Nietzschean Concepts & Founding My Own Hall

“… the idea of eternal recurrence implies that everything that has ever been will be again; that everything that will be has already been. It represents a nauseating Dionysian wisdom that paralyzes action; it suggests the indifference of life to human beings. On the other, the ideal of the overman seems to celebrate an Apollonian freedom and power of individual self-creation.”
–Kimerer Lamothe,
Nietzsche’s Dancers
Page 71

Apollinian and Dionysian
I’ve been reading a book called “Nietzsche’s Dancers: Isodora Duncan, Martha Graham, and the Revaluation of Christian Values” by Kimerer L. Lamothe. Basically, the book describes a reading of Nietzsche of dance, relating it to modern dancers Isodora Duncan and Martha Graham and works it way to revaluate Christian values. I cannot help but to reframe the difference of artistic energies, between the Apollinian and Dionysian, in the setting of the university. Nietzsche gives that a work of art sucessfully reconciles these two kinds of energies. The Apollinian is “individuation”, “creation”, “dream-like clarity” and “calm”, while the Dionysian is “dissolution”, “destruction”, “dizzying intoxication” and “rapture” (page 24).

All I see in the idea of eternal recurrence in campus are students coming in and out again, suffering the same problems and being the victim of the same mistakes without understanding the social picture of university. With the CUDG project this semester, I’ve gained a greater picture of NUS and the halls, and I don’t like it. I want to be a part of a larger society, making my contribution, and I see myself doing that right now through helping to create a public student space in political science students. A USP outside of the USP. I dream of a united body of political science students, a vision of students collaborating inside and outside of class, on academic and non-academic material, being the best, learning from the rest.

What I feel is that everybody embraces that paralysing action, that Dionysian wisdom of dissolution. Things are the way they are, we are but some and all our actions are fruitless. I’ve written about being students who are engaged in academia and academic life, but here is the indifference of life and student life. Its as though people come to university not to be a part of an academic community, but as receptacles receiving drops of water and nothing more. I want overmen in university. This is my overman vision. I want people who are strong individuals who are attaining their individual becoming, who simultaneously “taking what is given and (re)creating the world in which we live”.

I want to dance. Reading about the philosophy of dance inspires me. No, it does not just inspire me, it makes me ashamed of my condition. Dance, it says, is the art that empowers, one is simultaneously the artist and the artwork. It is the most powerful because the physical pulls along the emotional, the spiritual, both dionysian and apollonian, and in the end produces a releasing of emotions. I often wondered whether dance was an act of individual freedom or social intoxication, essentially now an Apollonian vs. Dionysian question. Now I know, its a “dance” between both energies that make it beautiful. Let me now learn more dance, more movements, I want to create in myself.

Founding My Own Hall
Thinking about hall, I often wonder about the reason I am not part of the hall, about whether it takes a certain kind of person to stay in hall. I don’t think I positively not want to be part of the hall, and I will sorely miss being in hall for everything that I’ve been here. I have never completely believed in the excuse of personal choice: You have decided not to persue hall activities, you have decided not to socialise with hall people. No, I believe that structurally and the general mentality have a part to play as well. If I were to start my own hall, I’d change some things.

I must admit, I am not active person in hall. There, I’ve said it and I’m not proud of it. I am more active in my faculty clubs than in hall. However, I believe in that every voice has some merit, and I hope that such a principle would lend credit to my observations. Personal arguments aside, (i.e., “If you had chosen to have more hall spirit”) I often wonder what kind of hall would I be more likely to more active and more dedicated in service to. I think that such a hall, would have the following qualities and principles.

First, would be the emphasis on quality. I wouldn’t use the word excellence implies over-competitiveness. Quality should be the primary focus in cultural activities, quality in sport training, quality in orientation, quality in the quality of living. I rather NOT do something that I won’t be completely proud of in terms of quality de facto, rather just doing it like a habitual motion. The metric for such a quality of standard would be that all, if not some, of our hall cultural productions are able to gather substantial public support and attendance. Quality, while sacrificing the idea of bonding people, bonds people to the idea of greatness.

Second, inclusivity: a focus on individuals and selection based on talent and contribution instead of overemphasis on structural institutions and competitive contribution. It means that everybody has to be part of the hall, whether they “choose” to or not. That would mean that the secretariat would ensure that everybody is in at least one committee and one sport, and not just allow them to choose. The secretariat should know what each and every person can do, and ensure that he or she is serving to his or her fullest capacity. Compulsory floor dinners once a week. No one left out, no one left behind.

Third, would be transparency and acceptance of criticism. Everybody in hall needs to know what everybody else is doing, and be open to suggestions and criticisms from other people. Weaknesses need to be shown to the rest of the hall, only then can the squeaky wheel get the oil. This should be the structural backbone of hall society, not just the friends that you make. No, the love for an institution must stem from a bigger idea, a self larger than your own individual group of friends, but the entire society of people working for a common direction that is alive and see each other as peers.

Fourth, progressivism, i.e. flexibility and critical evaluation. Too much tradition burdens us unnecessarily. Greatness comes from pioneering, from quality. Traditions are upheld on to the extent that they are useful, once something better is discovered, or once something ceases to help, then we must discard those traditions. We must be able to form new things, form new traditions, pioneer new training methods, start new activities, and support initiatives that while inconvenient, are worth every bit of effort. We must empower our boarders to fulfil their dreams through collective action.

Fifth, would be an orientation that is less activity-centred and more functional and personal. I wouldn’t have orientation groups bigger than 10 people with one counsellor, anything larger would be too impersonal. While orientation would still have fun and games, I think counsellors can actually do real things with smaller orientation groups: how to drink in moderation, how to roller-blade or ride bicycles (if group members don’t already know), actually go out with an orientation group. I think orientation attrition rates can be improved once there are smaller orientation groups which are more personally engaging and accountable.

Lastly, would be the retention of knowledge and the survival of legacy. Too much has been lost when a key talent leaves hall, and the boarders who remain do not benefit from their knowledge. No institution becomes great because it has traditions and only traditions. The practical knowledge must be passed down, and mechanisms can be put into place to ensure that such knowledge can transmit more easily. Easily, this can be seen in Rag. We’ve seen the posters they’ve put up saying that every victory is its own and that they’ve rested on their laurels too much.

I feel the greatest task is creating the idea of a hall among its boarders and transmitting that idea to the freshmen. A hall only based on kinship alone, in my opinion, is insufficient to attain greatness. The entire hall must be tapped, every single person staying in every room. Regardless of how much spirit one has, boarders must not be merely allowed to choose to serve, they must be encouraged and given the opportunity to serve by all their peers in order to make this hall great.

November 15, 2006.