Uncomfortablism - The Plot Thickens

The Uncomfortablist movement seeks simply to make people uncomfortable. There are many valuable strategies that may be employed to this end. A central aim is Dispensing with Illusion. Illusions frequently make people comfortable.

Illusion: Measurement is precise

We shall adopt as the fundamental unit of length A Piece of String. Under no circumstances will this unit of length be defined in any other terms. It is not a multiple of the frequency of the light emitted by a certain rare earth atom when heated to a certain temperature. Nor is it the length of some chunk of metal kept in a fridge in some closely guarded mausoleum.

How long is a piece of string? Some things are best left unexplained.

Tape measures will be outlawed. All measurements shall be carried out with pieces of string.

This does away with the comfortable feeling of certainty people experience when confronted with measurements and statistics. It explodes the forensic myth that deprives honest criminals of justice by convicting them on scanty pseudo-scientific evidence irresponsibly proffered by self-seeking, biased experts in pursuit of their fifteen minutes of fame.

Illusion: Technology works

Only people unfamiliar with technology can be comfortable in the knowledge that it works. An educational program will be mounted at vast expense to demonstrate to students just how hopelessly unreliable technology really is. Topics will include: How do you get the bugs out of sofware? You don't. What stops the wheels falling off? Pure luck.

Illusion: Entertainment is there to Entertain You

This also falls under the central aim of Creating a Healthy Paranoia. All art is propaganda, all art is pornography. In particular, all large budget US movies can be analysed to determine the propaganda, pornography and product placement content. By reviewing movies in these terms, and assigning them appropriate classifications, we can easily show:

• All movies are out to manipulate you into certain beliefs
• All movies are trying to sell you something
• All movies are exploiting your powerful, fundamental drives in order to control you for reasons unrelated to your well being.

Suggested Classifications

PP - Product Placement

Product placement is the fundamental purpose of this movie. Watch out for a hero from an aspirational marketing focus group, clear brand names on refreshments and accessories, and smoking.

FC - Fascist concepts

Two-dimensional villains from easily identifiable ethnic groups

SVD - Subversion Displacement

A lone hero battles a shady government agency. They call him mad but he triumphs in the end, institutes a damaging media campaign resulting in high-level resignations and suicides, and gets the girl. Apparently subversive, this undermines the social network by suggesting that we can leave it to lone mad people to sort out the suits.

HCn

Helicopter Count. Moviegoers have the right to enter the cinema with a clear idea of the number of helicopters that will be exploded in the course of the action. An HC0 rating indicates a Chick-Flick or an emerging economy Coming of Age (a young man finds himself in his trousers).

Illusion: Intelligent Design

The simplest argument against intelligent design is to demonstrate some of the less intelligent biological features. For example, why give people only two eyes in front? You're just encouraging people to sneak up behind them.
Why the close juxtaposition of lower orifices? A playground next to a sewer. Corrupt local governments think twice before mistakes like this.
Where are the service hatches? Where is the manual? What kind of intelligent designer refuses to write the documentation?
An obvious design goal for well designed devices is that they start working perfectly if you turn them off and turn them back on again. What kind of mind designs something you can't turn off at all?