Exploring the Obvious

Have you ever stopped to think what people mean when they say 'it is what it is'? No, good that means you have a much fuller more satisfying existence than I do.

The Urban Dictionary: It is what it Is suggests that at least one meaning is exhibited in this exchange:

J: It troubles me that you continue to put cyanide in my Yoohoo even after I've asked you to stop.

B: It is what it is.

One ponders the imponderables: How do we know (and here I mean, really know at some existential level) whether 'is' in fact the 'what' that 'it' purports to be? Know what I mean??

In saying that 'it what it is' are we expressing a Nietzschean nihilism? Doubtful. It is well known that his nemesis, Arthur Schopenhauer first used the phrase 'it is what it is' in his seminal work, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason. Schopenauer, of course, thought this whole gig was one fruitless attempt after another to fulfill our emotional, sexual, and physical desires.

(Don't miss Fred's latest work 'Fat is Dead' New Nietzschean Diet Lets You Eat Whatever You Fear Most The ...)

The phrase 'it is what it is' also expresses a contemporary postmodern search for meaning. as when Bill Clinton explored the depths of the word 'is':

"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the--if he--if 'is' means is and never has been, that is not--that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement....."

http://www.slate.com/id/1000162/

I couldn't have said it better myself (and I actually learned to think that way at the Wisconsin Law School).

The Great Courses compares and contrasts the impactfulness of 'it is what it is' with other Great Sayings that have set our course to Infinity and Beyond!

For example:

Rene Descartes: 'I think therefore I am'
I think, therefore I am, I think Economist.com
I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am
I doubt I think, therefore I think I isn't
I am what I am and I ain't what I ain't
Popeye Hell Naw No U Ain't CD
Pooh," said Rabbit kindly, "you haven't any brain." "I know," said Pooh humbly.

The end.

OK, discuss amongst yourselves.

Just remember:

It's all good (Meaning: Despite any possible doubt, everything's cool.
Oh you slept with my girl? It's all good homie! ).

Whatever.

I'm out...