Man wants chaos. In fact, he's got to have it. Depression, strife, riots, murder. All this...

Burning Man: Man wants chaos. In fact, he's got to have it. Depression, strife, riots, murder. All this dread. We're irresistibly drawn to that almost orgiastic state created out of death and destruction. It's in all of us. We revel in it. Sure, the media tries to put a sad face on these things, painting them up as great human tragedies; but we all know the function of the media has never been to eliminate the evils of the world, no! Their job is to persuade us to accept those evils and get used to living with them. The powers that be want us to be passive observers. Hey, you got a match? And they haven't given us any other options outside the occasional, purely symbolic, participatory act of voting. "You want the puppet on the right, or the puppet on the left?" I feel the time has come to project my own inadequacies and dissatisfaction into the sociopolitical and scientific schemes. Let my own lack of a voice be heard. [douses himself in gasoline and sets himself on fire]

Man wants chaos. In fact, he's gotta have it. Depression, strife, riots, murder. All this dread. We're drawn to that almost orgiastic state created out of destruction. It's in all of us. We revel in it. The media puts a sad face on things, painting them as human tragedies. But the media's function is not to eliminate the evils of the world. They persuade us to accept those evils and get used to living with them. The powers that be want us to be passive observers. Have you got a match? They haven't given us any other options, outside the occasional... ...purely symbolic, participatory act of "voting." Do you want the puppet on the right or the puppet on the left? The time has come to project my inadequacies and dissatisfactions... ...into the sociopolitical and scientific schemes. Let my own lack of a voice be heard. I keep thinking about something you said. - Something I said? - Yeah. About feeling like you observe your life... ...from the perspective of an old woman about to die. Remember? Yeah. I still feel that way sometimes. Like I'm looking back on my life. Like my waking life is her memories. Exactly. I heard that Tim Leary said as he was dying... ...he looked forward to when his body was dead but his brain was alive. Those six to 12 minutes of brain activity after everything shuts down. And a second of dream consciousness is infinitely longer than a waking one.