Slash and Burn Often, a slack-jawed passer-by will conjure up the nerve to ask about my mysterious, left bicipital, scar tissue. For the uninformed, a twisted mass of smooth curving scar imprints itself-not upon, but actually into-my left biceps. Usually, I have time to explain the "how," but must leave my questioner in a state of confusion as to the "why." Both shall be answered today, a one-time offer. A typical encounter would proceed as follows: -Dude! What the fuck is up with your arm? -Um, it's a scar -How'd it get that design though?? -I did it myself, nice eh? -Hmm, How? -It's a fairly easy procedure, known as "slash and burn." Simply cut the desired design into the skin (avoiding major veins and skin directly on top of bones) and then douse the fresh wound with your preferred inflammable substance (alcohol is a fan favorite). Ignite the work and briefly admire before extinguishing; but remember that the perfection of the scar is directly related to your arm's time spent burning in self-inflicted mutilation. After describing the "how," depending on the audience, a reaction of perverted admiration or nauseating horror permeates the air. Why would anyone consciously submit to such pain? Of course many might perform said actions in order to placate their fragile egos into believing that they really are the misogynistic, hypermasculine, homophobe of a dominant ape they consider themselves. I would like to believe my reasons are somewhat more profound and meaningful. The first reason is one that Americans sure give a lot of lip service to, good, old, fashioned freedom. The problem is that American freedom consists of the lower forms, such as political and societal freedom. However, I speak of personal freedom. I think there are two sorts of personal freedom alluded to in the slashing and burning. First, there is a freedom from fear of pain. Only by becoming exposed to ones fears (phobophobia in this case) may one ever conquer them. This is known as exposure therapy in psychotherapy (or, slash and burn could be construed as systematic desensitization for necrophobia), but there is a marked difference in this case. The fear of pain, unlike systematically determined phobias, is neither abnormal nor excessively distressing. So why confront it? Exactly the point. Everyone entertains their own petty notions of the freedom they've attained, but their freedom is of a lesser grade than mine. Whether known consciously or unconsciously, one who is afraid of pain will base all of his decisions on that fear. Just look at slash and burn itself. Most people would never participate in such an act because of pain alone. We therefore have a concrete example of how I have more freedom than you. The slash and burn option is not available to you, while choice is the great precursor of freedom. Your fear leaks across all membranes of your not so compartmentalized fear of slash and burn, absolute freedom will never be grasped. It must be understood that fear is only one facet of your entire unfree lifestyle. A Cartesian destruction (yet do not attempt to contrive god into the mix as Descartes did) of all beliefs must be undertaken if one is to attain any meaningful freedom. Every belief, attitude, proclivity, induction, deduction, and intuition must be questioned. This does not mean that they can never reemerge, but that they must be found to be viable construction projects after the original destruction. Practically, this process may be engaged in quite easily. Whenever you feel yourself repelled against something, go to it. Whenever you feel yourself attracted to something, reject it. By acting thusly, a tabula rasa is attained, which allows you to make all future decisions free from prejudice. If unbounded freedom in itself does not suit your fancy, the second justification is complete self-consciousness. Only by destroying inner boundaries can you understand why you erected these boundaries in the first place. However, most people are not only afraid of pain, but afraid of themselves as well. For example, the anxious and uptight religious type who is scared to partake in the drinking of alcohol for fear of what an uninhibited self would do. Intricate rituals of self-deception and self-denial are initiated in order to keep the person from contemplating the self. Thus, the benefits of self-consciousness are only held by those who also place importance on unrelenting freedom. As John Stuart Mill asks, "are you the type to choose living Socratically over living in the world of the contented pig?" Freedom and self-consciousness are two answers to the nihilist's question of how to overcome the nihilist's void. It is quite depressing to see that these replies are rejected by the nihilist, for if one cannot find meaning in freedom and self-consciousness, where shall we find it? I hope to speak of this more in-depth at a future time. In the meanwhile, go purchase yourself some new razorblades.