The guiding principle of Six Ridiculous Questions is that life is filled with ridiculousness. And questions. That only by giving in to these truths may we hope to slip the surly bonds of reality and attain the higher consciousness we all crave. (Eh, not really, but it sounded good there for a minute.) It’s just. Who knows? The ridiculousness and question bits, I guess. Why six? Assonance, baby, assonance.
1. “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” as the saying goes. But why would someone want to live in a glass house to begin with?
To be able to see. To be able to see accurately. To be able to see accurately everything that surrounds them. Or to be seen by everything that surrounds them, to be on full display. But either way, pile up stones and eventually they’re going to get thrown. And the sound of glass breaking has its own appeal. (See also: J. Carter Montana, “Why De(con)struction Loves Us,” Moving Arts 2020, for an in-depth exploration of intentionally destructive art).
2. In a thousand years, what will historians see as the three most significant events of the 20th century? What about in a hundred years? Ten years? Next year? Also, let’s assume humans (and historians) will be around at all those points in time.
There is no way to discuss or meaningfully predict what humans, or whatever entities might be construed in one hundred years “as” human, might use as a deciding criterion for significance. Are you familiar with the Buggy Whip Paradox? And as for “historian”, this profession may end up making as much useful sense as “art critic” or “social media influencer.” And why the 20th century? Why not the 21st? Or the 1st? And ten years is too soon to speculate, let alone next year.
This question is fundamentally unanswerable.
3. How would the world be different if plants could speak?
You would want to ask Felix Perez about that.
4. There’s an old adage, maybe a Bible verse, stating that, “Money is the root of all evil.” Is this true? Would the world be better off without money? Why or why not?
The actual quote is “The love of money is the root of all evil.” That is true. Actual currency itself is not the issue, value is, but when money and art start fucking, that’s when I leave the building.
5. Say you’ve wasted a lot of time on Facebook over the last . . . decade . . . how would you go about getting that time back?
I don’t waste time on Facebook because I don’t use Facebook (or TikTok or Kickchat or Daisychain). Time is finite, and that makes it infinitely valuable. I don’t even “have” time enough to do my laundry, let alone get on social media, throw stones, or read the Bible.
6. Is happiness real?
Yes, it is.
Kathe Koja is a writer, director, and immersive event creator. She and Max Caspar became creatively acquainted during the writing of her latest novel project, Dark Factory, coming in 2022 from Meerkat Press.
Max Caspar is a reality installation and performance artist, writer, and gamer, with an MFA from Kunstfarm and an outstanding public mischief charge.
Kurt Baumeister has written for Salon, Electric Literature, Guernica, The Weeklings, Entropy, The Nervous Breakdown, The Rumpus, The Good Men Project, and others. Now a Contributing Editor with The Weeklings, Baumeister’s Review Microbrew column is published by The Nervous Breakdown. His debut novel, a satirical thriller entitled Pax Americana, was published by Stalking Horse Press in 2017. He is currently at work on a novel, The Book of Loki, and a hybrid collection of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry entitled Superman, the Seven Gods of Death, and the Need for Clean, Romantic Poetry. Find him on Facebook, Twitter, or at www.kurtbaumeister.com.
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