Kipple and Human Development

“Kipple drives out nonkipple.”? –J.R. Isadore in Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

I was recently admiring baby Juniper along with Susan and Theresa at LSC. Juniper’s mom, Amy Jo, had her along on a baby-goes-to-work day. We were marveling over the nine month Nipper’s ability to stand up with coffee table support, put things in her mouth, peek-a-boo, and smile. Amy Jo bragged about Juniper’s newest development. She can empty an entire bookshelf without finding the right book. She is clearly gifted.

Susan, with a 34 month old in day care, followed with information from Bernie, her daycare provider, about how astute her son is at taking out and scattering stuff — dumping toy bins and whatnot. Lego bin — dump. Play-doh supplies — dump. The assumption was that we were witnessing a developmental progression here. These youngsters are one small developmental step away from the next big thing — in this case, putting things away.

I couldn’t help myself. “The putting-away stage is a lot farther off than you think. My seventeen-year-old takes out lots of things. If she’s put any of them away, it’s news to me.”? At that point, Susan remarked that I should blog this, so here we are. Thanks, Susan.

Here’s Kylie’s desk. It actually looks pretty good here. I think I captured this Fuji moment about two days after a major anti-Kipple campaign.

See how quickly and silently it creeps. Honestly, my desk looks very similar. As Philip K. Dick said, “�Kipple drives out non-Kipple.”? That’s a natural law. I think, however, that humans accelerate the phenomenon simply by being present. Let’s look at some more examples.

Maia’s drawers, as one can see, are literally bursting with kipple. I believe that she tries mightily to keep these drawers closed, but it just cannot be done. The natural blockbuster force of kipple is just too strong.

Not to be left out, this is Maritha’s beading table and bed. Sometimes she just has to give up and play chopsticks on the keyboard. Music tends to soothe the wild kipple spirit.

I’m not criticizing these girls. They are busy with lives full of creativity and excitement. I know for certain that fighting against kipple is a losing battle because I lost that battle long ago.

Our own kitchen table illustrates this nicely. My point here is that human development pretty much reaches its zenith when Juniper starts pulling Mercer Mayer off the shelves. Remember that just a week ago she was sucking on the pages, so it would seem that she’s gathering momentum for real progress. Don’t be fooled.

Late at night, one can feel the dark, silent forces of kipple gathering to clutter our lives. It only makes sense that human involvement exponentially exacerbates kipple, resulting in human tragedies like Hurricane Katrina, or the Lego I stepped on while en route to the bathroom late one February night in 1997.

Of course, it’s natural to succumb to the illusion that we can fight against it. If you come to my house — assuming you call ahead — you might notice that nothing looks like the images above. We will probably look relaxed and happy, but don’t let that fool you. We’ve just waged a heroic battle against our old foe, and while we appear to have won, our victory is fleeting.

Maybe Neil Young said it best in back in 1980. “Your buildings, if they rise again would do much better on the ocean floor. They’ll never feel the way they did before. They did before.”? –“Lost in Space,” Hawks and Doves.

Better yet, F. Scott Fitzgerald. “So we beat on, boats against the current of kipple, borne back ceaselessly into the clutter.”? —Gatsby (last page).