03 DEC 2025 by ideonexus
All Utopias Are Conservative
Herbert’s critique of this seemingly countercultural utopia is precisely aimed at its conservatism. In necessarily rendering life static, the utopian vision must deny the instability of signification and that permits for change and development itself. In making this argument, I am aware that I am (or Herbert is) falling into what Kenneth M. Roemer calls that category of “muckrakers (or ‘stuckrakers’) preoccupied with exposing elements in literary utopias that tend toward changeless st...Folksonomies: science fiction critical theory
Folksonomies: science fiction critical theory
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notes08 OCT 2025 by ideonexus
How to Prevent Others from Making You Angry
Peace doesn't come by stiffening against
life, but by realizing there's no one to
stiffen. The waves rise and fall and the
ocean never minds. In the same way,
anger, irritation, frustration, they
come and go, but they are not you. To be
unbothered is not to build a wall around
yourself, but to see that there was
never a separate self to defend in the
first place. You see, when something
happens,
a disrespecting word, a sudden
disappointment, a rude interruption,
there's a tiny instant before ... 1 notes
notes25 SEP 2025 by ideonexus
New Mediums Provide New Orientations for Thought
Each medium, like language itself, makes possible a unique mode of discourse by providing a new orientation for thought, for expression, for sensibility. Which, of course, is what McLuhan meant in saying the medium is the message. His aphorism, however, is in need of amendment because, as it stands, it may lead one to confuse a message with a metaphor. A message denotes a specific, concrete statement about the world. But the forms of our media, including the symbols through which they permit ...
1 20 SEP 2025 by ideonexus
Written Word Enabled Philosophy, Screen Content Unravels It
The classicist Eric Havelock argued that the arrival of literacy in ancient Greece was the catalyst for the birth of philosophy. Once people had a means of pinning ideas down on the page to interrogate them, refine them and build on them, a whole new revolutionary way of analytic and abstract thinking was born — one that would go on to shape our entire civilisation3. With the birth of writing received ways of thinking could be challenged and improved. This was our species’ cognitive liber...While I find this essay goes a bit into alarmism in places, I do appreciate how it communicates the importance of long-form reading in the intellectual and social advancement of civilization. I appreciate the idea that the written word is a cognitive prosthesis that can enhance our intellectual capabilities beyond what was capable during the era of oral traditions. Screens have demonstrated the same potential, but the flood of highly addictive screen-content junk-food seems so much more destructive than the pulp novels of the past.
13 JAN 2025 by ideonexus
Thought Terminating Cliche
Another trick in the cult leader's language toolkit is the thought-terminating cliche. These are sayings that end uncomfortable conversations or trains of thoughts. "It is what it is." "Everything happens for a reason." "Let's agree to disagree." They shut down argument and critical thinking, which is why they're so handy to authoritarians who don't like to be questioned. Charles Manson countered any rational objections to his ravings by saying, "No sense makes sense." Try arguing with that. ... 1 notes
notes23 SEP 2023 by ideonexus
Branding Encourages You to be "More Yourself"
When the language of advertising and personal branding enjoins you to “be yourself,†what it really means is “be more yourself,†where “yourself†is a consistent and recognizable pattern of habits, desires, and drives that can be more easily advertised to and appropriated, like units of capital. In fact, I don’t know what a personal brand is other than a reliable, unchanging pattern of snap judgments: “I like this†and “I donâ€...Folksonomies: advertising attention economy
Folksonomies: advertising attention economy
1 notes
notes27 DEC 2016 by ideonexus
Moderate Progressive Politics
We would, though, like to suggest that in some key areas, the people who are defining themselves as the progressive wing of the Democratic Party — identified with Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — are embracing principles that are not genuinely progressive.
Specifically: They want to enlarge government entitlements and hand out the benefits as broadly as possible — free college, free health care, expanded Social Security — regardless of need or available r... 1 notes
notes19 JUN 2013 by ideonexus
Argument Frames
Functioning as a progressive or conservative means having a stock of general
argument frames that are used not just on one issue but on many issues. That is why someone attuned to politics can immediately understand or construct a “new” argument as soon as a new issue arises. The “new” argument is not really new at all. It is an instance of a general argument frame with a new issue-defining frame plugged in, and sometimes a new commonplace frame or surface frame. But the overall struc... 1 notes
notesLiberals and Conservatives have a framework on which to quickly build arguments for/against new issues.
