Late last year, I turned 26. So, in the tradition of the great panel show QI, for the first half of 2014 I will be running through an alphabetical view on 26 things in my world so far.
On Sunday, I got a spam email that centered around Bitcoin, the highly popular cryptocurrency that I totally haven’t bothered with. I made a snarky tweet about getting the spam, as is my wont, and followed it with this:
And that’s where it all went wrong.
Within 48 hours I had set up a wallet for Dogecoin, tried and failed at mining, and still amassed over 5100 Doge.
Meanwhile, the community raised $30,000 to send Jamaica to the Winter Olympics and saw its jokey little currency explode in value.
This wasn’t my first exposure to the currency, though — my roommate, Sydney, has been mining Doge casually for a while. I had heard about it here and there across Reddit, but didn’t really investigate or jump in. I thought it was ridiculous — which it is — but the part I found ridiculous was the cryptocurrency side.
When you talk to aficionados about Bitcoin, they usually go on about the coin’s philosophical or governmental aspects. They stream out libertarian mantras, arguing how much better a distributed virtual currency is compared to governmental fiat currency. And they do a very good job turning away people who don’t share their political perspective.
So I tuned out the whole notion. Sure, it has value, but so does Team Fortress 2 scrap metal. And I have plenty of that. And if buying into Bitcoin meant buying into that somewhat “fuck you, got mine” community… I’ll stick to my scrap. At least I can make hats with that.
But once someone sent me 20 Doge, I looked at it a little closer. Yes, it’s easier to play along when you’ve got a free buy-in, but at the same time the change in community started to make playing along worth it.
Dogecoin’s sole advantage, really, is its community. They’re gleefully ridiculous, self-referential, and friendly. I haven’t earned any of the Doge I have, people just gave it to me out of kindness and community. Cryptocurrencies, in general, still don’t seem worth the hype — their value is based on demand, same as regular currencies, nothing really special to me — but at least this is fun enough to join in.
When it comes to absurd, ridiculous things, I think things fall into one of two camps. It’s either GOB Bluth, or Noel Fielding.
As a Bluth, GOB is ridiculous. That’s the point of Arrested Development. And he famously demands to be taken seriously, because as a Bluth, he’s not fully aware of how ridiculous he is. He doesn’t really deserve to be taken seriously, but he still demands it. The end result is someone you laugh at.
On the other side, Noel Fielding is a complete goofball, as any fans of The Mighty Boosh or Nevermind the Buzzcocks would know. Unlike the GOB types, Noel knows how goofy he is. There’s no other explanation for his hats. He almost demands to not be taken seriously. He’s someone you laugh with.
I don’t like Arrested Development. I don’t like The Office, or other shows where people act coldly ridiculous and it’s supposed to be funny. I like Buzzcocks, I like Regular Show, and I like Dogecoin. I love when something is absurd, recognizes it’s absurd, and carries on being absurd anyway.
I try to be absurd. The world is absurd, as quite a few quotable people have pointed out, so I figure I should play along. I’m not good at it, but if the stars align I can be a massive abuser of hyperbole. Quite possibly the worst abuser of hyperbole in the world. Between that and deadpan, it’s how I make jokes. Though they often aren’t absurd enough to convey that I know they’re absurd. I end up looking like GOB when I’m trying to be Noel.
I suspect it’s from a lack of bravery. It takes guts to be utterly, completely ridiculous. You have to strongly believe in your comical absurdity. Quite a few people don’t find joy in the ridiculous, and they’re not afraid to say so. That can kill your confidence, dilute the audacity of your absurdity. Ask any comedian who’s ever bombed at a gig — so, just ask any comedian.
It’s hard to play the fool, but at least it is nice to know you’re only playing.
“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.”
— Albert Einstein
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