Egypt than in the Hungarian Puszta. While, to digress into the labyrinth of my knowledge, the deep recesses of science as a hobby, the specific construction of the Great Pyramid around 2500 BC is linked to the occurrence of copper ore nodules in the Sinai Desert. Copper, which, due to a large admixture of arsenic, was in fact a contaminant, approached the hardness and toughness of bronze. This allowed it to be used as a stone chisel. A copper stone chisel was an improvement on stone tools in that the sharpness of the cutting edge did not break down and was not immediately lost under a blow with a hammer stone (a more or less smooth spherical stone the size of a palm, comparable to the later bobbin hammer). In my construction, I focus not only on how stones weighing an average of 2.5 tons could be lifted, but especially on how the ground plan for the construction was laid out. The construction site was made ready for construction and completely level. Was the work based on drawings or only on the knowledge in the head of the master builder-astrologer? Part of the solution lies in reasoning backwards. Looking at which techniques have survived the centuries. Which materials had a much broader application than they do today? Ways of organizing large-scale work and arranging logistics. In essence, the construction of a pyramid is not much different from that of a military campaign. (As was customary in shipbuilding until the mid-18th century.) As a result, each ship built had different sailing characteristics. Some were faster, but wet;* others more difficult to sail. Only after standardization of construction was it possible to sail and fight in line!
THE NEXT GENERATION OF FREE THINKERS!
Still, for today, I will leave pyramid construction for what it is: a speculative construction in my head. Not to mention the greatest achievement of a people who otherwise enjoyed little freedom. Regardless of whether the concept of freedom could even occur to any of the 20,000 builders. That I sometimes think that something only becomes a point of attention, builds an existence, when it is named. Acquires a linguistic existence. I thought back wistfully to how I was fortunate enough to receive history lessons. I can safely say it was a blessing. This was based on the holistic approach I learned from my teacher, Father Reinders. Sit Deus propitius cum immortal anima!* A striking example of how religion does not have to lead to spiritual narrow-mindedness and rigidity. That religion does not have to stand in the way of science when it comes to clearly defining boundaries. The characteristics of any credible supreme being are limited. This is done by refraining from absolute and eternal characteristics such as omnipotence or a divine will that transcends nature, etc. It was a very pragmatic way of believing, of which he was a great supporter. His motto was: only believe in that which, without contradicting scientific knowledge, adds value to your insight and your salvation. A position that, in my opinion, should have been carved in marble above the entrance to St. Peter’s in Rome. * May God have mercy on his immortal soul. Adaptation of the last line of a well-known drinking song from the 13th century. Original line: Sitt Deus propititus huic potatori. May God have mercy on this sinner! https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holisme From my revered teacher, who taught me throughout my time at grammar school, I learned that history only provides a reasonably accurate and consistent picture if one adds the spirit of the times to an approach based on knowledge of the political-military, economic-social, and cultural-religious circumstances. The intertwining of these factors. As he put it. Democracy may have emerged in the polis of Ancient Athens, but not a liberal democracy. I will refrain from going into the various reasons for this here. Let me just lift a corner of the veil and say that democracy as a political system could function at that time because of the compulsory military service of those who possessed civil rights. This meant that, despite the frequent differences of opinion, the survival of the state remained the most important recurrent theme. Culture, in this context, is a collective term for all expressions of science and art, etc.
LET DARKNESS OVERWHELM ME!
Comfortably in the dark, my thoughts turned to the extreme nationalism that partly shapes the spirit of our times. The regression in time determines the polarization inherent in the dualism that pits things against each other and continues to intensify. The development of nationalism took place at almost the same time as the elaboration of the ideas behind social Darwinism. On my way to the eye clinic for an injection, I seamlessly integrated my ideas: the notion that, in a state of extremism, through acceptance and diffusion*, extremism becomes increasingly extreme. Diffuse: the slow seeping of extreme ideas like water through a rock layer under all layers of the population. A process of moral erosion, a war of attrition that, due to its long course, seems irreversible, just like a deadly disease in its late stages. With its crippled caricature of what was called science for countless Western practitioners: eugenics*. The delusion that a biological cause can be identified for the superiority of the white race. Based, of course, on criteria that entirely ignored the mental abnormalities* of the phenotype. While the faults of other races were the main reason why every white person was better than someone of a different skin color. Nationalism can then be considered a form of eugenics through the inclusion of only one’s own ethnic population group and the exclusion of others, which in the short-term leads to cultural inbreeding of one’s own beloved people, with all the dangers that entails. In which case it is always the poor who, as children, have to give up their birthright to have children. https://nl.wikipedia.org/Inteelt
SELF-REFLECTION AND CRITICISM
* mental deviations from the white master race; an extreme urge to assert oneself; competitive pressure under the influence of the axiom, the right of the strongest, which manifests itself in everything, including romantic relationships. A way of thinking based on power that is inherent in the right of the strongest, as a breeding ground for absolute ownership relationships (in extreme cases, slavery*), which reflects a dualistic view of evolution. While the right of the strongest was internalized in early commercial capitalism. In which freedom is transformed into a revenue model. An economic simplification that ignores a more holistic approach to the social characteristics of humans. Or the theory of evolution. Namely, that the change of species takes place because of changes in the living environment. This consists of the surrounding nature, the prevailing climate, and other species. Three difficult-to-predict variables that interact with each other. In addition to periodic changes on a cosmic scale. As I happily continue to ramble on, it was not only women who were granted the right to vote late. Their positive influence in everything was denied, but the female side of a holistic view of humanity also had to be suppressed in favor of paternalism. Which is another expression of the law of the strongest, with its emphasis on physical strength. Where mental strength always plays second fiddle. Early Christianity, with its innovative principle of equality, which threatened the existing order of the Roman Empire, was the answer to this. Catholicism could only become socially acceptable when the hierarchical structure of the Roman Church broke through and channeled this principle of equality without dismantling the power structure of feudalism.
THE RESURRECTION OF A DEFECTIVE BODY!
Sleep would not come anymore because of this foolish whirlwind of absurd thoughts. I had to get up to commit them to paper for an imaginary posterity. Or stay a little longer to enjoy the warmth of my intellectual glow. Busy coming to a final judgment, my thoughts turned to the situation in Gaza. A region where Israeli Jews have planned Armageddon for the Palestinians. Ethnic cleansing based on neurotic obsessions. The extremist idea that the Jewish people can only be safe in their own Jewish state as their homeland. Which essentially leads to a kind of nationalist ghettoization. A mistake that the Jews have adopted from the anti- Semitic Europeans among whom they used to live as a minority. The mistake that the disappointed Zionists made from 1900 onwards was and is that they internalized the established European hostility towards a group that fell outside normal social interaction and was kept there, and projected it onto the original Arab population in the region of Palestine. Without realizing that this was essentially an entirely different kind of hostility. Namely, that of the colonized toward their colonizer. The same hostility that the enslaved feel toward their supposed owner. As long as the Jews and Palestinians collectively remain incapable of spiritual purgation. Leave their victim role behind. Especially the Jews, out of self-preservation and to protect their identity, need to continue to cling to atavistic fears and, over time, increasingly distorted memories, instead of being aware of the current reality. A solution to the conflict will not come any closer. The war will continue for many generations to come. If only because emancipation can only succeed if both parties recognize the need for it. Is there a solution? Yes, but only if Jews, not only in Israel but worldwide, learn to regard Arabs as full-fledged fellow citizens and dialogue partners. The same applies to the Arab world. Promises should not be broken by both sides at every turn. Revisionist Zionism should be replaced by an enlightened liberal view of humanity. The difference between both cultures and religions is considered the ideal way to achieve cross-fertilization. This means that a two-state solution will eventually lead to a continuation of hostilities or ethnic cleansing or genocide. This is a high degree of certainty if the law of the strongest, which is a contagious part of Western thinking, is not abandoned. Therefore, we should strive for the ideal of the more intellectual Zionists, Jewish scholars, and scientists of the 1930s: the establishment of a federal state. How can this be achieved? It requires the science of sociology, psychology, and above all, pedagogy. To learn how to overcome pettiness, touchiness, and narrow-mindedness on both sides in a pedagogically responsible manner. And in that healing process, Christians and populists should stay out of it. Because historically, they are the festering wounds and boils of anti- Semitism. Nowadays, out of opportunism, they are stuck in a right-wing nationalist idea of crude, broad-minded communality. Without answering the question of how deep the friendship of former enemies goes when there is no cooperation on all fronts.
LUDO September 10, 2025
