“Les choses, sont contre nous,” (Things are against us) is the credo of Resistentialism, the philosophic brain child of Pierre-Marie Ventre. “Things, (res) resist (resister) man (homme, understood).”

For more than two thousand years, the dynamic of philosophy has been human action, resulting in the mistaken belief that the problems of the world can be fixed by man. This was finally disproved in the mid twentieth century when Ventre came up with the fantastic assertion that the universe is a single Thing, the Ultimate Thing (Le Dernier Chose) and that that Thing is against us.

Whether it is a wheeled toy on the stair steps or a low hanging obstruction with a hard edge, something somewhere is out to get you.

As man increases his illusory dominance over ‘things,’ ‘things’ increase their resistance to him.

Furthermore, as civilization becomes more complex, the more man surrounds himself with ‘things’ capable of resisting (automobiles, electric drills, chainsaws, etc.).

It is man’s interference with “The Way of Things,” (Le Maniere des Choses) that is the source of all discontent. Man ‘steals’ consciousness from the World Thing by trying to be something when in reality he should be nothing at all.

“Things will have their way.” (Les Choses auront leur maniere.) Therefore, Resistentialism advocates a complete withdrawal from ‘things.’ Man’s destiny is to be a neant, or No-thing and he should give up trying to dominate the world because it is obviously bigger than he is and he doesn’t stand a chance.

While professor Jennings (1918-1989) traces Ventre’s influences back to Friedegg (1839-1904) and Heidensieker (1859-1910) he was correct to begin with Clark-Trimble’s “Low Human Dynamics” experiments in 1935. It was the work of Clark-Trimble (1899-1935) that resulted in the discovery of the “Graduated Hostility of Things,” specifically, the tendencies of honey to get between the fingers, butter to leap into one’s lap and the unfoldability of newspapers at the most inopportune moments of breakfast. (Note to my younger readers, newspapers were a predigital hard copy collection of blogs.) Over a thousand experiments with dropping toast on the carpet proved beyond a doubt that the probability of toast landing marmalade down was directly proportional to the value of the carpet. Surely, this could not be by chance.

Whether your house keys are hiding from you, or appear magically beneath your bare foot as you step out of bed, they are up to no good. When you open a cupboard and plates, boxes of cereal and small appliances bombard you, you can be sure you have caught the All Thing’s attention. Once you are aware of this hostility, there is no going back. Pointy things hide in soft fuzzy concealment. Hot things leap from stoves. The problem with enlightenment is that all too often we learn more than is good for us before we get there.