Leo D.M.J. Aurini - What is a Tattoo's Meaning？ [Requested Video]

00:00:00.000 Thank you.

00:00:30.000 So this requested video comes from Scott C., who asked me to talk about an observation of his, a theory of his, my response to it, regarding the nature of tattoos, why people get them, what sort of messages they're conveying, what sort of meaning they are identifying in themselves.

00:00:57.900 What's going on on the deeper philosophical level when somebody gets a tattoo?

00:01:32.720 As trying to be special or attention-seeking or what have you.

00:01:38.700 And maybe it is to some degree, but I think that is really missing out on the depth of what's going on with all of this.

00:01:44.800 And this is something I've observed as well.

00:01:46.620 It's a lot of people, well, everybody that gets a tattoo wants to be asked about it.

00:01:51.900 There's usually some sort of meaning behind it.

00:01:54.580 And often it does involve a significant personal event, an event in their own lives.

00:02:00.960 So let's consider the tattoo itself.

00:02:07.380 You know, what is a tattoo?

00:02:08.680 What is the nature of a tattoo?

00:02:10.220 Well, at the very base, a tattoo is painful.

00:02:19.220 It is, it involves suffering.

00:02:23.440 Suffering for really no end, if you think about it.

00:02:27.220 There's no reason to get a tattoo in and of itself.

00:02:33.060 And it is painful.

00:02:35.140 And in our present society, where we constantly pursue pleasure and luxury and easier ways of doing things,

00:02:44.840 going out of your way to get a tattoo is somewhat striking.

00:02:48.600 There's a bit of a contradiction there.

00:02:51.500 The next thing about a tattoo, the next contradiction that's built into it,

00:02:59.920 is the fact that tattoos, on the one hand, they are permanent.

00:03:04.600 A tattoo is absolutely permanent.

00:03:06.400 You know, short of very expensive laser surgery,

00:03:09.060 you are going to have that for the rest of your life.

00:03:12.660 Whether or not you still like it in 10 years,

00:03:14.960 whether or not it still looks good in 30 years,

00:03:17.540 you're still going to have that ink in your lower layers of skin.

00:03:23.840 Well, at the same time,

00:03:25.680 at the same time, a tattoo is temporary.

00:03:31.020 It only exists as long as you exist.

00:03:36.000 A painting is permanent.

00:03:39.280 Or at the very least, it will outlive the painter.

00:03:42.280 Same thing with a novel, or a film, or even a building.

00:03:52.460 These things are not temporary.

00:03:55.480 They outlive you.

00:03:57.420 And yet this tattoo that's permanent,

00:03:59.780 and yet it disappears when you disappear.

00:04:05.100 Then there's the contradiction that a tattoo is public.

00:04:10.220 It's a public statement that you are making to everybody else,

00:04:16.440 and yet at the same time, it's a very, very private thing.

00:04:20.500 Tattoos are almost always, if not always,

00:04:25.440 so personal in nature

00:04:27.380 that the individual needs to explain what the tattoo means.

00:04:34.060 Even if it's a face, which is fairly self-explanatory,

00:04:37.980 it's more than just the face.

00:04:39.420 You need to explain who this face is,

00:04:42.240 why this face matters to you,

00:04:43.760 why you elevated this face

00:04:46.480 to the point of being worthy of permanently

00:04:49.240 marking yourself with it.

00:04:56.680 So yes, the core of the tattoo

00:04:58.120 is a very contradictory sort of a thing.

00:05:01.800 To get this permanent memory etched upon yourself.

00:05:09.440 And yet in many ways, it's such an arbitrary memory.

00:05:15.220 It's not a significant national holiday or historical event.

00:05:19.940 It's a personal event

00:05:23.360 that you are marking on your skin

00:05:25.800 when that event,

00:05:27.940 whether it was the death of a loved one

00:05:29.720 or an accident,

00:05:32.440 a car accident, say, that you were in,

00:05:34.440 or something of that nature.

00:05:36.180 Or even just a loved one

00:05:37.780 or a heart that says,

00:05:38.680 mum. 0.67

00:05:41.380 You're turning yourself into a cenotaph

00:05:43.400 when the fact that that event was so significant

00:05:46.440 shaped your personality,

00:05:48.380 shaped your outlook on things.

00:05:49.880 So it's the last thing

00:05:51.200 you need to be reminded of.

00:05:53.000 Nobody gets a grocery list

00:05:54.620 tattooed on their arm.

00:05:58.220 Aside from the guy from Memento, of course.

00:06:00.320 So what's going on with all of this?

00:06:04.340 What are people doing?

00:06:08.680 I think this is a response.

00:06:13.620 This is a form of Camus' absurdism.

00:06:18.420 Now, Camus,

00:06:19.640 the whole premise of absurdism

00:06:21.660 is that humans crave meaning.

00:06:25.620 Not just crave meaning to our lives.

00:06:28.620 We need meaning to our lives.

00:06:31.260 Without meaning,

00:06:32.500 we become nihilists.

00:06:34.860 We self-destruct.

00:06:36.480 We commit suicide

00:06:38.640 directly or indirectly

00:06:40.820 through hedonism.

00:06:42.540 We require meaning

00:06:44.800 as human beings.

00:06:48.900 And yet the universe

00:06:50.180 seems to be working against us.

00:06:52.480 There is no meaning.

00:06:55.060 Everything crumbles over time.

00:06:57.280 There is no purpose.

00:07:01.520 Eventually, the universe

00:07:02.340 just winds down.

00:07:06.020 And if you try and distract yourself

00:07:07.480 with meaning in sports ball

00:07:09.080 or meaning in politics

00:07:10.160 or meaning in romantic love,

00:07:13.400 each one of these things

00:07:14.860 in and of itself,

00:07:16.780 left to itself,

00:07:18.120 will ultimately disappoint you.

00:07:19.900 So, what are we supposed

00:07:21.980 to do about this?

00:07:23.420 With this absurdity

00:07:24.780 that we require meaning

00:07:27.600 and yet there is no meaning?

00:07:30.720 Well, Camus argues

00:07:31.640 that we must constantly

00:07:34.200 seek and invent

00:07:36.300 meaning for ourselves.

00:07:38.340 and I think

00:07:42.460 this is what

00:07:44.100 we see these people

00:07:45.760 with tattoos

00:07:46.380 doing.

00:07:49.120 That

00:07:49.640 the date

00:07:51.080 when

00:07:52.160 my mother died

00:07:53.760 or the date

00:07:54.680 when I met my

00:07:55.640 spouse

00:07:56.580 or what have you,

00:07:59.500 these are,

00:08:00.880 in a certain sense,

00:08:02.080 there's no meaning to it.

00:08:03.620 There's nothing

00:08:04.220 special about that date.

00:08:05.960 It's not that the stars aligned

00:08:07.600 and three wise men

00:08:09.240 came and knocked

00:08:10.020 on your door.

00:08:10.920 No, it's just the date

00:08:12.160 that that happened.

00:08:16.580 Particularly with death

00:08:18.020 or accidents.

00:08:21.020 It's no surprise

00:08:22.120 that your grandmother died.

00:08:24.800 You know,

00:08:25.120 that's been the one fate

00:08:26.040 of everybody

00:08:26.580 since Adam and Eve.

00:08:31.300 And yet,

00:08:32.060 it is meaningful

00:08:32.940 at the same time.

00:08:34.660 And so,

00:08:35.640 to take this

00:08:36.260 completely predictable,

00:08:38.340 arbitrary,

00:08:40.120 meaningless event

00:08:40.940 and imbue it

00:08:43.760 with so much meaning

00:08:44.900 that you decide

00:08:46.460 to suffer

00:08:47.360 to commemorate it

00:08:48.960 on your skin

00:08:50.400 even though

00:08:51.620 that

00:08:52.100 is not a permanent

00:08:53.580 cenotaph.

00:08:54.440 That's not a permanent

00:08:55.360 record either.

00:08:56.340 That is just

00:08:57.440 as absurd

00:08:58.400 as the event

00:09:00.060 itself.

00:09:02.180 Getting into

00:09:03.120 a car accident

00:09:03.920 absurd.

00:09:06.640 Creating a permanent

00:09:07.640 record on your own

00:09:08.740 body?

00:09:09.920 Absurd.

00:09:11.060 And yet,

00:09:11.520 it's this quest

00:09:12.500 for meaning.

00:09:14.900 This adventure

00:09:17.180 in manufacturing

00:09:20.000 meaning.

00:09:25.200 But you know,

00:09:26.020 if we're going to talk

00:09:26.500 about the absurd,

00:09:27.320 I'd like to also talk

00:09:28.660 about the sublime

00:09:29.460 because I think

00:09:29.840 this is a significant

00:09:31.060 bit.

00:09:32.340 This is worth

00:09:32.720 considering as well.

00:09:36.180 Now,

00:09:36.740 the sublime,

00:09:37.380 as described by

00:09:38.500 Kant and

00:09:39.600 Schopenhauer,

00:09:41.060 the sublime

00:09:42.820 is that which

00:09:44.200 transcends

00:09:44.960 beauty.

00:09:47.400 See,

00:09:47.560 because in the

00:09:48.460 modern world

00:09:49.640 we've built for

00:09:50.160 ourselves,

00:09:50.600 we're surrounded

00:09:51.300 by prettiness,

00:09:53.440 by surface

00:09:55.680 beauty

00:09:56.200 all over the

00:09:57.320 place.

00:09:57.640 And yet,

00:09:58.420 we're also

00:09:58.920 regularly

00:10:00.120 confronted

00:10:00.800 with

00:10:01.980 horrors,

00:10:03.660 with the

00:10:04.180 existential

00:10:04.700 terror of the

00:10:05.520 universe having

00:10:06.740 no meaning,

00:10:07.460 of eventually

00:10:07.940 going nowhere,

00:10:09.540 and the

00:10:10.520 daily horrors

00:10:12.500 of the 24-7

00:10:14.100 news cycle.

00:10:16.060 So much

00:10:16.700 ugliness

00:10:17.200 and so much 0.94

00:10:17.920 prettiness,

00:10:19.200 but nothing

00:10:20.840 that sublime.

00:10:21.940 You see,

00:10:25.740 the sublime

00:10:26.360 is when you

00:10:28.000 encounter something

00:10:28.920 that, well,

00:10:29.800 it puts you

00:10:30.460 in your place.

00:10:31.740 It's when you

00:10:32.200 look at a

00:10:32.920 vast desert

00:10:34.520 or an

00:10:35.760 ice field

00:10:36.460 or you

00:10:39.280 study

00:10:39.720 extra

00:10:41.480 planetary

00:10:43.100 bodies

00:10:44.060 like

00:10:45.060 Jupiter,

00:10:46.520 Saturn,

00:10:47.020 these

00:10:47.180 terrifying,

00:10:48.120 enormous,

00:10:49.180 beautiful

00:10:49.740 things.

00:10:51.940 That have

00:10:52.240 nothing to

00:10:52.880 do with

00:10:53.160 us

00:10:53.320 whatsoever.

00:10:54.180 They don't

00:10:54.540 care about

00:10:55.080 us.

00:10:55.640 Our

00:10:55.960 smallness,

00:10:59.620 our

00:11:00.080 irrelevance

00:11:01.080 is suddenly

00:11:02.400 thrust upon

00:11:03.080 us.

00:11:05.320 Our ego

00:11:06.280 is stripped

00:11:06.680 away

00:11:07.120 by this

00:11:08.720 beautiful,

00:11:10.120 terrifying,

00:11:11.400 awful

00:11:11.980 thing.

00:11:14.300 This force

00:11:15.400 of nature

00:11:16.060 that is so

00:11:16.540 much grander,

00:11:19.200 infinitely

00:11:19.620 grander

00:11:20.240 than us.

00:11:21.940 I think if

00:11:27.960 there's

00:11:28.120 anything

00:11:28.320 missing

00:11:28.760 from that

00:11:29.440 tattoo of

00:11:31.740 the significant

00:11:32.320 event on

00:11:34.080 your arm

00:11:35.240 or on your

00:11:35.800 shoulder,

00:11:37.280 if there's

00:11:38.720 anything missing,

00:11:39.460 it's the

00:11:40.160 sublime.

00:11:43.160 Because

00:11:43.800 your grandmother

00:11:44.600 dying is

00:11:45.480 profound.

00:11:46.600 it speaks

00:11:47.740 to this

00:11:48.280 greater

00:11:49.720 thing

00:11:50.260 than all

00:11:51.040 of us,

00:11:51.480 this

00:11:51.620 specter

00:11:53.080 of death

00:11:54.320 that is

00:11:55.020 so much

00:11:56.360 bigger than

00:11:56.780 us.

00:11:58.180 Everything

00:11:58.680 dies.

00:12:00.760 Animals

00:12:01.440 die.

00:12:02.740 Eventually the

00:12:03.240 sun's going

00:12:03.720 to die. 0.58

00:12:06.120 Machines 0.96

00:12:06.880 die.

00:12:09.080 It's not

00:12:09.680 just humans

00:12:10.320 who experience

00:12:11.060 death.

00:12:11.520 Everything

00:12:11.900 experiences

00:12:12.660 death.

00:12:13.100 death is

00:12:15.800 so much

00:12:16.180 bigger than

00:12:16.580 us.

00:12:20.520 But there's

00:12:21.140 no beauty

00:12:21.540 in it.

00:12:24.360 The same

00:12:24.980 thing with

00:12:25.180 the car

00:12:25.500 accident.

00:12:27.420 The car

00:12:28.120 accident,

00:12:30.120 often there

00:12:31.120 will be

00:12:31.360 this flash

00:12:32.320 of awareness

00:12:33.860 that the

00:12:36.340 accident's

00:12:36.820 going to

00:12:37.140 happen,

00:12:37.980 that the

00:12:38.380 skid has

00:12:39.280 started,

00:12:39.760 that it's

00:12:39.980 going out

00:12:40.340 of control,

00:12:41.400 that there

00:12:41.940 is nothing

00:12:42.720 that you

00:12:43.900 can do

00:12:44.200 about it,

00:12:45.160 and that

00:12:46.080 you are

00:12:47.040 mortal.

00:12:52.280 But again,

00:12:53.000 there's no

00:12:53.280 beauty.

00:12:58.340 Where's the

00:12:59.000 sublime?

00:13:00.640 Looking up

00:13:01.300 at the

00:13:01.500 night sky,

00:13:02.020 really

00:13:02.380 looking up

00:13:03.280 at the

00:13:03.480 night sky.

00:13:04.960 Not in

00:13:05.520 the city,

00:13:06.700 but out

00:13:08.420 in the

00:13:09.140 desert,

00:13:09.980 where it

00:13:10.880 is terrifyingly

00:13:12.200 infinite,

00:13:13.360 where you

00:13:13.800 get vertigo

00:13:14.620 just from

00:13:15.960 looking at

00:13:16.440 it.

00:13:19.080 That's

00:13:19.520 the

00:13:19.640 sublime,

00:13:20.460 and the

00:13:20.960 sublime

00:13:21.420 has its

00:13:22.720 own

00:13:23.260 meaning.

00:13:27.260 Irrespective

00:13:27.700 of us,

00:13:28.820 irrespective

00:13:29.340 of what

00:13:30.180 we do,

00:13:30.640 what we

00:13:30.880 find meaning

00:13:31.560 in,

00:13:31.820 what we

00:13:32.060 try and

00:13:32.560 find meaning

00:13:33.060 in,

00:13:33.560 the sublime

00:13:34.240 exists.

00:13:39.140 And that

00:13:40.380 is meaning

00:13:40.800 enough for

00:13:42.340 the sublime.

00:13:49.300 I think

00:13:49.940 tattoos are

00:13:50.480 a way of

00:13:50.820 trying to

00:13:51.160 escape the

00:13:51.820 prettiness

00:13:52.540 and ugliness

00:13:54.600 of this

00:13:56.920 world.

00:13:57.400 of this

00:13:58.720 world that

00:13:58.920 we've built

00:13:59.300 for ourselves

00:13:59.960 because it's

00:14:01.140 not enough.

00:14:01.760 Prettiness

00:14:02.080 and ugliness

00:14:02.640 are not

00:14:03.200 enough.

00:14:04.220 We need

00:14:04.860 something

00:14:05.820 grander,

00:14:06.800 and the

00:14:07.480 sublime

00:14:07.860 can be

00:14:08.560 a part

00:14:10.020 of that.

00:14:10.420 definitely

00:14:14.480 definitely an

00:14:14.700 interesting

00:14:15.120 theory that

00:14:15.880 Scott came

00:14:16.320 up with

00:14:16.620 on tattoos

00:14:17.740 and I

00:14:18.120 gotta say

00:14:19.360 I think

00:14:20.880 he's right

00:14:21.220 about the

00:14:21.560 whole thing.

00:14:23.380 Anyway,

00:14:23.720 that's my

00:14:24.060 two cents.

00:14:24.800 Thanks a lot

00:14:25.280 for listening

00:14:25.740 folks.

00:14:27.060 Deus

00:14:27.320 Volt,

00:14:29.180 Irini out.

00:14:29.800 Heart

00:14:42.640 Heart

00:14:45.600 Heart

00:14:47.600 Heart

00:14:48.760 So

00:14:54.100 Heart

00:14:58.160 Heart

00:14:58.700 Heart

00:14:59.020 Heart

00:14:59.200 Heart

00:14:59.540 Heart

00:14:59.640 Heart

00:14:59.700 Heart

00:14:59.760 Heart

00:14:59.800 You

Leo D.M.J. Aurini - August 06, 2017

What is a Tattoo's Meaning？ [Requested Video]

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