motives vs. expectations

[ded_maxim]

Ф.К. Дик писал в "How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later":

Today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups ... unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives, I distrust their power.

Это очень важный момент, на который постоянно также указывает Хомский -- когда речь идет о матрице силовых, финансовых etc. институтов, располагающих широкими возможностями влиять на окружающую реальность, мотивы этих институтов играют второстепенную роль по сравнению с ожидаемыми последствиями (motives vs. expectations).

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

So, Dick is a "conservative of doubt"?

[ded-maxim.livejournal.com]

Well, if by "conservative of doubt" you mean a gnostic who thoroughly doubted all material reality, then the answer is "yes".

[(Anonymous)]

Well, wasn't Bloom arguing at some point that American "conservative" culture is permeated by gnosticism?

[ded-maxim.livejournal.com]

I don't think he meant American "conservative" culture as a whole, but rather its progressive messianic element.

[(Anonymous)]

What does "progressive messianic" mean?

[ded-maxim.livejournal.com]

You know, things like "complete coverage of the land by telegraph and telephone lines will bring about a glorious divine transformation of our nation!" and such.

[(Anonymous)]

In that case, you could argue just as effectively that the (early) Soviet culture had gnostic elements, what with electrification and industrialization.

[ded-maxim.livejournal.com]

It clearly did! Remember that article in TNR about the early Soviet eschatology?

[(Anonymous)]

Cool! But on the other hand, if gnosticism implies doubting physical reality, then it would seem to be incompatible with the "progressive messianic" attitude, which is all about glorifying technology and material advancement.

[ded-maxim.livejournal.com]

No, only matter-transcending technology is glorified.