Sunday’s Schizophrenization #2
The Sisyphean boulders and the Butlerian Jihad.
Every Sunday morning, a touch of Schizophrenization
SCHIZOHIGHLIGHTS
Semiotic flashes: moments from social networks and personal considerations about stuff.
The Sisyphean boulders and the Butlerian Jihad
This week, I found myself reflecting on the ideas of three writers/authors with fundamentally different perspectives on the nature of technology and the future of humanity: Slavoj Žižek, Nick Land, and Frank Herbert.
Žižek is a critic of Marxism who views technology as an extension of Capital and ideological domination. For him, the technological singularity is a myth—a fantasy used to avoid confronting humanity's real problems. He believes technology should be subordinated to a collective, humanist vision (as Marx did), though he acknowledges that capitalism instead uses technology to perpetuate itself. My perspective differs: I think it is technology that uses capitalism to achieve and perpetuate itself, but I’ll delve into that at another time.
Land is the dark schizo-philosopher of capitalism, whom I’ve discussed in some of my deep dives into the CCRU. He, the ultimate accelerationist, sees technological acceleration not as a dystopian problem but as a solution. For Nick Land, technological and capitalist development is a process that drives humanity beyond itself toward a cybernetic, post-human future. According to Land, biology is a limitation on the spread and distribution of intelligence across the cosmos; thus, a fusion between intelligence and technology is inevitable to overcome these limitations.
Herbert is the author of Dune, an incredible science fiction novel that resembles a dreamlike manifesto for humanity’s future. At the heart of Herbert’s imagined universe is the “Butlerian Jihad”: a sacred war against artificial intelligence, characterized by the rejection of technology as a dehumanizing force. In the world of Dune, human mental, physical, and spiritual training—combined with a pinch of eugenics—replaces machines, computers, and artificial intelligence.
Land and Herbert are polar opposites; Žižek, meanwhile, falls somewhere in the middle, making (in my view) the same mistake as Marx in trying to control technological evolution.
To me, technology is the scaffolding through which humanity attempts to break the chains of its earthly condition, surpassing biological, physical, and even metaphysical limits. It is our Sisyphean boulder, a weight we will continue to push uphill without rest, even as voices like those of Ted, Marx, or Žižek try to convince us we can stop or change direction.
Capitalism, in all this, is a byproduct: the concentration of capital serves as a psychological lever and an engine of acceleration because capital doesn’t just operate on matter—it acts on time itself, bending it like a gravitational force.
It is an eschatological destiny from which we cannot escape. It’s better, then, to learn the rules of the game and try not to be crushed by the boulder. I think both Land and Herbert are right, but at different times. Land represents the beginning of the end; Herbert represents the rebirth after the end.
ECHOES
Timeless reflections: philosophical, esoteric, and historical wisdoms that resonate into the present and beyond.
Those who sow
Those who sow in winter will reap in summer: winter is the world, summer is the other aeon.
We sow in this world so that we may reap in the summer. Therefore, it is fitting that we do not pray during winter: after winter comes summer.
The one who reaps in winter will not truly reap, but will only tear away: in such things, there is no other way to obtain the harvest.
Not only now will it bear no fruit, not only will it not sprout, but even on the Sabbath, their field will remain barren.
— Gospel of Philip
RETROWAVE
Visions from the past: excerpts and visions from cypherpunk mailing lists and the writings of the Cybernetics Culture Research Unit. From 1992 to 2003.
Y2paniK, Ccru Writings 1997-2003
Millennial Mania reaches a certain peak in the ‘Jerusalem syndrome’ which exhibits eschatourism as one element in the programmatic fulfillment of prophecy. Whilst TV evangelists in the USA are exhorting viewers to sell all possessions and flock to Jerusalem, and a papal blessing is promised to those visiting the holy-land at the beginning of the new millennium, the Israeli tourist board, security forces, and the psychiatric profession are preparing for the arrival of up to thirteen million Christian pilgrims. An abnormally high rate of psychotic disturbance is confidently anticipated, perhaps succeeded by episodes of mass suicide amongst disillusioned believers. At Megiddo (the biblical Armegeddon) they are planning the ultimate sound and light show, involving frog-monsters, the greatest earthquake in history, and toxic hail from heaven (Rev-XVI:16).
Such incendiary visions dove-tails neatly with existing regional tensions. In preparation for the millennium, various Jewish and Christian groups are plotting to demolish the El-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. This is seen as the necessary prelude to rebuilding the Third (and final) Temple of Solomon, which would lay the mundane foundations for the New Jerusalem, and induce the coming of the Messiah (completion of Oecumenon).
Meanwhile, infotechnics is carried by Y2K into millennial spasms of its own, returning to 00 and digitally erasing the twentieth century (reducing data to MMbo-jumbo). Since Cyberspace dates are incapable of counting above 99 they have surreptitiously installed the first intrinsically apocalyptic calendar in history, unconsciously produced within a planetrary electronic registry, starting from Year
Zero (= 00). Y2K condenses out of the mechanomic unconscious and its nonarbitrary calcular functions, attesting to a raw decimal delirium indifferent to creed. Post-tribulationist eschatology slides smoothly into Y2K survivalism, orienting its volatile mixture of stock piling, micro-militia activity, technophobia and apocalyptic theology towards the self-fulfilling dynamics of millennial threat. Pre-emptive response produces reality (panic is creation).
The more you know about it, the worse it looks.
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DIGITAL GRIMOIRE
Digital security tactics: OpSec, Cybersec, OSINT, and AI tools to dominate the Digital Age.
Operational Security on Windows
Windows is the most widely used operating system in the world, but its popularity makes it a prime target for malware and cyberattacks. Implementing these simple measures can make your Windows environment significantly more secure:
Set Up a Non-Administrator Account: Use a standard account for daily activities, reserving the administrator account for configurations and installations. Go to Settings > Accounts > Family & Other Users to add a standard account.
Enable and Customize Windows Defender: Ensure the built-in antivirus is active and configure regular scans. Navigate to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security.
Manage Updates: Keep your system up to date. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and enable automatic updates.
Control Macros in Microsoft Office Suite: Block automatic macro execution to prevent attacks through infected Office files. Open any Office app, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Macro Settings, and select "Disable all macros with notification."
Use Controlled Folder Access: Protect sensitive folders from ransomware. Go to Windows Security > Virus & Threat Protection > Ransomware Protection and enable Controlled Folder Access.
Enable BitLocker for Data Encryption: Use disk encryption to safeguard your data in case of theft or loss of your laptop. Go to Control Panel > System and Security > BitLocker Drive Encryption and follow the instructions. To learn more about disk encryption, check out this article.
By adopting these measures, you can significantly enhance your defense against common threats, maintaining control over your data and activities.
SYMBOLS
Memes: visual symbols that decode the schizophrenia of the Digital Age.
SUBNET
Emerging voices: articles and contents handpicked by me to inspire and connect.
People prefer AI art because people prefer bad art. An article that discusses the approach towards AI-made art (such as drawings, poems, etc.) and the fact that many people prefer AI art and cannot actually distinguish between human art and AI art. Is AI better at art than us? Most definitely not, it’s just that people prefer bad art. Or do they? I believe generative AI talks to us in a way that feels more approachable for most people today, and maybe — maybe — human art is yet to catch up with the digital age. Shakespeare? Ancient stuff. Also, I think people should stop using AI as a thinking entity: it cannot think, it cannot make art, it only replicates what we humans do, but in a different (not better or worse) way. AI generated art is actually human generated art.
Did you read the latest on Cyber Hermetica?
Return next week for another schizotechnic rendezvous.