True believers
Anarchism is what we believe but cannot prove - there are no sacred texts - in fact, a form of radical blasphemy has turned out to be quite useful.
Empirical observation, revisionism and proof are all vitally important as is activism alternating with analysis - praxis.
The Socratic tradition itself; questiong authority, is never more alive than in a chat room of anarchists.
Perhaps it was the greatest invention of all, greater than that of the wheel or agriculture, this slow elaboration of a huge, yet hugely simple thought system.
One thought system or ' spook' that was science influenced and libertarian socialistic. One that has disproof at its heart and self correction as its essential procedure. The machine inside the Ghost.
The natural selection of good ideas works best when 'together-we-are-smarter-than-any -one-of-us', because no one individual has perfect information.
Only recently, over this past half millennium, has some significant part of humankind begun to dispense with the kinds of insights supposedly revealed by supernatural entities by their privileged representatives on earth, and to support instead a vast and disparate mental enterprise that works by accretion, dispute, refinement and occasional radical challenges.
Fighting back during the classic ' propaganda of the deed' era. The free South central Ukraine 1917-21 Shining Spain - the heroic years particularly 1936. All our recent uprisings and infrastructure building. As one commentator has noted, anarchy proceeds by funerals of dead cells and punctuated revolutions.
And again, anarchism appears true because it is elegant - it is ergonomically formulated, while seeming to explain a great deal with great simplicity. There is a Tao to anarchy - a Zen - even a Satori for some. ( psilocybin, serotonin, ecstasy )
If Gnosis is the art of grasping the totality in a split second then there's yr gestalt of east meets west. For 150 years, despite a paucity of ' Marxist' evidence, the theory was generally accepted because, in Proudon's phrase, it was "compellingly beautiful".
' If all ye know is truth is beauty and beauty truth and that is all ye know... and all ye need to know '
In James Watson's account, when Rosalind Franklin stood before the final model of the DNA molecule, she "accepted the fact that the structure was too pretty not to be true".
These are not simply the unbuttoned musings of professionals on their day off. The contributions of anarchists and fellow travellers form a ' daily bleed', ranging across many disparate fields, expressing the spirit of a scientific consciousness at its best - informed guesswork that is open-minded, free-ranging and intellectually playful.
Many anarch's offer versions of the future in various fields of study. Those readers educated in the humanities, accustomed to the pessimism that is generally supposed to be the mark of a true intellectual, will be struck by the optimistic tone. Most anarchists believe we are not rotten to the core. Others don't just seem to think that the human lot could improve but they proffer detailed and achievable paths toward that transcendence and improvement.
A new world is possible AND achievable very quickly actually if you think about it.
World revolution? Yes please. World revolution through state terror. Never!
We shouldn't have to keep repeating ourselves about THAT but there are a few Trotsky-con dead enders still breathing!
Generally evident is an unadorned pleasure in anarchist curiosity, a collective expression of wonder at the living and inanimate world which does not have an obvious equivalent in the military-entertainment complex.
In the arts, perhaps lyric poetry would be a kind of happy parallel.
Another interesting feature is the prevalence here of what E.O. Wilson calls "consilience". The boundaries between different specialised subjects begin to break down. Anarchists often find they need to draw on insights or procedures in fields of study adjacent or useful to their own.
The old enlightenment dream of a unified body of knowledge comes a little closer when biologists and economists draw on each other's concepts; neuro-scientists need mathematicians, molecular biologists stray into the poorly defended territories of chemists and physicists. Even cosmologists have drawn on evolutionary theory. And everyone, of course, needs sophisticated computing.
The accidental beneficiary, of course, has been the laypersyn who needs no acquaintance with arcane ' socialist' jargon to follow the exchanges. They are part of an ongoing and thrilling narrative that is open to all.
We believe but cannot prove - trust but verify.
Empirical observation, revisionism and proof are all vitally important as is activism alternating with analysis - praxis.
The Socratic tradition itself; questiong authority, is never more alive than in a chat room of anarchists.
Perhaps it was the greatest invention of all, greater than that of the wheel or agriculture, this slow elaboration of a huge, yet hugely simple thought system.
One thought system or ' spook' that was science influenced and libertarian socialistic. One that has disproof at its heart and self correction as its essential procedure. The machine inside the Ghost.
The natural selection of good ideas works best when 'together-we-are-smarter-than-any -one-of-us', because no one individual has perfect information.
Only recently, over this past half millennium, has some significant part of humankind begun to dispense with the kinds of insights supposedly revealed by supernatural entities by their privileged representatives on earth, and to support instead a vast and disparate mental enterprise that works by accretion, dispute, refinement and occasional radical challenges.
Fighting back during the classic ' propaganda of the deed' era. The free South central Ukraine 1917-21 Shining Spain - the heroic years particularly 1936. All our recent uprisings and infrastructure building. As one commentator has noted, anarchy proceeds by funerals of dead cells and punctuated revolutions.
And again, anarchism appears true because it is elegant - it is ergonomically formulated, while seeming to explain a great deal with great simplicity. There is a Tao to anarchy - a Zen - even a Satori for some. ( psilocybin, serotonin, ecstasy )
If Gnosis is the art of grasping the totality in a split second then there's yr gestalt of east meets west. For 150 years, despite a paucity of ' Marxist' evidence, the theory was generally accepted because, in Proudon's phrase, it was "compellingly beautiful".
' If all ye know is truth is beauty and beauty truth and that is all ye know... and all ye need to know '
In James Watson's account, when Rosalind Franklin stood before the final model of the DNA molecule, she "accepted the fact that the structure was too pretty not to be true".
These are not simply the unbuttoned musings of professionals on their day off. The contributions of anarchists and fellow travellers form a ' daily bleed', ranging across many disparate fields, expressing the spirit of a scientific consciousness at its best - informed guesswork that is open-minded, free-ranging and intellectually playful.
Many anarch's offer versions of the future in various fields of study. Those readers educated in the humanities, accustomed to the pessimism that is generally supposed to be the mark of a true intellectual, will be struck by the optimistic tone. Most anarchists believe we are not rotten to the core. Others don't just seem to think that the human lot could improve but they proffer detailed and achievable paths toward that transcendence and improvement.
A new world is possible AND achievable very quickly actually if you think about it.
World revolution? Yes please. World revolution through state terror. Never!
We shouldn't have to keep repeating ourselves about THAT but there are a few Trotsky-con dead enders still breathing!
Generally evident is an unadorned pleasure in anarchist curiosity, a collective expression of wonder at the living and inanimate world which does not have an obvious equivalent in the military-entertainment complex.
In the arts, perhaps lyric poetry would be a kind of happy parallel.
Another interesting feature is the prevalence here of what E.O. Wilson calls "consilience". The boundaries between different specialised subjects begin to break down. Anarchists often find they need to draw on insights or procedures in fields of study adjacent or useful to their own.
The old enlightenment dream of a unified body of knowledge comes a little closer when biologists and economists draw on each other's concepts; neuro-scientists need mathematicians, molecular biologists stray into the poorly defended territories of chemists and physicists. Even cosmologists have drawn on evolutionary theory. And everyone, of course, needs sophisticated computing.
The accidental beneficiary, of course, has been the laypersyn who needs no acquaintance with arcane ' socialist' jargon to follow the exchanges. They are part of an ongoing and thrilling narrative that is open to all.
We believe but cannot prove - trust but verify.
posted by professor rat at 12:50 AM
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