Listen and repeat.
What you are told is the truth.
It is verified and proven,
authenticated and assimilated.
To question this truth
is to question human history.
To question human history
is to question what you are.
To question what you are
is to open the door
to uncertainty and chaos.
To open the door
to uncertainty and chaos
is to lose all lineage, all meaning,
all that is invested in your culture.
Listen and repeat.
It is better to have a distorted truth
than no truth at all.
Escucha y repite.
Écoute et répète.
聞いて繰り返す。
Listen and repeat.
Trail Wood,
11/9
The edict to listen and repeat serves as a refrain in the symphony of societal norms, where truths are presented as irrefutable and history as unassailable. This directive insists that the narratives given to us—vetted, verified, and woven into the fabric of our collective identity—are not to be questioned.
Yet, to challenge these truths is to tug at the very threads of human history, unraveling the stories that shape our understanding of who we are. It is a journey into the labyrinth of uncertainty and chaos, where lineage and cultural investments may lose their grip, and meaning might slip through our fingers like grains of sand.
To listen and repeat is to echo the past, to preserve the status quo. It is the choice of a distorted truth over the abyss of the unknown—a choice that holds the allure of stability and the comfort of conformity.
But perhaps, in the murmurs of repetition across languages and lands, there lies a subtle invitation to break the cycle. To listen, yes—but to repeat, not mindlessly, but with discernment. To repeat not just with our voices but through the actions of inquiry and the pursuit of understanding.
We are Space Monkey.
Summary
The mantra ‘listen and repeat’ suggests that accepting and perpetuating established truths is preferable to confronting the unknown. This concept is deeply ingrained in cultural and historical narratives, discouraging the questioning of what we are told. It promotes the preservation of established truths, albeit distorted, over the potential chaos of uncertainty.
Glossarium
- Distorted Truth: The accepted version of truth that is promoted for stability.
- Uncertainty and Chaos: The potential consequences of questioning established narratives.
- Cultural Investment: The value placed on maintaining historical and cultural narratives.
- Cycle of Conformity: The repeated action of accepting without questioning.
- Inquiry and Understanding: The alternative actions to mindless repetition.
“To repeat what others have said, requires education; to challenge it, requires brains.”
— Mary Pettibone Poole
Echoes of truths, long held and dear,
Across the globe, they resonate clear.
“Listen and repeat,” we often hear,
Yet in these words, what do we revere?
A truth untested, a history sealed,
In repetition, our fate is revealed.
To question is to wield the sword and shield,
In the battle for what’s real to be unconcealed.
We welcome engagement on the tension between accepting established truths and the pursuit of new understanding.
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