The Universal Ego
David by Michelangelo, Florence, Wikimedia Commons
The Universal Ego is grappling with
- Personal preoccupations,
- The nature of its surroundings
- The purposes to which it will direct its
attention.
Preoccupations
Breaking the chains that limit your freedom. How is your freedom limited? By mental blockages within yourself? By forces outside of yourself? How do you face your desire for freedom? By solitary navigation in cyberspace? By facing the dragon of direct social interaction in physical space, or indirect social interaction in cyberspace?
Nature's call - on hold? The caveman has transcended the fight to meet needs for food, clothing and shelter - and is losing touch with his basic needs. He is drifting from subsistence to the satisfaction of the palate - and retrograding back to the stage of pushing food in as if it were mere fuel. He used to get clothes to protect himself from the weather. Now he is in a constant fight to keep his seasonal identity in line with fashion criteria decided by other people. His shelter used to be just that. Now it is constructed to boost his feeling of artistic identity, and to develop a bodily comfort which undermines his health.
Narcissus unbound ? We are giving free speed to our search for a perfect body with the help of genetic engineering, body repair, plastic surgery and cosmetics. The notion of perfection is changing all the time, and we never seem to find the right balance between our own desires, how we think others are seeing us, and how to match these contradictions with an insufficient amount of time and money.
Human capital - takes the form of social capital, cultural capital, and financial capital. We get it through heritage, our own accumulation and through depletion. How does it work?
Surroundings
The dream of enlightenment. Freedom, equality and brotherhood were key words of the enlightenment in the 18th century. Is freedom about blowing out the constraints of life? Is equality and brotherhood about striving towards human dignity, solidarity and compassion - or is it about locking ourselves into closed fraternities and sororities?
The blinding light of modernity. Modernity is about freedom, progress and rationality. Do we see a society where freedom is enslaved by the media imperatives of Originality, Constant Renewal and Visibility? Is progress a vision of linear development which is colliding with the recalcitrant non-linearity of human preoccupations? Are we in a situation where rationality is cornered by mysticism?
Unleashing our little helpers. Biotec, Icotec and Nanotec are technological fields where we advance in great strides. We are moving at tremendous speed, in unchartered waters. Are these technologies Mother Earth's three little helpers? Do we master them properly?
Vanishing borders. Geographical borders as defined by national frontiers have no influence on the movement of cultural impulses or financial flows. A person's feeling of identity is under attack from several influences. How is cultural cohesion redefined in the face of globalization? Financial flows have led to capital owners' demand for unified rates of return across national boundaries. How is this redefining national autonomy? Culture - the battle between Lamination and Identity? Finance - what does autonomy look like now?
Foundations of ideology. Communism and capitalism have, as constructions of thought, been sidelined by the moral deficiencies of its respective practicioners. Neither Karl Marx nor Adam Smith would have accepted moral fatherhood of any of those systems we have witnessed for the last hundred years. Economic balance, social balance, and environmental balance - are the three necessary foundations of all future political ideologies.How can they be achieved?
Purposes
Tao's four desires. Four desires that do not allow people to have peace.
The four ends. The Indian doctrine of the four ends.
Keys to life.
The magnificent four. Identity, independence, relations, and cooperation.
Francis Bacon's idols. Habits of mind that cause people to fall into error.
The Etruscans. Nature, sex, instinct and emotion.
Breaking the chains that limit your freedom. How is your freedom limited? By mental blockages within yourself? By forces outside of yourself? How do you face your desire for freedom? By solitary navigation in cyberspace? By facing the dragon of direct social interaction in physical space, or indirect social interaction in cyberspace?
Nature's call - on hold? The caveman has transcended the fight to meet needs for food, clothing and shelter - and is losing touch with his basic needs. He is drifting from subsistence to the satisfaction of the palate - and retrograding back to the stage of pushing food in as if it were mere fuel. He used to get clothes to protect himself from the weather. Now he is in a constant fight to keep his seasonal identity in line with fashion criteria decided by other people. His shelter used to be just that. Now it is constructed to boost his feeling of artistic identity, and to develop a bodily comfort which undermines his health.
Narcissus unbound ? We are giving free speed to our search for a perfect body with the help of genetic engineering, body repair, plastic surgery and cosmetics. The notion of perfection is changing all the time, and we never seem to find the right balance between our own desires, how we think others are seeing us, and how to match these contradictions with an insufficient amount of time and money.
Human capital - takes the form of social capital, cultural capital, and financial capital. We get it through heritage, our own accumulation and through depletion. How does it work?
Surroundings
The dream of enlightenment. Freedom, equality and brotherhood were key words of the enlightenment in the 18th century. Is freedom about blowing out the constraints of life? Is equality and brotherhood about striving towards human dignity, solidarity and compassion - or is it about locking ourselves into closed fraternities and sororities?
The blinding light of modernity. Modernity is about freedom, progress and rationality. Do we see a society where freedom is enslaved by the media imperatives of Originality, Constant Renewal and Visibility? Is progress a vision of linear development which is colliding with the recalcitrant non-linearity of human preoccupations? Are we in a situation where rationality is cornered by mysticism?
Unleashing our little helpers. Biotec, Icotec and Nanotec are technological fields where we advance in great strides. We are moving at tremendous speed, in unchartered waters. Are these technologies Mother Earth's three little helpers? Do we master them properly?
Vanishing borders. Geographical borders as defined by national frontiers have no influence on the movement of cultural impulses or financial flows. A person's feeling of identity is under attack from several influences. How is cultural cohesion redefined in the face of globalization? Financial flows have led to capital owners' demand for unified rates of return across national boundaries. How is this redefining national autonomy? Culture - the battle between Lamination and Identity? Finance - what does autonomy look like now?
Foundations of ideology. Communism and capitalism have, as constructions of thought, been sidelined by the moral deficiencies of its respective practicioners. Neither Karl Marx nor Adam Smith would have accepted moral fatherhood of any of those systems we have witnessed for the last hundred years. Economic balance, social balance, and environmental balance - are the three necessary foundations of all future political ideologies.How can they be achieved?
Purposes
Tao's four desires. Four desires that do not allow people to have peace.
The four ends. The Indian doctrine of the four ends.
Keys to life.
The magnificent four. Identity, independence, relations, and cooperation.
Francis Bacon's idols. Habits of mind that cause people to fall into error.
The Etruscans. Nature, sex, instinct and emotion.