Pinealism

This article needs serious work. Please see its talk page for ideas.

This ridiculous article was written by multiple spags and therefore may contain incoherency and repost. All affirmations are true in some sense, false in some sense, meaningless in some sense etc etc etc.

Pinealism is named for a particular type of internet poster who is all like "LOLZOMFGPINEAL23SKIDOOFNORD!!!!!11111eleventyoneoneone" all the freakin' time.

"Pinealist" is a generally derogatory term for a behavior which occurs in some Discordian communities.

Pinealist style of expression outside of direct parroting may be misunderstood art. It not only has obvious connections to Dada and Surrealism, but also anti-art, Art Brut, and outsider art. This tends to be a minority view, even amongst discordians.

Pinealism and Grayface

It should be noted that aversion to Pinealism is usually different from The Curse of Grayface.

A Pinealist often appears to approach a group of Discordians with assumptions or preconceived notions about how members of that group act. He then acts in a certain way which he assumes will be appreciated by the group. This often includes pseudo-dada, pseudo-absurdism, and very low signal-to-noise ratio. Often, many members of the group react negatively, and the Pinealist concludes that the group is gray, cabbagey, or Bad Discordians.

In this way, the pinealist tends to impose his own preconceived notions on the Discordian Society. Valuing meaningless non-communication, the pinealist falls victim of the Eristic Illusion and invokes the Law of Eristic Escalation upon himself.

The Discordian Society is a collective mess that cannot be generalized about.

Pinealism in Action

• The label 'Pinealist' is most commonly used as a subjective term describing how another person's actions are perceived to the user of the term; although no one can be sure who used the term first, it's use as a pejorative first came to light on the PrincipiaDiscordia.com forums c. 2007; due to that, most uses concern the manner of posts a Pinealist makes.

The content of a Pinealist posting tends to have one of the following factors:

1. Direct and unaltered parroting of phrases, jokes, and memes first used in the Principia Discordia;
2. Gibberish or nonsense language, grammar or syntax that subjectively appears to have no use or meaning other than being meaningless (please note this does not always apply when in context of "artistic" or "poetic" posts);
3. The subjective appearance that the poster in question is "trying too hard to prove" how outrageously Discordian they are, to the point that their post loses all content and thoughtfulness;
4. A tendency towards peevishness when their posts are criticized for the above reasons.
5. An arc of circular logic that is like a sign that is not read.
6. An anti-nostalgic understanding of Oceanic Memorgies.
7. Bent Corrective.

Understandably, as this is a subjective term, the criteria and the limits are varied. A well-thought out post that ends with a "fnord" might be just as derided as a post of nothing but someone posting "Hail Eris" 200 times… Conversely, a surreal and absurdist bit of fluff might be widely applauded as amusing and entertaining, while a well-researched essay on the metaphysical properties of chaos theory might get trashed. It's really all up to how the person using the term feels that day.

• Randomness or Absurdity which seems "forced", or does not add anything. See also: Rutabagas, The Penguin of Doom.

• Many Pinealists believe that Discordian Societies should have no rules. (see also: Eristic Illusion)
  • One guy said, "So a man walks into a Discordian forum site and expects to find people who believe in true freedom. Why is it that he finds multiple posts about what noobs should and shouldn't do? Why are there "forum leaders"? I feel a system here. I feel THE system. Please respond with why I'm wrong. I was starting to enjoy it here...til i noticed the government that rules this place."
  • The Good Rev. Roger's response: "Of COURSE there's a fucking system. Just because you recognize that you're a primate doesn't mean you stop being one. Damn."
  • Of course some people think the Good Rev. Roger is an abusive, athoritarian prick who views himself as having the right to impose his views on how other's should act on them by any and all means, but these comments should be viewed with an awareness of the Commentor's own agenda to justify his own Grey tendencies.

• A pinealist is also someone who thinks they should be impressing other Discordians by showing off how random and absurd they are. While a good show of silliness is usually entertaining, a mediocre or uninspired sillyness is boring.

• When someone asks a question and is looking for a serious answer, the pinealist's sole advice is to "consult your pineal gland". This is not helpful, nor does it add anything new to the discussion.

• "Pinealism" also refers to someone that treats the Principia Discordia as a holy book beyond reproach, and thinks that they're a good Discordian because they can recite it forwards and backwards - and often do so. The moral of the story is that when communicating with other Discordians, it is, ironically, sometimes bad taste to reference in-jokes from the Principia. Some Discordians feel it is akin to Bible Thumping, or reciting your favorite lines from Monty Python until they are no longer funny to anyone.

• Some dude makes "Discordian" posts. Some Discordians do not like said posts.
  • rather than changing posting style, dude decides to increase the behavior which annoys others
  • dude now perceives these Discordians as hive of grayfaces that he must enlighten by being increasingly annoying and spamming everybody with zero-content, zero-lulz threads.

• Due to their difficult-to-parse posting style, the Pinealist usually comes across as failing to understand that "purpose" and "communication" are not at odds with Discordian principles.
  • In what appears to be enthusiasm to show their Discordianism via nonsensical posts, they are actually undermining the purpose of most Discordian online gatherings... communication. Sadly, the nonsense-spouting Pinealist, by succumbing to a Discordian stereotype, is defeated by the Aneristic forces they likely hope to oppose.
  • Sameness, predictability, and lack of independent thought reflect the power of Greyfaced principles just as clearly in the form of non-self-critical, deliberate nonsense as they do in the form of non-self-critical, deliberate seriousness.
  • The Pinealist, perhaps naively unaware that by "trying" to be silly they are placing themselves firmly in a Greyfaced pigeonhole, is not actually engaging in Creative Disorder, as they probably hope to do, but in fact is sowing the seeds of Destructive Order, because Planned Disorder is Order disguised as Disorder, and Premeditated Nonsense is destructive to Creativity.

• Also, The Pinealist, in trying to show the underlying overt symbolism inherent in words and the oppressive semantic constructs of ordered language, fails to recognize how far down it goes, because they neglect to realize that letters themselves are symbols that fanatically stick to Rules of Order, because otherwise hqjce9 ceao 20-=r qwjax q 0tfv4 -0cnals cas08eqw cnassovf 439sdndvca,.scywebhe@

• Some people enjoy trolling Discordians; aggressive Pinealism is one of the simpler forms. Just plug in a random paragraph into a cut-up generator, and watch them react!

In Defense of (Some) Pinealism

• Purposefully creating nonsense is a valid creative technique. When put into context of an internal or group brainstorm as a possible means to an end, it can be a reliable tool. Studies show that reliance on rational processes, especially the critical element fundamental to reason, is especially inhibitory to the idea-generating phase of creative development.

• As a thought experiment, purposeful nonsense helps to internally reveal rationalizations and pseudo-reason which masquerade as valid logic. Subsequently to a tossing of the word salad, the Pinealist's mind will begin justifying and rationalizing their behavior. This can be an enlightening experience. At the wrong place at the wrong time, this can be an electrocuting experience.

• Pinealism does not make you one of the Bad Discordians
  • neither does antipinealism, btw
    • neither does antiantipinealism btw

• It is perfectly understandable to want to break free of all limitations, and erase all boundries. It's also fun to try to create new things. It's even a good idea to both emulate your favorite artists, as well as to "think outside the box". But the problem is this: It's very difficult to create something that is both amusing and entertaining, in ANY field or discipline, much less a piece of writing. The line between absurdity/non-sequitor and gibbering meaninglessness is very thin. There's a very good chance that unless you have done a LOT of work and research, you aren't really contributing anything that hasn't been seen 2300 times before. Burroughs perfected cut-ups in the 1950's and 1960's. Tristan Tzara introduced random word poetry in 1920! And unless you forget, it took Joyce SEVENTEEN YEARS to write "Finnegan's Wake". So, posting random words from the Verbal section of the SAT is hardly an innovative or transgressive act; it's just lazy. Keep working at it!

• It should be fairly obvious that from the fact that most of us call ourselves Discordians, there is some element of the "Principia Discordia" that we must find useful, or can identify with. But we also remember the 5th Pentabarf, and also the suggestion to use it as toilet paper. In a lot of ways, some of the core ideas in the "PD" still work. But many of the jokes, and much of the ideology (oh, you didn't notice? Read it again) and humor is simply dated. There is no reason anyone should think that a current Discordian should still be amused by "King Kong Died For Your Sins". So yes, we know exactly which page the joke you're referencing is on; we just don't really find it funny anymore. Move on, write your own jokes.

• Absurdism and non-sequitors can be AWESOME. The huge popularity of Lolcats is evidence of this, as well as Advice Puppy, et al. Hell, the ZALGO phenomenon largely consists of illegible symbols and random pieces of text. But two things should be noticed:
  • There is a genuinely new dissonance or non-sequitor in action.
  • Some of them really, really suck.

• this "Pinealism" vs "Anti-Pinealism" discussion does not mean that there are "pinealist" and "anti pinealist" tribes of Discordians. Behavior is mostly something observable on the internet in the context of certain forum threads. In the flesh, people socialize much differently.

• Egyptian cock-swaddles her steel plated uterus.

Examples of Pinealism

when it has a glass eye to see things through, black sun of horsehair community organized
dogfight baseball spine?

all monikers aside, who has time to digest all?

1) Non-Linear thought -response - 
    please evaluate relevance so i can tune w/ friggin friction capish ?

think of me as a pig, cured and weaponized and tired of flies in the market...

 +1
"Of the question of Reality [faggots, listen], the one which comes first in order
is the ontological question of what "Reality" signifies in general [you fucking trog-
lodytes]"

The problem is that you ask these questions in the first place...

tell me when your ready, and be good or cross me
(this hurts me more than it does you)

i have a save the normals campaign going  on. It is actuallky a ANNOY THE SHIT 
OUT OF THE HOLOCAUSTALS CAMPAIGN and i mean to do it until
people's HEADS exxplode with frustration. Holocaustals can't fuck with me -- there 
is ultimatley ONLY ONE  fo them and it only has ONE
Brain cell and Stang already smoked its money.

but anyway...since zen mind is beginner's mind and i can not remeber what i 
was gonna ask for i guess i am just gonna say weird shit until
someone stops me to ask a dumb question or a smart question i like the dumb 
questions and actually am chaotically good and full of yummy chocolate chips.

but here goes.

day or night means nothing to a radish from the 10th dimension
evil can be wrought at any time or no time (depending on which dimension you decide to 
reside in and of course said perception provided by material manifestation combined with
recycled energies. Unless your a completely new energy. Radishes are neither so the 
preceding was only obligatory to Saint Wilson Wilson of Misconstrued Ramblings)

I think alot of it comes down to something i noticed  wip had about it. 
she couldnt understand why you really cant use belief and discordian in the same sentance. 
to her believes are a set of principles;
faith is the shinny things in front of me.
maybe its the sparkle of the object or idea, 
one such pineapple has in his universe that swirls around
knocking other planets out of the way, 
in its quest of whatever added gravity to the thought. 
othertimes it comes down to just having too much cheerios. 
maybe its a flaw of the original book to include principle in the prefix?
after all, doesnt really encourage you to eat your own words.
coming from a guideline of a holybook to one that lets you believe whatever you wish to be true. 
tends to encourage them to eat the menu since they have been hungry for so so very long. 
either way watch out for the vegetable cart or fuck off

See also

Types of Discordians

Types of Discordians include

• Activitist
• Bad Discordian
• Discordian American Princess
• Erisian
• Hate Rant Discordian
• Hippie Love Discordian
• Ironic Martyr
• Pinealist
• Real Discordian
• Really Real Discordian