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+++ b/extra/radicalism_of_unbelief.tex
@@ -1,80 +1,68 @@
-112
+\chapter{The Radicalism of Unbelief (1982)}
-
-UNBELIEF “H
-
-
-LISM OF
-enry Flynt
-
-
-If we are going to talk about enlightenment and deliverance, 1 do not see that
+If we are going to talk about enlightenment and deliverance, I do not see that
enlightenment and deliverance can come from anything as straightforward as an
individualistic search for happiness, or a mental hygiene of happiness. To me, the
-life ] have now, which unfolds through ongoing interaction with other people —and
-within this definite culture — is the arena that matters. In other words, | am located
-in a shared basis of life. To me this circumstance is of outstanding importance.
+life I have now, which unfolds through ongoing interaction with other people---and
+within this definite culture---is the arena that matters. In other words, I am located
+in a \emt{shared} basis of life. To me this circumstance is of outstanding importance.
While the medium of thought, the capabilities, the skills which are possible for me
-are interior to me, at the same time they engage me with other people in cons-
-ciousness—and | must regard other people as their source in most cases. (In other
-words, | do not invent the English language, etc.) My consciousness and my
+are interior to me, at the same time they engage me with other people in
+consciousness---and I must regard other people as their source in most cases. (In other
+words, I do not invent the English language, etc.) My consciousness and my
capabilities are, by and large, a fragment of a culture. The most worthy capabilities
in the culture become possible capabilities of mine. The most profound dilemmas
or failures in the culture, in the interpersonal arena, become my personal dilemmas.
-
-What I have just said is not the same as the idolatry of “society.” I do not accept
-the sociologists’ notion of reality, or conformism as a goal, or the obligation to pay
+What I have just said is not the same as the idolatry of "society." I do not accept
+the sociologists' notion of reality, or conformism as a goal, or the obligation to pay
homage to societal abstractions like The Nation. Indeed, one of our culture's
-extreme dilemmas and failures is its idolatry of society, an idolatry which aggres-
-sively underestimates and devalues both the scope of the self and also the interper-
-sonal arena. One of the most far-reaching questions posed by our contemporary
-era is whether inter-subjectivity (community) will evolve beyond “society” as it is
+extreme dilemmas and failures is its idolatry of society, an idolatry which aggressively
+underestimates and devalues both the scope of the self and also the interpersonal
+arena. One of the most far-reaching questions posed by our contemporary
+era is whether inter-subjectivity (community) will evolve beyond "society" as it is
defined by sociology (a sort of statistical mechanics applied to bodies). Here is an
outstanding reason why I do not see how enlightenment and deliverance can come
-from an individualistic hygiene of happiness. The modalities necessary for enlight-
-enment are novel and uncommon; and they are outside the scope of the ordinary
+from an individualistic hygiene of happiness. The modalities necessary for enlightenment
+are novel and uncommon; and they are outside the scope of the ordinary
person's struggle for happiness in everyday existence. The necessary modalities
have to be achieved by dealing with dilemmas which arise from the culture as a
-totality: enlightenment requires a “rotation” (transformation) of the entire culture.
-Life is worthless unless I can inject whatever personal vision | have into the
+totality: enlightenment requires a "rotation" (transformation) of the entire culture.
+Life is worthless unless I can inject whatever personal vision I have into the
ostensible, interpersonal arena, and seek to influence that arena so that it becomes
conducive to my sincerity and concern.
+In order to express whatever sincerity and concern I have in the ostensible,
+interpersonal arena, I must engage with the ostensible world; I must incur the risk
+of realized choices; and I must "grant other people's right to exist."
-In order to express whatever sincerity and concern | have in the ostensible,
-interpersonal arena, I must engage with the ostensible world; | must incur the risk
-of realized choices; and I must “grant other people's right to exist.”
-
+\visbreak
-Whiekh
-
-
-What I seek is a transformation of the ostensible world and of the shared basis of life.
+\emt{What I seek is a transformation of the ostensible world and of the shared basis of life.}
This is to be accomplished on the basis of two enterprises which will eventually be
fused: a theory of palpable interrelations of the entirety of immediate constituents
-of “my world” called “the personhood theory”; and a new instrumental modality
-called “meta-technology.” In this introduction, I will focus on meta-technology
-without bringing in the dimensions added to it by the personhood theory — largely
-because the latter is as yet tentative. But I have another reason as well for under-
-lining the contribution of meta-technology. There can be no genuine transformation
+of "my world" called "the personhood theory"; and a new instrumental modality
+called "meta-technology." In this introduction, I will focus on meta-technology
+without bringing in the dimensions added to it by the personhood theory---largely
+because the latter is as yet tentative. But I have another reason as well for
+underlining the contribution of meta-technology. \textit{There can be no genuine transformation
of the shared basis of life as long as the community's technological means is restricted to the
material technology we know today. The instrumental modality must come to embody the
takeover of technology by the psyche, by personhood. There is no genuine transformation
of the shared basis of life unless instrumental efficacy is at stake in that transformation,
unless the challenge to the prevailing basis of life is carried into the domain of material
-technology.
+technology.}
As of now, I have assembled many meta-technological elements or procedures.
-These elements, however, are isolated and limited. What | have accomplished is
-analogous to Becquerel's discovery that uranium fogs photographic film, My pro-
-cedures are effective as curiosities. But they will not be any more than curiosities
-until they are subjected to an entire phase of extension and interconnection —an
+These elements, however, are isolated and limited. What I have accomplished is
+analogous to Becquerel's discovery that uranium fogs photographic film, My
+procedures are effective as curiosities. But they will not be any more than curiosities
+until they are subjected to an entire phase of extension and interconnection---an
undertaking which requires collaborative effort on a wide scale.
-On the other hand, the analogy to Becquerel is misleading in that a meta-
-technological procedure is of an entirely different species from Becquerel’s dis-
-covery. Radioactivity occurs in the exterior realm of things (objectivities): it is an
+On the other hand, the analogy to Becquerel is misleading in that a meta-technological
+procedure is of an entirely different species from Becquerel's discovery.
+Radioactivity occurs in the exterior realm of things (objectivities): it is an
effect of a thing on another thing. But generally speaking, a meta-technological
procedure is based not on a relation between things, but on an interdependency
between subjectivity and things.
@@ -83,9 +71,9 @@ Because I am located in a shared basis of life, a culture, that culture is of
overwhelming importance both as a source of possible capabilities and as a source
of dilemmas and limitations. To respond to this state of affairs, the meta-technology
must accumulate information which is of more than personal significance. It must
-address dilemmas which are shared and which are culture-wide. That is why |
-investigate mathematics, “real-world” logic, etc. It is also why my interest in
-dreamed experience relates to a proposal to modify the shared basis of life — rather
+address dilemmas which are shared and which are culture-wide. That is why I
+investigate mathematics, "real-world" logic, etc. It is also why my interest in
+dreamed experience relates to a proposal to modify the shared basis of life---rather
than to the familiar purposes of divination and psychiatry.
I disregard all claims of sorcery or miraculous feats which inherently come as
@@ -95,60 +83,50 @@ else somewhere else. Indeed, my objections to occultism go much further than thi
But the principle which I want to emphasize now is that every meta-technological
procedure is required to be formulated as an instruction to be carried out first-hand.
-Below | will explain that a starting-point of meta-technology is an adver-
-sary attitude towards credulity. One aspect of this phased unravelling of credulity
+Below I will explain that a starting-point of meta-technology is an
+adversary attitude towards credulity. One aspect of this phased unravelling of credulity
is a critical examination of claims of meaningfulness for reportage which intrinsically
precludes first-hand testing.
+\visbreak
-Weve ever
-
-
-113
-
-
-114
-
-
-Whar then is my attitude to the immediate, overt, ostensible world? I have little
+What then is my attitude to the immediate, overt, ostensible world? I have little
use for the doctrine that the ostensible world is a sham which conceals another,
-perfect world behind it—a perfect world which can only be known by hypothesis.
+perfect world behind it---a perfect world which can only be known by hypothesis.
In other words, I do not treat the ostensible world as a facade for something lying
-behind it, as a front for another world which is unperceivable. And [ have little use
-for the notion of a perfect world which is hypothetical and imaginary. This present
+behind it, as a front for another world which is unperceivable. And I have little use
+for the notion of a perfect world which is hypothetical and imaginary. \textit{This present
life, which unfolds through ongoing interaction with other people, and w ithin this definite
-culture, is my arena of concern. Imaginary lives and gratification in fantasy are unim-
-portant to me. | accept the ostensible world as the arena of my concern, and as one of the
-raw materials of enlightenment and deliverance.
+culture, is my arena of concern. Imaginary lives and gratification in fantasy are unimportant
+to me. I accept the ostensible world as the arena of my concern, and as one of the
+raw materials of enlightenment and deliverance.}
-The attitude I have just expressed does not imply that 1 admire whatever
-ostensible world we inherit. Quite the opposite. Precisely because the ostensible world
+The attitude I have just expressed does not imply that I admire whatever
+ostensible world we inherit. Quite the opposite. \textit{Precisely because the ostensible world
matters to me, the arrival of enlightenment or deliverance has ta be demonstrated by a
-transformation of the ostensible world and by a transformation of the shared basis of life.
+transformation of the ostensible world and by a transformation of the shared basis of life.}
Further, while I do not view the ostensible world as an illusion standing between
me and some perfect world which must be known by hypothesis, there is a sense in
which I view the ostensible world as a delusion. It is a delusion in that the very
perceptions which characterize it are palpably affected and sustained by emotions
of anticipation, by emotional dependence on other people, by morale, by esteem,
-by knowing self-deception, etc etc. Everyday existence is the hallucination produced
+by knowing self-deception, etc etc. \textit{Everyday existence is the hallucination produced
by the so-called socialization process. Morale, esteem, etc. are co-determinate with
-“perception.”
+"perception."}
Thus, again, the arrival of enlightenment or deliverance has to be demonstrated
by a transformation of the ostensible world and of the shared basis of life. But what
-| propose is not to strip off the ostensible world to reveal a unique perfect world
-behind it. Rather, | want the ability to consciously “mutate” or plasticize the
+I propose is not to strip off the ostensible world to reveal a unique perfect world
+behind it. Rather, I want the ability to consciously "mutate" or plasticize the
ostensible world itself.
-
-Yevevew ye
-
+\visbreak
Inasmuch as I demand that enlightenment and deliverance should be evinced
-by transformation of the ostensible world, | am a kind of secular revolutionary.
+by transformation of the ostensible world, I am a kind of secular revolutionary.
-To me, the means of enlightenment and deliverance must begin with an adver-
-sary attitude toward credulity and toward phenomena whose existence is solely a
+To me, the means of enlightenment and deliverance must begin with an adversary
+attitude toward credulity and toward phenomena whose existence is solely a
product of credulity. In the Seventies, there was a rash of novels in the U.S. about
demonic possession. The protagonists in these novels were always Catholics. The
novelists knew that Catholics were protagonists who could plausibly be liable to
@@ -156,93 +134,74 @@ visitations by demons. If you do not want to see demons in your living room,
all you have to do to escape them is to stay outside the subculture that believes
in them.
-The lesson of this example, properly understood, is the starting point of enlight-
-enment and deliverance for me. If it is obvious that a phenomenon can be
-abolished by unbelief, then the “reality” of that phenomenon is of a very low order.
+The lesson of this example, properly understood, is the starting point of enlightenment
+and deliverance for me. If it is obvious that a phenomenon can be
+abolished by unbelief, then the "reality" of that phenomenon is of a very low order.
The phenomenon has only the reality of chimera or fantasy. (On the other hand, it
-is obvious that a lor of people enjoy their chimeras, and do not want to escape
-everything that can be abolished by unbelief.) | make it a principle to disregard
+is obvious that a lor of people enjoy their chimeras, and \textit{do not want} to escape
+everything that can be abolished by unbelief.) I make it a principle to disregard
phenomena whose existence depends so obviously on credulity. The attitude
-
-
-which is encouraged by all kinds of superstition and propaganda is “How many lies
-can | (manage to) believe?" The question which | always ask is "How much of what
+which is encouraged by all kinds of superstition and propaganda is "How many lies
+can I (manage to) believe?" The question which I always ask is "How much of what
I am expected to believe is a lie?"
On the other hand, the tssue of whether the existence of a phenomenon is
-a product of cretlulity is not necessarily straightforward. In the first place, we have to
-distinguish between getting rid of phenomena by unbelief and getting rid of them by
-suppression or censorship. | often encounter situations in which scientists refuse the
-opportunity to experience an anomalous phenomenon. Nobody denies that the
-phenomenon is “real,” that is, accessible at first hand. The phenomenon is disre-
-garded or suppressed because it is a nuisance, because it conflicts with the scien-
-tist’s ideology.
+a product of credulity \textit{is not necessarily straightforward}. In the first place,
+\textit{we have to distinguish between getting rid of phenomena by unbelief and
+getting rid of them by suppression or censorship}. I often encounter situations
+in which scientists refuse the opportunity to experience an anomalous phenomenon.
+Nobody denies that the phenomenon is "real," that is, accessible at first hand. The phenomenon is
+disregarded or suppressed because it is a nuisance, because it conflicts with the
+scientist's ideology.
In the same vein, I am not asking anybody to deny his or her own experience just
-because it is abnormal, anomalous, or singular. But | am asking that such exper-
-iences not be misrepresented and inflated through knowing self-deception —
-especially in reporting them to others. | have long speculated that reports of
+because it is abnormal, anomalous, or singular. But I am asking that such experiences
+not be misrepresented and inflated through knowing self-deception---especially
+in reporting them to others. I have long speculated that reports of
so-called astral projection etc. might have an experiential basis in hypnagogic
hallucinations etc. Unfortunately, the sort of person who relishes reporting such
episodes is also prone to inflate them via culturally supplied hyperbole. Reports of
abnormal experiences could have serious uses if the reportage did not surround the
experiences with chimerical objectivities, and if it took a painstakingly critical
-attitude toward the “ontological” assumptions built into descriptive language.
+attitude toward the "ontological" assumptions built into descriptive language.
-Another consideration is that a thorough and ruthless effort to repudiate all pheno-
-mena whose existence depends on credulity will begin to undermine phenomena which
-our culture defines as legitimate and plausible. Unbelief does not just dissolve supersti-
-tions and chimeras; it begins to affect phenomena which rational authority defines as
-valid. At this point rational authority has to step in and disparage unbelief as a
-social blunder. Here the role of community intimidation in sustaining the osten-
-sible world comes to the surface. But I do not shrink from this consequence of
-unbelief. Indeed, the radicalism of unbelief is a basis of my ability to obtain results which
-are novel and astonishing relative to the established culture.
-
-
-Yerevan de
+Another consideration is that \textit{a thorough and ruthless effort to repudiate all
+phenomena whose existence depends on credulity will begin to undermine phenomena which
+our culture defines as legitimate and plausible. Unbelief does not just dissolve
+superstitions and chimeras; it begins to affect phenomena which rational authority defines as
+valid.} At this point rational authority has to step in and disparage unbelief as a
+social blunder. Here the role of community intimidation in sustaining the ostensible
+world comes to the surface. But I do not shrink from this consequence of
+unbelief. \textit{Indeed, the radicalism of unbelief is a basis of my ability to obtain results which
+are novel and astonishing relative to the established culture.}
+\visbreak
Let me give some examples of meta-technological investigations:
-A priori neurocybernetics! deals most directly with interdependencies between
-awareness and objectivity. As one example, it uses perceptually multistable fig-
-ures? as logical notations. The result is to establish awareness-objectivity inter-
-dependencies in language which are tangible and inescapable and can be analyzed
+\term{A priori neurocybernetics}\footnote{Neurocybernetics is an existing branch of neurophysiology which seeks to explain thought by investigating the brain as a "bionic computer."}
+deals most directly with interdependencies between awareness and objectivity. As one example, it uses perceptually multistable figures\footnote{e.g. the Necker Cube. \cubeframe}
+as logical notations. The result is to establish awareness-objectivity interdependencies in language which are tangible and inescapable and can be analyzed
and potentiated. The technique can be applied to break the framework of scientific
-objectivism in many ways. As another example, | note that our “perception of
-objects” is actually a mental collation of visual and tactile apparitions. There are
-many cases in which the normal intersensory correlations are disrupted (the per-
-
-
-1 Neurocybernetics is an existing branch of neurophysiology which seeks to explain thought by investigating the brain
-as a “bionic computer.”
-
-
-2-eg the Necker Cube.
-
-
-115
-
-
-116
-
-
-ceptual illusions). If we take the illusions as a paradigm and reinterpret “normal”
+objectivism in many ways. As another example, I note that our "perception of
+objects" is actually a mental collation of visual and tactile apparitions. There are
+many cases in which the normal intersensory correlations are disrupted (the perceptual illusions)\footnote{
+An example of an intersensory discorrelation is Aristotle's tactile illusian: touch the tips of crossed forefinger and middle finger at the left hand te a projecting dowel while also looking at the dowel. You see ane dowel and feel two. The perceptions the two fingers are not only disjoined. they are inverted. The subject attributes to the index finger what is touched by the middle finger and \textit{vice versa}, as can be shown by applying two distinct stimuli to the finger---a point and a ball, for example.
+Even better: try the experiment first with eves closed, and then open the eyes. Sight captures touch, and the fingers are switched without any motion taking place. (Adapted from Merleau-Ponty, \booktitle{The Phenomenalagy of Perception, pg. 205.)}}. If we take the illusions as a paradigm and reinterpret "normal"
phenomena in accord with that paradigm we are in a different reality, disjoined
along the sight-touch frontier. Bode's Law that two material bodies cannot occupy
the same position in space at the same time ceases to be usable, because the
determination of what is a material bady is seen to involve a vicious circle.
-The evaluational processing of experience studies, as one example, the circumstance
+The \term{evaluational processing of experience} studies, as one example, the circumstance
that different levels of reality are attributed to waking experience and dreamed
experience even though both are equally vivid, equally palpable. What is at issue
-here is the fabrication of an “impersonal order of nature”; the inter-subjective
+here is the fabrication of an "impersonal order of nature"; the inter-subjective
character of reality; and the choice of rules for testing the objectivity of phenomena.
Again, once these elements are understood consciously, they can be consciously
altered.
-The logic of contradictions is a wide-ranging, umbrella discipline. The unifying
+The \term{logic of contradictions} is a wide-ranging, umbrella discipline. The unifying
theme of the discipline is the recognition that inconsistent conceptualizations, sa
far from being vacuous mistakes which can be eliminated from thought, are
pervasive and inescapable in thought as we know it. Conscious control of this state
@@ -251,112 +210,86 @@ interdependency between traditional logic and perceptual habits in the real-worl
logic of consistency. It then considers perceptions or events which are faithfully
described by inconsistent descriptions, such as illusions and dreams. I characterize
these apparitions as contradictory because that is the characterization given them
-by shared language and paradigmatic real-world logic —as all the perceptual psy-
-chology textbooks agree. Then, | study contradictions which are cognitively im-
+by shared language and paradigmatic real-world logic---as all the perceptual psy-
+chology textbooks agree. Then, I study contradictions which are cognitively im-
plicit in our most authoritative or obligatory propositional thought. (Paradoxes of
common sense; the meta-theoretic inconsistency of arithmetic and set theory.)
Finally, I study how the communal milieu and its influence on esteem enables
-people to assent to openly inconsistent doctrine. (Mathematics’ co-optation of its
+people to assent to openly inconsistent doctrine. (Mathematics' co-optation of its
own inconsistencies; etc.) This research yields a very wide-ranging capacity to
produce anomalies or uncanny world-states.
My recent investigations into personhood have shown that meta-technology can
be significantly widened and deepened by studying not only linkages of perception
-and descriptive language, but their co-determination by morale, esteem, ete.
-Studying the entire “vertical” organization of self or self-image could result in the
+and descriptive language, but their co-determination by morale, esteem, etc.
+Studying the entire "vertical" organization of self or self-image could result in the
realm of perception being transformed.
-
-Vee Het
-
+\visbreak
Our civilization has long been characterized by the way it molds human faculties
to produce a cleavage between scientific functioning, on the one hand, and poetic,
-emotional “human” functioning on the other. Meta-technology is beyond this
-
-
+emotional "human" functioning on the other. Meta-technology is beyond this
cleavage of faculties. Also, it is worth repeating that meta-technology does not
-
-
-3 An example of an intemensory discorrelation ix Aristotle's tactile Husian: wuch the tips of crossed forefinger
-and middle finger at the left hand te a projecting dowel while also looking at the dowel. You see ane dowel and feel
-two The perceptions the wo fingersare notanly disjained. they are inverted The subjectaririhures tithe index finger
-what ts touched by the middle finger and tuce versa, as cin be shown by applying two distinct stimult ns the finger -
-a point and a ball, for example
-
-Even better: try the experiment first with eves claved, and then open the eyes. Sight captures ouch, and the fingers
-are switvhed withoutany motion taking place. (Adapted from Merleau-Ponry, The Phenamenalagy of Perception, pg. 105.4
-
-
consist of the sort of magic tricks attributed to pre-scientific religious figures. What
-is a religious miracle like changing water into wine? It is — purportedly —an object-
-ively consequential manipulation of the thing-world, a type of cause-and-effect
-technology. It takes place “out there,” replacing a thing with another thing.
+is a religious miracle like changing water into wine? It is---purportedly---an objectively
+consequential manipulation of the thing-world, a type of cause-and-effect
+technology. It takes place "out there," replacing a thing with another thing.
Meta-technology does not appear as hearsay; and it does not make any special
appeal to credulity. Rather the contrary. Its primitive procedures are given as
-instructions to be carried out at first-hand. Presupposing a conventionally indoc-
-trinated individual, it achieves anomalies by a decrease of the conventional level of
-credulity. It is not centered on thing-to-thing relationships or causation “out there.”
-It is centered on the interdependencies between subjectivity (awareness, self-
-image) and things.
+instructions to be carried out at first-hand. Presupposing a conventionally
+indoctrinated individual, it achieves anomalies by a decrease of the conventional level of
+credulity. It is not centered on thing-to-thing relationships or causation "out there."
+It is centered on the interdependencies between subjectivity (awareness, self-image) and things.
In addition, there is a third constituent important enough to be mentioned
-separately: the communal milieu, and especially its influence on esteem—as when
+separately: \textit{the communal milieu, and especially its influence on esteem}---as when
intimidation by community authorities maintains the legitimacy of ridiculous
-beliefs. It is at the juncture I have just sketched that “the world” is synthesized, that
-the determination of reality occurs. Meta-technology attacks the credulities which are
-elements of this juncture. It works with the linkages among ‘‘perception,” descriptive
-language, and abstract cognition (logic, mathematics.) Currently | am extending the
-research to include linkages to personhood —the high integrative level, the vertical"
+beliefs. It is at the juncture I have just sketched that "the world" is synthesized, that
+the determination of reality occurs. \textit{Meta-technology attacks the credulities which are
+elements of this juncture. It works with the linkages among "perception," descriptive
+language, and abstract cognition (logic, mathematics.)} Currently I am extending the
+research to include linkages to personhood---the high integrative level, the "vertical"
organization of self or self-image.
There is a big gap between the primitive meta-technological procedures which I
-have already formulated, and the communally implemented, culturally imple-
-mented meta-technology which | envision. The primitive procedures can be
-carried out by an isolated individual (and yield a sort of insight of sensibility); butat
-that level they are, in a sense, only curiosities. The whole point is that meta-technology
+have already formulated, and the communally implemented, culturally implemented
+meta-technology which I envision. The primitive procedures can be
+carried out by an isolated individual (and yield a sort of insight of sensibility); but at
+that level they are, in a sense, only curiosities. \textit{The whole point is that meta-technology
acts on the cultural determination of reality as such. Unlike a miracle or magic trick,
-which wants to remain a one-shot event in an otherwise lawful everyday world, meta-
-technology must be extended through a community and a culture to realize its promise. It
-is not a one-shot event bura “rotation” of an entire culture.
-
+which wants to remain a one-shot event in an otherwise lawful everyday world,
+meta-technology must be extended through a community and a culture to realize its promise.} It
+is not a one-shot event but a "rotation" of an entire culture.
What is more, to reach its full potential, meta-technology will probably have to be
tied into existing natural science. But meta-technology would give a shock to
-natural science which must not be underestimated. Natural science would be con-
-ceptually shattered, and reorganized so drastically as to become unrecognizable.
-
-
-vane
+natural science which must not be underestimated. Natural science would be conceptually
+shattered, and reorganized so drastically as to become unrecognizable.
+\visbreak
If meta-technology were implemented at the level of an entire community,
that community would have the power to consciously modulate what is now
thought of as the objective world. To speak of walking through walls would not be a
mere joke, Both the physical universe and mental acts as its antithesis would
disappear, in the sense of becoming inapplicable concepts. It would be possible to
-achieve sustained, composed uncanniness, to live in a state of consciously modu-
-lated enchantment. In this regard, the impulse underlying meta-technolgy is an
+achieve sustained, composed uncanniness, to live in a state of consciously modulated
+enchantment. In this regard, the impulse underlying meta-technolgy is an
impulse toward an ecstatic form of life. (It must be understood, however, that the
rational mentality produced by modern Western civilization might experience the
enchanted community as a nightmare.)
-
-117
-
-
-118
-
-
-When meta-technology shifts the focus from the thing-world to the interdepen-
-dencies between subjectivity and things, it leads us to our whole humanness. It
+When meta-technology shifts the focus from the thing-world to the interdepencies
+between subjectivity and things, it leads us to our whole humanness. It
carries out a takeover of technology by the psyche or by personhood. For a
community to attain a consciously modulated uncanniness would tend toward an
-ecstatic form of life —an achievement which the prevailing culture would classify as
+ecstatic form of life---an achievement which the prevailing culture would classify as
esthetic or spiritual, not scientific. That is what must be conveyed: acceding to
-one’s whole humanness is neither science nor poetry because it is beyond both.
+one's whole humanness is neither science nor poetry because it is beyond both.
+\vfill
Postscript: The foregoing is not meant to promise a salvation which is blind
to economics and politics. The present article is limited to giving a few rudiments
@@ -367,7 +300,6 @@ transformation I speak of would clearly be in conflict with the capitalist forma
On the other hand, I hold that historical experience has obsolesced Marx's original
timetable and game plan for the supersession of capitalism.
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