Monkey D. Luffy, the protagonist of the legendary One Piece anime, wants to become the “King of the Pirates”. Sounds so usual, right? Because, he is the protagonist, and it is the anime we are talking about. But here is the twist, one of the strongest truths about human civilization is this: conquering the world through absurdities. Whether it is an anime or real life, dreams require absurdity.
(Taken by me)
Absurdity
Have you ever thought about an achievable goal? Of course, everyone has. How about an ultimate goal? Although, I prefer a continuity of life’s goal, but still, there must be one special thing you want to achieve. In order to call yourself - a successful person. What if that goal is beyond comprehension? The world will start calling you insane.
Let’s say I tell you that I want to become a doctor. You will be like, “okay, good luck”. Why? Because the goal is considered an achievable target in this contemporary world. Now, what if I say “I want to conquer the world”. To you, I may sound like a barbarian. Although just a century or two back, it was the normal thing (still is just the dynamics has changed with the capitalist system).
What good is a goal without insanity?
I share a “great” dream of mine with you. In response, you say, it is a “good” goal. Then, it means that my dream, my goal, is not great enough to surpass the limits of current imagination. People understand it immediately because it does not challenge their mental architecture. It feels safe, logical and socially acceptable. However, historically, genuine transition was possible through ideas wearing the costume of madness.
Before 1856, the world relied heavily on whale oil for lighting. One of the reasons behind naval battlefields. Then came the irrational ambition, of that time, of drilling into the earth for oil. People laughed at Edwin Drake. The idea sounded ridiculous because scarcity was the norm. Nobody imagined industrial pumps existing beneath the ground. Yet the “crazy” idea eventually became civilization itself. The fun part is that the world is still waging wars over each other for it. Geopolitics revolves around this drilling of oil.
The same pattern appeared when Walt Disney imagined something more than an amusement park. To most people, entertainment was temporary distraction; a few rides, noise and few spectacles. Disney came up with an idea, emotional storytelling and escapism. Haters considered it a financial suicide. Yet today, theme parks are not simply places; they have become a part of our lives.
Politics, too, follows this strange law of impossible visions. Consider Nelson Mandela, the legend who dreamt of Great world. People, other than the oppressed, must have considered his vision as a “dream of a madman”.
All these yapping leads toward a strange paradox. On one hand, human beings are beyond imagination, with great projections. On the other, humans are psychologically conservative creatures. The conservative mind seeks familiarity because it feels safe. What we call realistic is, often, just a habit. Most people do not reject abnormal ideas because they are evil or unintelligent. They do it, because human brain, instinctively, prefers to stay defensive. Or, in this modern world, a human is even afraid of sharing his wild dreams. Because people will laugh at him.
If I cannot achieve greatness, then nobody can.
Adulthood is quiet tragedic. Many people stop dreaming big not because dreams are impossible, but because societal expectation exhausts them. The leg pulling has become a new habit. The person who follows the existing pathway is called practical; the person who does not is called delusional.
Ending
In the end, to remain a protagonist in this increasingly demonic world is, itself, becoming an act of rebellion. Modern society constantly leads people toward exhaustion. There is this endless comparison, selective morality, external validation, lust for hierarchy status and social media distraction. A man today is not tested merely by physical hardship, but by whether he can preserve his soul while living inside the so-called good systems. The strongest men are often those who quietly carry responsibility without applause; who continue building despite humiliation, and who refuse to surrender their inner world.
Be delusional; be the change this world is afraid to see. As George Bernard Shaw quipped, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man”.
The future may begin as the joke, but the ending – slowly but surely - will become the new norm. Every era calls its visionaries unrealistic until their visions become infrastructure.
“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music”.
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Peace 🕊
