To Snark or Not to Snark

That is the question. Well, it’s a question. I wonder sometimes what my most authentic voice is. I know what it’s not.

Snark is, in my opinion, overindulgent irreverence. It’s a cheap thrill that we might think reveals the truth or changes someone’s mind, but doesn’t move the needle towards a more beautiful world.

Our social media is filled with this gratuitous mistake.

It’s not beautiful to crack jokes at the expense of others’ thoughts, feelings and ideas. Funny, yes. Sometimes. But doesn’t change those beliefs or feelings for something more true.

We can point out where someone is not thinking clearly in a way that doesn’t make them feel like an idiot. That only causes defenses to rise and emotions to boil. Not a recipe for the give and take of ideas.

To mock relentlessly doesn’t get us anywhere. But if we’re honest, something about it is fun.

There’s a release that comes from it. Some may feel like they’re truly expressing themselves. But it’s not deep and honest expression. It’s just the built up pressure around what’s been repressed near the surface.

This doesn’t get to any real movement in the way we or others think, feel, or act in the world. It’s usually just a momentary release, dopamine hit, and then a renewed build up of pressure.

It doesn’t get to the core of anything.

I think irreverence is important. Snark, not so much. We should shake the sacred tree from time to time. But, in my mind, it should be in service of awakening to what’s deep within us, rather than superficial, temporary, ego victories.

I like to point out that many of the things - most importantly ourselves - that we take seriously are just idols. They’re placeholders or symbols that point towards something in the murky recesses of consciousness that we don’t have direct access to.

These idols, or unquestioned aspects of our thoughts, feelings, and actions in the world, have a hold over our happiness. They affect the way we connect and communicate with each other, and all that lives on this planet.

But I don’t like to make fun of people’s deep-hearted beliefs. I think that it’s worthwhile to point out that beliefs are things that we hold on to that aren’t necessarily true. In fact, they’re most likely not true in the way that we believe them.

That’s why they’re called beliefs. Otherwise, they’d be called facts (and even those are up for debate these days).

For some people, their deep-hearted beliefs are held in a very tender place. It is cruel to go directly after them, even if what I believe to be true makes their beliefs seem foolish to me.

People’s expression of faith (or lack thereof) is the main area that I find to be off-limits. We’re all here without knowing why. No-one has the secret to why we’re alive and what we’re supposed to be doing here.

It is precisely because of this not knowing that people are attracted to explanations… be they supportive or subversive to the commonly accepted ideas and systems they have helped to construct.

It boils down to this for me. I won’t look at you and judge your belief in the basic metaphysical structure of our reality, because fundamentally, I don’t know what it is either.

I think any clearheaded look at our reality will reveal that we are ultimately clueless as to the fundamental origin of things.

Life and our place in this universe is a mystery.

Where I do think that irreverence is appropriate, even necessary, is to point out the ways in which we all submit - in one way or another - to the dominant paradigm without enough deep questioning, criticism, or fully engaged conversation.

Snark doesn’t wake us up to that.