Karl Pilkington - Accidental Philosopher (Final BlogPost)

 

    Karl Pilkington is an idiot. Well, that might be a harsh way of saying that Karl is a, sort of, supreme everyman. Or at least that is how he has come to be known in popular culture. Growing up as an only child in 1970's suburban Manchester, England, his life was simple, quiet, with a paper round taking up priority in his youth. He grew up, went to school, and ended up residing in London to produce for the Alt Rock radio station XFM in the early 2000's. 

But why does this matter?

    Ricky Gervais is why this matters. Ricky Gervais, famous British comedian and writer, also began working at XFM at this time. He had already hosted a successful radio segment on the station with friend and colleague, Stephen Merchant, and after meeting Karl and sitting down with him for the first time, he noticed he had a very individual look at the world. His outlook is strange, redundant, and illogical in many ways. As both Merchant and Gervais have pointed out, his life sounds "like that of a nursery rhyme", where trivial daily problems evolve into grand, fantastical toils and something as starkly mundane as letting a ladybug crawl on your finger can be an afternoon well spent. But he would still ask "why are ladybugs here though?' and walk away, letting that moment flit away as smoothly as it entered his psyche. He would elaborate on those small, anecdotal whimsies in such an almost profound way but without the vocabulary or formal means to communicate those thoughts, these muses on life would seem comedically absurd. This formula provided Ricky Gervais a wealth of content to use on his show and thus Karl Pilkington became the anchor to the show's many discussions and topics with his guiding eccentric ramblings of life's complexities.

A great example of this is in the clip attached below. I highly recommend watching the whole episode (for which you can find many on YouTube) but this segment highlights the three cohost's dynamic. Karl is prodded on an experience he had while creating a grocery list and his thought process while creating this list.

Karl Pilkington, the Onion, and the Problem of Free Will

    I love that clip for many reasons. For one, I find British banter on the hyperbolic and absurd to be wildly entertaining and funny. But I think it perfectly represents how Karl's point of view has found so many ears intently listening. Karl, on the surface, sounds ridiculous asking "who's in charge?" when speaking between you or your brain. The animation serves that initial zaniness of the immediate mental image conjured well. But I would argue that if Karl had been given the proper guidance in thought instead of the more exploitative interrogating of Ricky and Stephen, he would have been pondering about some of the most debated ideas in philosophy. Whether it be the idea of fatalism/free will or dualism of body and soul, the man is philosophizing unknowingly to himself over an onion on a shopping list. Is this just an excessive extrapolation of the dull minded by the more keen? Or is this the case of someone unperturbed by the convoluted articulations of more "established" thinkers with a simpler, more accessible perspective?

And this finally brings me to my main point. I want to pair this discussion with what I had read in Chapter 16 of How to Live by Sarah Bakewell whereas the major focus was that on accidental philosophy. Montaigne was famous in his Essays for his loose, nonlinear style and heavily anecdotal content strewn together impulsively. The resonant nature of his work seemed to be happenstance according to his own account. Nevertheless, It is mentioned in the book that this style, this spotlight on "odd characters, witty sallies, and a touch of fantasy" was ever so attractive to the English and I believe this further justifies the philosophical similarities of Karl and his on air pontifications with that of Montaigne's in content, form, and impact. This free form way of communicating the everyday is obtuse at times, sacrificing constructed thought provoking ideas for filler tidbits easily forgotten amidst all the British rainy angst. But both Montaigne and Karl Pilkington achieve different levels of the same process. A present process where simple daily mindfulness allows them to carefully, or clumsily, make sense of the world they have. And don't get me wrong, Karl is very much an accidental radio host, celebrity, and comedian. He's made a living whining about people on the train and believing monkey firefighters actually exist. But without his knowledge, listeners of Ricky Gervais and of Karl seem to relate to what he is saying. Like Montaigne, He isn't doing anything in particular to reach these points of connection. They are simply doing. They are living life presently and thus acutely fine-tuning that experience inadvertently. And they seem happier for it.

    In conclusion, I hope you guys check out more from that trio as the intrigue of the inner mechanisms of Karl's mind is endless in my opinion. Karl's presence on XFM is the way to understanding his mind but I also believe checking out his show An Idiot Abroad where he travels the world is equally as interesting and hilarious.

Thank You!

- Camden W.