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It's Not All In Your Head

firstthings.com

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Re: It's Not All In Your Head

#11

Post by _2d30 »

jlos wrote: post #10
Apocryphon wrote: post #6

Former VICE journalist, dirtbag left guy, and one time Something Awful poster Sam Kriss is reviewing a Tao Lin novel in the conservative Catholic journal First Things? The future truly is strange.

I'm not familiar with Kriss or Tao Lin, but First Things, while predominantly Catholic, is ecumenical. They have regular columns from protestants, Jews, Muslims, and even Peter Thiel. I've found they will print some authors from outside their normal milieu if they offer some insight that would benefit the high brow literary conservatism that characterizes the magazine.

Thiel identifies as Catholic.

Re: It's Not All In Your Head

#13

Post by hoseja »

I've seen a recent theory for chronic pain where the spinal/brain neurons get into a maladaptive feedback loop and report continual pain where none is coming from the periphery. I'll see if I can find the source.

Re: It's Not All In Your Head

#14

Post by Borrible »

The moment the mind, a mere tool for the survival of the body, declared itself extremely important. From then on, any imperfection means that death is lurking in the shadows. Entropy eats up everything. You can run away, but you can't hide.

The extreme narcissism of our time is only the most refined form. Sharpened and promoted by the extreme free-market competition of individuals. Whereby, this did not create it, it only took up the theme and perfected it. Allthough, or better because, for the most time, there is nothing really substantial in them, they yell: Me, me, me.

So, they don't have much else, but they want to be something. Sell it to them. Illusion.

The priest knew it, the shrink knows it. Every good con man, spin doctor and the whole culture industry knows it. There is a buck to be made, feeding the ego.

But every time this Illusion of being something substantial is shattered, the crack threatens to show the truth, the abyss. The abyss of death.

The place the ego doesn't.exist.

Re: It's Not All In Your Head

#15

Post by andi999 »

causi wrote: post #8
no-dr-onboard wrote: post #2

> “The dream of a fully frictionless existence, a world of highly efficient cyborgs. Because if you’re not perfectly productive, if you let up for even a moment, you must be sick: The forces of decay will swallow you whole.“ Alas, the author reaches a mountain of a question (as a side note, at that): why are we so dissatisfied with human imperfections?

Satisfaction does not breed improvement.

And vice versa.

Re: It's Not All In Your Head

#16

Post by thyrsus »

legerdemain wrote: post #5

This is a review of two books about living with chronic illness: a memoir by columnist Ross Douthat and a novel by Tao Lin, the Ted Chiang of literary trolling.

Please elucidate. The article's author thinks Mr. Lin is being ironic, but says others he's proposed that to believe the opposite. Has Poe's law taken over every field of communication?

Re: It's Not All In Your Head

#18

Post by a_e_k »

vga805 wrote: post #4
a_e_k wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For your specific question, I really like the take from Walter M. Miller Jr.'s "A Canticle for Leibowitz" (one of my favorite novels): > The closer men came to perfecting for themselves a paradise, the more impatient they became with it, and with themselves as well. They made a garden of pleasure, and became progressively more miserable with it as it grew in richness and power and beauty; for then, perhaps, it was ea…

Hadn't heard of this book, I'll have to check it out. It vaguely reminds of something Dostoevsky's Underground Man might have said when he was railing against the utopian rationalists. edit: typo

Consider yourself one of today's lucky 10,000, then (https://xkcd.com/1053/).

It does help if you have some knowledge of the ways of the Catholic Church when reading the novel. I don't think I could have fully appreciated the richness of "Canticle" if I'd read it at a younger age when I'd had no experience with the Church. But I'll also say that it's one of those books that I love but don't reread too often since it always leaves such an impression.

But yes, I would say that the dangers of pure rationalism (without the wisdom to temper it) is something of a theme throughout "Canticle".

Re: It's Not All In Your Head

#19

Post by theobeers »

Kriss mentions Freddie deBoer’s review of Douthat’s book. Some of you might be interested in reading that. In fact, it’s probably more up HN’s alley, in terms of directly addressing the controversy surrounding chronic Lyme.

https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/review-ross-douthats-th...

Re: It's Not All In Your Head

#20

Post by Veen »

_2d30 wrote: post #11
jlos wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not familiar with Kriss or Tao Lin, but First Things, while predominantly Catholic, is ecumenical. They have regular columns from protestants, Jews, Muslims, and even Peter Thiel. I've found they will print some authors from outside their normal milieu if they offer some insight that would benefit the high brow literary conservatism that characterizes the magazine.

Thiel identifies as Catholic.

Does he? I got the impression he was an unorthodox Protestant. He's a Christian, but I've never seen him identify as Catholic.
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