Tzara

"But actually this magnificent quality of the mind is the proof of its impotence."
Tzara questioned the power of observation in his paradox saying that while it was powerful, it shows us how weak our minds are. This is a very deep and meaningful statement because it is just so applicable to real life situations. As a science major, I am taught that the results of careful observation, experimentation and interpretation are the foundations of most of our understanding and information. Tzara questions the basis of all information acquisition. He questions structure and the lack there of. We place so much faith on government and science, hoping that these established institutions and constructions will help us to live properly and to teach us how to interact with others. We get so constrained in these same instructions that when confronted by issues not covered, we feel almost lost. Even in psychoanalysis, which is based on human observation and random thought, there seems to be almost an algorithm for diagnosis. Doctors will see patients begin to assess them prior to any formal assessment based on algorithms. For example, a doctor may see a young black woman that is very much overweight and decide the question he or she should ask will be related to type II diabetes. This illusion of freedom of thought and actions is pointed out by Tzara and brought me to question all types of situations that are not as open as they seemed to be. Another example supporting the weakness of our 'power to observe' is when he critiques cubist art. He acknowledges that they were trying to be outside of the box that art was usually kept in, but even so, they did not stray from the box. The artists may have looked at the box at a different angle, but their observations were not that intriguing. It was a powerful message of being different, but they were still fitting a mold. Even though the mind is capable of noticing and distorting to such a far degree, it still is confined to restrictions set in place by society that are always on us.