Flexion

Reluctantly, I click on the link to read the text. It's called "Flexion". OK, then, mysterious title, let's see how it goes. It appears to be about someone reading a text and struggling to recognize its value. Or so it seems -- the text is hard to follow.

The protagonist is constantly fighting a battle in their mind between the urge to unveil the secret meaning of the text and the dawning realization that there is none. Clearly somebody wrote this with some kind of intention? What did the author think the value of this text would be to any reader?

To advocate nihilism? Yet, if nihilism was their true aspiration, who would write a text about it? Can there be such a thing as a preacher of nihilism? Or is nihilism simply an inherently private conviction? To preach nihilism is to make nihilism the meaning, negating nihilism. So, it would seem nihilism could not have been the goal of this text. Indeed, most convictions upon being preached reveal only the preacher's own convitction of self-importance.

Does the goal then lie in self-distinction, perhaps? An author distinguishing themselves by writing a complex recursive piece about the philosophical implications of literature? Complex mind-bending content is certainly impressive, but which literate would applaud the negation of the value of literature?

Or is this simply a farce? A pointless endeavour to entertain the audience? Who would enjoy being entertained by means of wasting their time with a nonesensicle piece of literature? Typo! We want to improve ourselves, learn new things, be surprised. Is a waste of time surprise enough to entertain an audience? And conversely, what isn't a waste of time?

I wonder if I hate the author. For wasting my time. Or if I hate myself for continuing to read. Still, it's entertaining. You want to know how it ends. Don't we all want to know how this ends?

I can feel a headache coming up and breathe in deeply. The text has me questioning my perspective of the world. Maybe, the goal is not so much preaching nihilism but preaching relativism. It is working. I think.