[rumori] simulacra nation

Steev [rumori] simulacra nation
Fri, 9 Oct 1998 08:31:10 -0700 (PDT) (00907947070, Pine.LNX.4.05.9810090801070.1553-100000atflotsam.detritus.net)

On Fri, 9 Oct 1998, Boster, Bob wrote:


>>From: Steev[SMTP:steevatdetritus.net]
>>no one knows what death means. (especially not an 18 year old.) Americans
>>or otherwise.
>
>I disagree. Otherwise we wouldn't know "fear" when faced with threats
>to our "health".

well obviously most of us have our survival instinct and such. but simply
fearing something doesnt equate with understanding. in fact we tend to
fear thigns more when we don't understand them. but there's also the
inherent "youthful immortality" that i think is some kind of instinct too.
and heck, i think even if you live in Beirut and see people getting shot
everyday, you STILL may not be "ready" for when the bullet hits YOU. whatever ready is. but what do i know... my servers have been hacked, but
i've never even been burlarized or mugged.

i was just trying to get at the point that death is a pretty mysterious
thing. though i think i agree with dan that people exposed to more of it,
like in the 3rd world, might have a better grasp on it. on the other hand
it's also cultural, our inherent valuation of life, it varies from society
to society. people are conditioned to value their lives and others'
lives, and "the Other's" lives, to varying degrees.
this relates to dan's last comment about puritanism. i don't think it's
any concious plan to control the world with puritanism, but the general
isolationism and egocentrism of Amerika has enabled us to have a quite
unique opinion about ourselves in relation to the rest of the world, and
it effects everything, and how other peoples percieve us.

but anyway, we're going off on a tangent. we were talking about children
or people in general being prepared for "reality", like gunshot wounds. I think i agree with the original point, which i think was, americans are
more exposed to simulacra and hence less able to deal with the real, than
other peoples. which is a little ironic since in some contexts a
simulation is meant to be practice for the real thing (flight simulators,
wargames, etc). But we live in a culture of the copy, where reproductions
have the potential, at least, to be better than the original (or that's
the perception).

sincerely and exactly like yours,

smh

Steev Hise, WebSlinger
steevathise.org http://www.cyborganic.com/people/steev recycled art site: http://www.detritus.net -----------------------------------------------------------------
"UNIX is like a rubic's cube ... you feel so smart for figuring it out, but you still aren't getting any work done. " -Mykle Hansen
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