The World is Crazy, and Sometimes, So Are We

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We all have two things potentially not going for us: 1) the world may, at times, be crazy, and 2) we may, at times, be too; and not always at the same time. The thing is, how do you know? This can be a problem and, quite frankly, sometimes rather unnerving. Think about the spectrum of possibilities. On one end, there’s the possibility of saying something wrong and wondering, is it me, or them? On the other, there’s the possibility there’s something wrong with the world at large in which the ratio in the question changes exponentially and it’s you against it.

Until recently, the explanation I attributed to this existential dilemma I formerly, albeit fondly, called The White Cowboy Hat Theory. While I can’t actually take full credit for the idea, I have taken responsibility in continuing to puzzle with how the idea and its absurdity could formulate a helpful theory to explain the otherwise bat-shit crazy way the world operates. If the theory could be represented as an equation, I’d gotten as far as 2+2=. That was until the day before yesterday when a client I was working with inadvertently provided a factor that, not surprisingly, had completely eluded me.

It’s always the simple things, the embarrassing no-brainers that I overlook, yet while off, scrambling in the weeds; or perhaps, it wasn’t a theory, but a concept it’s taken me a while to get.

The White Cowboy Hat Theory was derived from the only logical explanation a friend and I could arrive at for an incident in the 7th grade. I’m not sure which of us coined the name, White Cowboy Hat Theory, but given the style of the language, my guess is that it was my friend who came up with it. My contribution was the context, the events, the whole theory was based upon.

When I was younger, my mother gave me, yes, a White cowboy hat that had been for some promotional western theme Continental airlines which flew to Texas was giving to passengers. A little bigger than actual child size, pressed white straw, so stiff it bounced, refusing to crease but mashed like a car fender. I must’ve worn it occasionally, though I’ve never seen myself wearing it in childhood pictures, but it was a consistent item among my stuff. At this time in 7th grade, it was a bashed-in thing in the back corner of my bedroom closet behind a worn, cardboard drum of Lincoln Logs. I probably wouldn’t have left my closet door open that day if I knew Mike Hooper was going to stop by. I’ve known Mike since I was three years old, and we were best friends until kindergarten. The combination of making new friends and individual interests introduced a slight rift in our friendship. Mike went for sports, and I, well….Perhaps suffice to say, I’ve wound up a therapist. Although neither of us brought up the changes, I always felt like there was an elephant in the room. Perhaps I was the one carrying it, unaware it foreshadowing my later carrying the unresolved White Cowboy Hat Theory.

I remember Mike leisurely looking around my room, acting like just sitting around my messy bedroom was something to do. Yet I felt like he was remaining there intentionally because he knew I felt uncomfortable and was playing on this. I watched him look around my room, anticipating that he would find something he knew would be personal or embarrassing for me and ask about it. Finally, he found a thing that interested him: The White Cowboy Hat, among the debris inside my closet. “What’s that?”

Absurdity Strikes

Mike actually wanted the hat. This piece of junk, drawn from the bottom of the back of my closet, which only made me second guess my having discarded and let languish this otherwise crappy and crushed hat. But after telling him what a piece of crap it was, I felt cheap not giving it to him when he asked if he could have it. So I gave it to him and the next day he wore it to school; and that same day, he suddenly became the most popular kid in school. It didn’t make sense!

The concept, similar to Murphy’s law, stayed with me throughout my life. I puzzled over it at times, threw it out in conversations for humor, but something about it felt off, not quite developed.

Embracing Absurdity

Life isn’t complicated, at least not intrinsically. It is inherently complicated; the difference being that inherent complexity is embedded within the thing that possesses it, while intrinsic complexity belongs to the thing itself. So, in this way, life isn’t complicated, but living is an entirely different beast—contrary, baffling, stunning, uncollarable.

Absurdity isn’t so much man’s answer, but a temporary placeholder explanation for what amounts to a pink elephant in the room. Absurdity, the absurd, attempts to articulate the conflict between our need for inherent meaning in life, in spite of all which otherwise, negates the possibility of finding inherent meaning that is satisfying.

Something is absurd when the conspicuous discrepancies between pretension, or aspiration, and reality are obvious. It’s the discrepancies, however, which plague a person with a need for an explanation. However, when a suitable explanation isn’t available, rather than settle for an unsatisfying answer, they’ll derive a temporary, placeholder explanation even if it amounts to there only being a pink elephant in the room. Absurdity isn’t simply an abstract concept, but can also be viscerally experienced, as when the significance of the discrepancy provokes emotional arousal, riposte, or a dysregulation in one’s state. Humans are capable of accepting, and adapting to just about anything, so long as it can be integrated.

The myth of Sisyphus has, at least metaphorically, potential for the absurd. Having committed any number of offenses, and depending on the account, Sisyphus was condemned to eternally roll a large stone to the top of a hill, whereupon it would roll back down. In “The Myth of Sisyphus,” the French Absurdist, Albert Camus, suggested Sisyphus was a hero, personifying the absurdity of human life, and for this reason concluded, “one must imagine Sisyphus happy.”

Recently, I was relaying the White Cowboy Hat Theory to a client of mine as an example of the absurdity of life when a solution to the dilemma inherent in the theory came to me. It wasn’t that some cosmic agent of absurdity was at play in the universe that had magically made Mike Hooper suddenly popular in the 7th grade. It was Mike’s action, his volition to wear the cowboy hat to school the next day, and the hat’s, thus Mike’s getting notice, and the combined novelty that facilitated his new popularity. It was more of a simple case of cause and effect, rather than an effect resulting from magic. I thought I’d finally solved the White Cowboy Hat Theory.

Finding Meaning in Absurdity

The White Cowboy Hat Theory and the exploration of absurdity in life share a common thread: they both delve into the complexities and contradictions inherent in our experiences and perceptions. The absurdity found in the White Cowboy Hat incident, where a seemingly insignificant object becomes a focal point of embarrassment and social dynamics, mirrors the broader absurdity of human existence as discussed in the exploration of life’s complexities.

This story highlights the struggle to find meaning and coherence in a world that often defies logic and reason. Whether it’s the baffling social interactions of childhood or the existential dilemmas of adulthood, the absurdities we encounter force us to confront the limits of our understanding and the sometimes arbitrary nature of reality.

The concept of reductio ad absurdum, where absurdity is used to reveal the contradictions in our assumptions and beliefs, parallels the personal realization in the White Cowboy Hat Theory. Just as Mike Hooper’s visit and the subsequent revelation about the hat prompted a deeper reflection on social status and personal identity, the broader exploration of absurdity challenges us to reconsider our perceptions and the meanings we ascribe to our experiences.

In essence, the importance of embracing the absurd, isn’t a resignation to chaos, but a means of navigating the inherent contradictions of life. By acknowledging the absurdity in our experiences, we can find a sense of liberation and perhaps even humor in the midst of confusion and uncertainty.