jean baudrillard
the anatomists of the fifteenth century, suddenly discovering in the body, the nerves and the circulation of the blood a world of a radical objectivity, beyond God. do we have anything today equivalent to such an upheaval, to such a displacement of all previously acknowledged facts? the discovery of the unconscious was almost such an upheaval, but it no longer is. doubtless, the exploration of the brain is the extreme adventure, which is likely to sweep away all our values and modern superstitions - our theology. But this is not necessarily progress. Just as the soul was swept away by anatomical dissection, so the body - and many other things too - will be swept away by the subtle dissection of the functions of the encephalon.
even in the daytime, a part of us is perpetually asleep. when we are fast asleep, part of us is constantly awake. this is how, even when we are asleep, we can wish for sleep. how, even when we are fully alive, we can want to live.
in amazonia, certain butterflies simulate the markings of their poisonous fellows to protect themselves. when you don't have the good fortune to be poisonous, you have to use deception. in this sense, we are all lepidoptera. most of our behavior is merely deception aimed at deflecting the great predator - death - from our path.like the disguised lepidoptera, all our weapons are artificial ones - the innumerable strategies by which we shield ourselves from death and the inevitability of predation. moreover, what ultimately distinguishes the poisonous butterflies from the ones that adopt a poisonous appearance? what makes one species use a real weapon and another a simulated deterrent? and where we, the human race, are concerned, does all our armoury of machines, sciences and technologies function as a real weapon, or is it merely a gigantic simulation apparatus parading as real power?
at last an african on the podium in the world athletics championship at stuttgart! africa surely deserved that reward! fantastic hypocrisy, while most athletes mounting the podium are blacks. but, by virtue of slavery and colonization, it is the usa, britain and france which claim the title of great sporting nations - and are moved, in their lofty arrogance, at the "exceptional" success of "the little Namibian".
even in the daytime, a part of us is perpetually asleep. when we are fast asleep, part of us is constantly awake. this is how, even when we are asleep, we can wish for sleep. how, even when we are fully alive, we can want to live.
in amazonia, certain butterflies simulate the markings of their poisonous fellows to protect themselves. when you don't have the good fortune to be poisonous, you have to use deception. in this sense, we are all lepidoptera. most of our behavior is merely deception aimed at deflecting the great predator - death - from our path.like the disguised lepidoptera, all our weapons are artificial ones - the innumerable strategies by which we shield ourselves from death and the inevitability of predation. moreover, what ultimately distinguishes the poisonous butterflies from the ones that adopt a poisonous appearance? what makes one species use a real weapon and another a simulated deterrent? and where we, the human race, are concerned, does all our armoury of machines, sciences and technologies function as a real weapon, or is it merely a gigantic simulation apparatus parading as real power?
at last an african on the podium in the world athletics championship at stuttgart! africa surely deserved that reward! fantastic hypocrisy, while most athletes mounting the podium are blacks. but, by virtue of slavery and colonization, it is the usa, britain and france which claim the title of great sporting nations - and are moved, in their lofty arrogance, at the "exceptional" success of "the little Namibian".