water walk

Sometimes mostpeople will make me think that I’m crazy – because sometimes they’ll think I’m crazy. And if you’re walking alone in the dark with no flashlights and everybody is screaming you are crazy, you start doubting things.

Mostpeople are amazed by my observations and conclusions, till it invades their personal world. Till it gets personal. Till they realize I’m serious.

They think I’m crazy. About girls, for example, they always have this cute smile when I’m talking, as if I was a child trying to impress them (the smart and enlightened grown ups). Then they realize I’m serious and they’ll get angry at me.

This friendly old guy down here is John Cage:

John Cage

John Cage is a pioneer of electronic music, for example. This means he was doing electronic music when everybody thought electronic music was for crazy people. There’s no way to describe John Cage’s compositions in a blog post. He is probably the most controversial composer from all times.

Mostpeople would have fun with John Cage. He will make them laugh. But that’s only till they can understand him. Till they realize that in a deeper sense he’s telling their music and their music taste sucks. He’s saying you’re ignorant and intolerant and feeble minded.

Mostpeople are always angry with me because I say they’re ignorant. I never say that. They discover it themselves, through me, and get angry with me. Man, if you spent your life watching television and going to parties and nothing else, you ARE ignorant. There’s much to know. What can I do? It’s not my fault if you’re not learning any. If you only watch comedies and action movies you are ignorant. If you’ve never read at least a hundred books you are ignorant. If you know nothing of psychology, or anthropology, or sociology, or philosophy, or history, or art and so on, you are ignorant. Getting angry with me is just a confirmation of that. Getting angry with me will just help you numb the problem – it won’t make it disappear.

John Cage is one of the most talented and enlightened musicians ever, and he’s probably also one of the most offended and insulted musicians from our time. Mostpeople will say he is crazy – at the least. If opportunity comes, they’ll hate him.

Mostpeople makes me think I’m going crazy, but usually people I respect, like John Cage, make me think I’m on my way.

Someone I also respect told me once: “Lay your pearls before swine, throw the saint to the dogs. Giving is all that matters”. So despite mostpeople’s incapacity to appreciate this, here’s a little bit of John Cage for you. And as you watch him and laugh you should keep this in mind: He’s a genius. If you think he’s a fool, the joke is actually on you.