[Humanist on Conerns] [Zix start page] [^^zix home page]Humanist Concerns: Meta Statement
Anyway, stimulated by Professor Riccio's recent theatre/course focuses on "consumerism" and "robot/human"-ism (as well as my on-going concern with these topics as an artist/science fictionist)... The break down that i came up with is as follows:
The focus of this block would be the "human in the future" which of course is "just" the present. The idea is that biological evolution proceeds at an incredibly slow pace -- although we are of course aware of the "new" genetic possibilities; note the Nazi's experiments, theories, etc; or even earlier than that the "blood lines" of kings, etc. And of course cultural evolution quite a bit more rapidly. But, technological evolution at an alarming pace. Much of the concept of "We have never been modern." (Bruno Latour) as well as "What will we do tomorrow?" (a sort of "SF" spin on futurism) comes out of these *juxtapositions*. Briefly (if you believe that ;), the way that the ENVIRONMENT is changing (regardless of cause/serverity/political-correctness/etc) is at a very high rate, and as such: Is a v. important factor in human survial and of course: Evolution. In terms of short/long term EVOLUTION in terms of "human time", we are looking at things like global epidemics (eg, AIDS, the bird flue, etc). We also need to take into consideration both pos/neg adaptations. Ref to the important case of the "Sicle Cell Animia/Yams/Malaria" model in Africans. And of course one of the primary aspects is the mental health of the humans; ie, the MENTAL STABILITY. Since the body is the brain, but the mind controls the body (to an arguably v. large extent).... And of course: CONSUMERISM. Are all we are is some sort of Philip K. Dickian "that which uses, and then buys more" ? (in a slight pataphysical twist there). Well, that's about it. START AGAIN
Humanist Concerns
Humanist Concerns: Intro
Humanist Concerns: The Environment
This goes back to the fact that humans (whatever else they might belive or not) are *still* animals and *still* pretty much "stuck" on this planet. I take it as read that all of the conservative/greed-monger/stupid POV's are in fact completely wrong. So, how wil the animal/thing human be affected by the env changes? More importantly, as the "push comes to shove" (just before "the FIT hits the SHAN") what will be the options avail? How will the humans (cluster it into diff types: Futurists, Scientists, Humanists, (etc, zix42++), as well as Survivalists, Fundamentalists (at LEAST 3 diff types), etc. Fortunately, i think that we have new agers on our side (but not the revelationists who will be a major hindrance). And then of course you'll have ex-fighting (there's a nice Itallian word for that; intercene: but adapted to extracine ??sp??). Eg: { Pro-Life = Con-Abortion } vs { Pro-Choice = Con-CoatHangers } (well, i never said i wasn't biased towards a woman's right to choose now did i? And you thought all priests were the same right?) and then of course "Capital Punishment", "Meat vs Vegan diets", etc. But, the main things are: Sustatinable (long-term) / Survivable (near-term) Justice (read this as Hippy 1.5 versions, etc) etc - pls note: This IS the humanist section.Humanist Concerns: Evolution
This is going to have to be pretty mixed as far as the "howness" of what we do. In the first place, technology is NOT necessarily evil. There's an old adage: "First things first". If a patient (say me; ok!) is having a heart attack, then give them an aspirin and worry about fixing the ulcer later! that is priorities, etc: "Well, buh!" - Futurama-speek. the focus on env is to keep the system going. I've seen solutions of floating disks/balloons to protect the ozone layer-depleted earth (and i thougtht i was being absurd at the time, when i suggested them! - as well as 1-metre-thick glass disks, the size of Kansas (or prob multiple, smaller ones controlled by some co-ordinating computer/thruster system...Humanist Concerns: Mental Stability
this goes back to ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), HAHD, etc. Which as i recall, Professor (Theatre) Riccio said he thought would be a "survival factor" in the future. That is, maybe ADD/HAHD are the next evolutionary step in being able to handle the future. This would go back to the idea, that in the past 10_000 or so, human society has been undergoing the influence of TECHNOLOGICAL change as a part of evolution (biological/social/cultural/individual). These changes are of course "going into the mix" of factors determining survival/thrival/etc. And as, i often point out: The body controls the brain, but the mind controls the body. (Of course there are limitations to this model - taken as read that we can't actually STOP ourselves from breathing, of course the Yogi's can approach this by self-induced coma's etc; but in terms of *situaltional* needs these skills take a long time to develop. For example, the fact that it took me a couple of weeks of Yoga to learn the basics of "Yoga Breathing", i can assure you that it's unlikely to help me hold my breath for more than a few minutes. Thus, planning ahead, special training, making preparations, etc - all v. nice *physical* things, have to ultimately rest on the mental stability of the individuals (as well as mobs!). And that mix of issues needs to be investigated...Humanist Concerns: Consumerism
I take it as read that anti-thetical to the actual survival of the planet/humans/environment are not necessarily (or prob even a near-primary) goal of CONSUMERISM. In terms of pataphysics (actually 'pataphysics), the "seller" (whether that be a someone profering a better body/hair/sex, freedom from worry about funerals/pure-water/security, or poltical/patriotism/etc concerns - essentially treats us as "that which needs, but also that which can be "sold" a bill of goods". And these bills of goods are becoming collectable and will not be sold in stores and will .... We go back to the need for CLEAR THINKING - or at least the ability to recognise that a human being is not a duck; esp, when it's starting to rain/storm/huricane.... (well that's a start).... [Back to the HUMANIST axis of the zix42]