Taking the piss is the art of arts, Livia said. A working class practice, of course. A reminder not to take yourself too seriously. Not to put on airs and graces. To remain who you are and who you’re not. And we need that sometimes.
Taking the piss is the great reducer, Livia said. A way of seeing the world as farce.
Nothing in this world must take itself seriously. Nothing in this world must be taken seriously. That’s what taking the piss shows. And that is the beginning of true seriousness. Which is to say, Gnostic seriousness.
This wasn’t really a lesson for is. It’s a lesson Livia herself had to learn. It’s something that we must teach her, and in fact have been teaching her. What else were our nights at Trillians about?
Taking the piss is a way of seeing through the world, and the pretensions of the world. But it isn’t just dismissive. It isn’t just negativism. It’s a genuine form of dialectics.
Taking the piss is mutual. It’s essentially collective. It’s a way of being together. That never lets anyone get above their station. Never lets anyone become fatally serious. Die of self-importance.
Taking the piss – when done properly. When done right. Could be the foundation of a new kind of philosophical school – a British school, perhaps. A British rebirth of continental philosophy.
Taking the piss is a great art, Livia says. It’s the greatest of arts. It’s what the UK has to bring to the philosophical table. It’s easy to mistake taking the piss for a simple British rejection of the intellect – of what they call pretension, but it’s more than that.
Work in Progress 