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


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


Episode Stats

Length

15 minutes

Words per Minute

101.33067

Word Count

1,523

Sentence Count

117

Misogynist Sentences

1


Summary

Why do people get tattoos? Why do they have meaning in them? And why do they need to have them tattooed on their bodies? In this episode, I try to answer these questions and suggest a possible explanation for why people get them.


Transcript

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.
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
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.
00:12:06.120 Machines
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