Hume says: "There is nothing which is not the subject of debate, and in which men of learning are not of contrary opinions (...) Amidst all this bustle 'tis not reason, which carries the prize, but eloquence (...) The victory is not gained by the men at arms, who manage the pike and the sword; but by the trumpeters, drummers, and musicians of the army."
But what if the army band is all there is to the army? Even those we see at first as soldiers are carrying, instead of guns, drum sticks. They pose as warriors, but all they produce is bullet sounds to increment the music. There is nothing but music. There is no enemy to kill. What we have called reason is pure melody. We reason in different ways. Reason offers no guarantee. Life is pure terrifying freedom. Meaning is found and subsequently lost, in waves, like the beating drum. Life is one breath after another, each with its own depth and meaning and logic. But there is no logic to be found behind variation. Part and whole interact ceaselessly, altering one another as they flow. And yet, logic permeates everything. It seems there are a thousand laws. There are laws, but too many, and all in conflict. All of them are valid. We connect with one and then forget it and adopt the opposite law... for variation is in itself a law. Our minds want to run all the possibilites, as if the world were at a loss without our living what is missing from reality. We have a desire for oneness: its purpose is to guide us through multiplicity. We seek both sides with the same love and fear; the one and the many. Perhaps it is necessary to embrace both. The band is the army; the army is the band. You can kill with music and let live with a gun.