Conversation

A rather subtle thought just occurred to me that explains why artistic pursuits so often correlate with use of weapons of the weak.
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It's because WotW are often only capable of destruction, so if you don't pair them with a creative pursuit, they'll rot your soul. So many instinctively do so. By contrast weapons of the powerful often are just the destructive aspect of technology that also has a creative side.
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For eg. airplanes can both help civilians travel (creative use), and be used as fighter planes to kill people (destructive use). By contrast, the technology of organizing a protest really cannot create good policy. It can only block bad policy.
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There are some apparent positive aspects, for eg. "wisdom of the crowds" but if you poke at it you realize it doesn't work. Wisdom of crowds relies on *private* knowledge pooled properly, ie, the exact opposite of imitative hive-mind thought turned into a weaponized mob-thought.
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I honestly can't think of a true weapon of the weak that also has a creative aspect to it. So one must be added to create a balance in the Force. So... you end up making art instinctively.
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The more tightly integrated the art is, in the weapon-of-the-weak, the more effective. For eg. satire is a weapon of the weak that is both a destructive weapon and an art form. It can't create, but it can be used with almost no soul-damage.
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Arts conducive to the collective mental health of weak groups using WotW-- satire, comic books, street theater, graffiti. Not so healthy: public art installations, officially commissioned murals (too distinct from the associated weapon) Neutral -- live music concerts.
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To the extent anything I do has an artistic aspect, I am suspicious of it precisely because of this function as a soul-damage mitigation of WotW use. I'd rather use weapons of the powerful tbf. So I try to always let the idea lead, and any art that emerges be a side effect.
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Ideally, to the extent your use of weapons of the weak aims to destroy societal structures that don't work for you, your artistic paired activity will have catalyze replacement structures... but in an unconscious way. Self-consciously political manifesto art tends to be bad art.
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Realized this after I found myself unconsciously wanting to encourage the artistic side of people who seemed... kinda deeply traumatized by too much involvement in public-spirited WotW use. I am definitely not that kind, but I see so many people burn out from far too much of it.
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If for eg I see someone go on lots of protest marches for causes I may or may not support, but also see them have a spark of an artistic pursuit, I usually don't talk to them about their politics at all. But I do try to encourage them to devote more time to their artistic pursuit
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Frequently, the art side is the only reason I get along with them at all. If they didn't have that, they'd be far too angry and soul-burned to have a positive relationship with. I'm not altruistic enough for that.
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