There’s no force which can compel my speech. So let Zeus hurl his blazing bolts, And with the white winds of the snow, With thunder and with earthquake, Confound the reeling world, None of all this will bend my will.
— Prometheus —
Thus spoke the Greek titan after being chained to a rock for his crime of stealing fire from the gods to gift to man. A necessary theft for his brother Epimetheus squandered all special abilities on the animals. Prometheus corrected his mistake by giving humanity the skill of tool building to rise above the other creatures.
Characters like Prometheus are a common motif within mythology known as the Trickster archetype. They are gods of the boundary, either crossing, removing or creating it. Tricksters are not only thieves of heavenly goods, but are also creators of culture, making life hospitable for humanity. They have an upsetting nature, they break through, or as mythologist Joseph Campbell described it: a disruptor of programs.
Unfortunately, the trickster nowadays is a very unwanted figure. He used to be an integrated part of the culture and psyche. For example, native Americans, Viking and Greek mythology gave this god a place within their stories and honored his playful, creative and cunning force. Modern Western culture however is less fond of the guy as he exposes frailties, falsehoods and is able topple the whole system. It has therefore been tried at the utmost to kill the trickster and ban him out of existence, back into the shadows.
They say the trickster has been destroyed and that the pieces of his body lie scattered across the Earth… waiting to be found. And one day brought back together, to be resurrected once more. Or perhaps, that might have already happened. Somebody has imbued life back into his ashes and revived him for the digital age. For in the times of apocalypse and hyperbitcoinization, his services shall be needed again.
Before tying this all within the framework of fiat meltdown, apocalypse and hyperbitcoinization, it’s important first to understand what the archetype of the trickster is.
Archetypes are perfect examples, original inherited patterns of behavior that reside within the so-called collective unconscious. According to psychologist Carl Jung, this collective unconscious is a reservoir of archetypes that runs cross-culturally and its ancestral past and is present within each individual.
These entities are often expressed through mythology, which is a form of storytelling that helps us find orientation and direction in the world. Familiar mythological images of the trickster would be that of the fool, the jester and the thief. Appearing in animal he’s a wily coyote, raven or rabbit.
Without deviation, there’s no progress.
—Frank Zappa—
The major trait of the trickster is the ability to pass beyond established borders, constraints and programs, challenging conventional thinking, habits and values. A classic example of the boundary crosser is the fool. The fool is unaware of the program, therefore he’s naturally wandering outside of the system.
Being perceived as weird, the fool is perhaps only a step away from wisdom. Weird is derived from the Welsh word wyrrd and meant: ‘to have one foot in the other world’. Also related is the german werden: ‘to become’. Weirdos have a lazy, clumsy and unadapted foot that connects them to the world of dreams, an eternal place of creativity and destruction. ‣ By following that foot, the fools are becoming themselves and wising up to the program.
Beavis and Buthead are a great example of true fools. They are in a strange way invincible because they are shameless. Not engaged by fitting in they have become agents of disruption breaking social rules. The kids are basically so dumb, they’re smart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBQRrKovSuU&ab_channel=FavClips
How many people are stuck within their own lives, following rules and conventions that are not suited for them? These guys just don’t give a shit and have their own sense of dream, cool and enjoyment outside the prevailing program. Beavis and Buthead are centered, having strong medicine, perturbing with their unperturbance.
The willingness to fail badly at coming from a new angle enables intelligence, first principles thinking and breakthrough discovery. All of the great deliverers of human progress were once regarded as fools who just thought differently. Einstein, the brothers Wright, Steve Jobs, ... fill in the blank. The entrepreneur is the fool grown trickster.