Flow the World of Today Is One

¶ … Flow

The world of today is one dominated by relativism, a point Richard Weaver illustrates when he details the loss of universals in the Western world (14). As such, the phrase "going with the flow" is adopted as the one philosophical tenet by which to stand: it causes no disruptions, keeps you from getting in the way of others, and does not rock the boat. It is the stabilizing agent on a sinking ship. Yet, the question arises: who is or has been steering the boat, and why be satisfied with keeping the status quo? It is an interesting question that is double-sided. Perhaps no greater author attempted to answer more directly than Herman Melville. Melville made it very clear that Ahab was not sane -- and his guidance of the Pequod was a symbol of what Melville saw happening to our entire nation. The crew "went with the flow" -- and the ship went down. However, Ahab, in his own way, was rejecting the "flow" of Puritan America -- and as such, his stand against the white whale could surely be seen as heroic. This paper therefore will look at the different ways in which "going with the flow" may be understood, in both its negative and positive lights.

In our world, in which everyone seems to want "control," "going with the flow" is like opting out -- in a sense -- of the rat race which consumes the soul of all those who participate. "Going with the flow" becomes a kind of Zen practice -- it allows one to adopt a more contemplative stance; it allows one to meditate on the higher things in life -- the universals and transcendentals that Richard Weaver describes as all but gone in today's modern life. "Going with the flow," in this sense, takes on a positive light: it is a distinct step away from the worldly desire to "control" and a step toward the acknowledgment of a higher "control" -- Providence or Fate, depending upon one's theological outlook. At least, "going with the flow" in this way is, as Somerset Maugham put it, looking at the moon rather than at the two pence on the ground -- for the "flow" one goes with is not the flow of the world, but of the spirit. This is the difference between the negative and the positives senses of the phrase.

In a negative sense, then, "going with the flow" implies going with the world -- doing that which is demanded of one by society (whether for good or ill), putting on the pretty face, pleasing the right people, joining in the flow of the rat race. This flow is the kind that the crew of the Pequod went with: it leads to disaster, whereas the other flow -- the flow of the transcendental spirit -- leads to truth, to reality. Ironically, this latter flow was Ahab's.

"Going with the flow" of the spirit of transcendence allows one to answer, as Christ suggested one do, with simple statements: "Let your speech be, 'Yes, yes'; 'No, no'; and whatever is beyond these comes from the evil one" (Matthew 5:37). Those, however, who "go with the flow" of the world, give long speeches, practice the art of dissembling, are given to pedantry. When one acknowledges universals -- as the middle age did -- and the ancient age of the Greeks, likewise -- one sees the simplicity in Christ's command: what is true; what is false -- there is no need to dissemble, to subvert, to lie, to manipulate: yes, yes; no, no is all one need say: it is humble -- and all humility leads to truth.

Christ issues the suggestion within the context of taking oaths: "I say to you not to swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; & #8230;neither do thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black" (Matthew 5:34-36). Thus, by answering only, "Yes, I can do that," or, "No, that is not correct," one keeps oneself from falling into the trap of the flow of the world: one makes no excuses, begs no one's pardon, tells no lies -- but rather gives testimony to the truth in the simplest and most easily understood terms.