Default World

[pasithea]

Saw this phrase again today and it still jars me, so I decided to comment on it. Default World is a term used at Burning Man (and in lots of other alternative spaces) to describe the world outside those spaces. It is the real/normal/mundane world.

Honestly, this concept really bugs me. The place you're in right now is probably not the default world. Most of us are living in a place that's quite a bit better. Certainly there are a lot of homophobes, racists, and selfish jerks in the mainstream world, but compare today with 50 or even 20 years ago, and the world we're living in right now is actually a pretty big improvement and despite the efforts of vested interests, it's only getting better.

Burning Man and its like are not alternate realities, they're closer to the future of this reality. Dare to dream of that. Dream of a world where people express, create, and share with one another because it's fun and just makes you feel pretty awesome. Better yet, don't just dream, do! It's really really easy to bring chunks of Burning Man into your day-to-day reality. Bake some cookies and share them at work. When you're walking somewhere, take the time to tell a stranger that they look awesome or smile and greet people as you're going somewhere. Create Alternate Reality Games and implement them around your town. Pick up some trash and put it in a bin. If you really want to mess with the 'default world', grab some friends and put on a random performance in a park or on a street corner or organize a flashmob.

If your world is a default world, it's as much your fault as those around you. Customize your world. Make it something better than it is. Believe in the power of your dreams and work hard to make them real. We who can go to Burn are privileged. Many people can't make it but that doesn't mean they aren't desperate for a taste. You can probably remember a time in your life when you dreamed of something more but didn't know how to reach for it. Take what you found at Burn and make it into gifts for them and yourself. There is no reason to live in a 'default' world.

Comments

Cardboard and Balsa Wood

[krdbuni.livejournal.com]

I do think there's a valid point here, but it's not quite the one that the Burners raise. There is, and will likely always be, an accepted state-of-things, a Weltanschauung which is not where we want it to be, if only because we—insofar as there is a "we" and not just a close cluster of "I"s—are evolving, if not faster, then at least at the same rate as the mainstream. Further, I don't think we're evolving in the same "directions" as they are—again with the caveat that "we", "they", and "direction" are all highly subjective terms.

I think it's important to denote the difference between "the worldview that most people assume is 'the real world'" and other worldviews that people possess that differ from the norm, if only so that we can talk meaningfully of elements which aren't in common between them and explore them in context, without running into "that doesn't make any sense in Context X," whatever X is. When X happens to be the worldview that most people assume is the "real" or "normal" one, I suppose that in that regard, it's okay to say "default."

Think of it this way: whatever is broadly accepted as "normal" is going to be the default world, because it's the mode that you assume other people are going to be able to understand. Nothing says that you can't change the defaults over time.

Kristy

[neonbunny.livejournal.com]

I like the term "Reality Camp" when referring to being back in the default world.

[paradox-puree.livejournal.com]

I see "Default world" more as just another way to say, "Not burning man." As in... "When I left Burning Man, I encountered a menu full of choices at a restaurant and people running the place that really didn't enjoy being there. The default world is so weird."

Otherwise, I totally agree with your assessment here.

[pseudomanitou.livejournal.com]

As I hear the term 'Default World', I'm thinking of how all these computer applications have the option of reverting to default settings.

Push the button, and the world goes back to the original natural setting?

[paka.livejournal.com]

Kick ass, YES! Yes yes yes yes yes!

My "default" is a world where yeah, I have to work a day job, yeah, I have to live in apartments, but where I can still be an athlete and an artist, where I can still have curiousity and dreams and even vacations now and then. What I have now isn't my default any more than being at a convention all the time would be a default!

[lisanys.livejournal.com]

Rejecting currency is far more difficult outside of Burning Man. Rogers wouldn't be happy with me if I simply sent a thankyou note to them for providing me wireless service.

The rest of your points are spot on. It's sad that picking up litter would be a neverending task even for an army of 50,000 people.

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I've never understood litterbugs. In a couple of weeks, my partner and I are going to a daytime rave at the beach. The main event of the rave is beach cleanup. Should be awesome. a bunch of crazy freaky people going to a beach, listening to music, and removing all the trash they can find.

I _really_ enjoy events like this because not only are they fun, but they challenge the notions of 'normal' society. Where they might imagine raves to be a bunch of teens drinking and doing drugs and trashing the local environment, they're instead confronted with the reality that (at least all of the raves I've been to) are planned 'leave no trace' events that go out of their way to leave the place cleaner than they found it.

[paradox-puree.livejournal.com]

oooh. I need dates on that. Cuz I'm totally joining you. :P

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

Date is Sept 26th. The exact location hasn't dropped yet, but I have a funny feeling I know where it's going to be.

[viesti.livejournal.com]

...To leave the world in a better shape than when you found it. To be that person that others look at and realize self-love and self-happiness are possible. To leave art that provokes thought and forces people to question the default mindset.

All of these things are very much keeping with the spirit of Burning Man, and the Cacaphony Society which predated it. I'd love to create some fun-loving, reality-altering chaos with you... because the status is not quo. :)

[zhenzhi.livejournal.com]

we call it "out there" !!
also big on educating our children to asses different things as just that: different. not wrong, or stupid or whatever.... just different.

i like what you say here, it really IS the future, now!

your positive energy is contagious! thanks for giving me such a delightful read with my morning tea today! :-)

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

I love this. Thank you for saying it and living it. :-)