Paul Kingsnorth, "Huxley and the Machine"

Рет қаралды 12,960

20 күн бұрын

"The 2020s are pushing us, fast and furious, into a new time. We can all sense the craziness in the air, the feeling of our moorings being cut one by one. It feels hard sometimes just to stay upright as we live through what feels like a threefold earthquake: a global ecological breakdown; the cultural disintegration of the West; and the rise of networked technologies of control and surveillance which daily have us tighter in their grip. The powers of the world seem to be merging: corporate power, state power, institutional power, ideological power, the power of the oligarchs who built and control the Internet, the power of the network itself. Some days it can feel as if we are living inside the plot of a piece of twentieth century dystopian sci-fi. The twist is that this time Agent Smith is the hero, while Neo has been dismissed as a far-right conspiracy theorist," said Paul Kingsnorth [1] in his brilliant speech in the international conference on May 24th in Tallinn [2].
Here's Paul's speech in its entirety.
With best wishes,
H.
----------------
[1] • Paul Kingsnorth "Scien...
[2] kzfaq.infomMrzUGKg...

Пікірлер: 83

@wapitude 12 күн бұрын

Beyond SUPERB! What a supremely well articulated, sad and sorry picture, of our present day. Precisely the feeling I have had for quite some time i.e. technology is like a thick thorny fast growing briar, shooting up and around us fast, to a point where, if we can't find away to expunge it, we will all end up like sleeping beauties. Lost and inescapably oppressed - 👹👹🙏🇮🇪🙏

@jimrichardson1069 11 күн бұрын

As Pynchon says in his last book Bleeding Edge, the internet, designed in the Cold War, carries within it a Death Wish for the entire planet.

@marylawilson4687 2 күн бұрын

Yes, a very sad and scary picture of our times. Tragically, very few can see it

@martakadziolka7182 17 күн бұрын

Such a beautiful speech. It really speaks to me about the importance of preservation of myth - it is not sentimental. In terms of any individual's identity, it is incredibly important. The tragic hero in your story, the victim of an artificial world, is he perhaps a bank clerk who dreams of the stars at night? The Apollonian and Dionysian dialectic comes to mind. You need BOTH emotion and reason to have a human!!

@siyaindagulag. 14 күн бұрын

On those in favour of progress : "You already find the noise of it's wheels disturbing " (paraphrased).F.Neitzsche. Never before have the tools of opression ;the hand of totalitarianism been so all-pervasive.

@GreenNinjaZX6R636 16 күн бұрын

And at your conclusion, Paul, I'm stifling sobs and wiping tears with that big blue handkerchief from my back pocket. If I were to attempt words to explain why, it would be a lot of them. But; The Opportunity to live a human life, fully, embracing all that brings. So sayeth the 'savage'. So sayeth this old man. I have a woodshed to construct from the salvaged fence. There is firewood to split and stack. Winter is coming.

@jeremytullius1393 15 күн бұрын

Another bit from R.S. Thomas: On a bone alter, with radiation for candle, we make sacrifice to the god of quasars and pulsars, wiping our robotic hands clean on a disposable conscience.

@AspenCreekLarkspur 13 күн бұрын

The reason Huxley and many other writers and creative thinkers lived in California is that it was a very different place a hundred years ago than it is now. The beauty is the same, though there’s less of it. Most areas are still filled with gorgeous nature and the weather is great year-round in many parts of the state. It’s a wonderful place to lose yourself in contemplation even now. Unfortunately, the cities and the government policies are abysmal, but that was not the case in the early twentieth century when it was a place of great freedom. That’s why Hollywood even started there. There was were enclaves of great poets and writers in Central California, for example, and the town of Carmel was filled with fairytale houses built by creative owners (they’re still there). Maybe “the machine” has overtaken the state, but it’s still a gorgeous place that attracts millions of tourists a year for good reasons. If it were not for the current horrendous state control, I would still live there.

@jimrichardson1069 11 күн бұрын

California is a multitude of things, unfortunately the libertarians of Silly Con Valley have become a dominant force. Cali is also the primary home of the psychedelic movement and human potential movement and humanistic psychology movement all of which Huxley played a large role in. Gary Snyder the Beat poet who lives in a cabin he built in the Sierras of CA can be very helpful in the area of how to live simply, close to nature, and with imagination. CA has the death wish culture as well as the solutions. Its just that the former is dominent now.

@gedofgont1006 11 күн бұрын

And let's not forget that one of America's greatest writers, John Steinbeck, lived in California and wrote about it compulsively. Having just reread East of Eden, I was struck by the boundless sense of optimism, openness and capacity for joy with which Steinbeck imbues his characters. In the early 20th century, America had all before it; nothing was beyond its purview and the Hamiltons and Trasks embody this notion in a way unimaginable today. Then came WW1 and the first widespread instance of industrialized slaughter, made possible by mass produced instruments of death. Even after one hundred years, I don't think humanity has yet recovered from the shock of that period. I'd even venture to suggest that, in our collective state of unresolved trauma, we cannot help but continue to inflict the same harm on ourselves, in various repeating cycles of violence and despair.

@efrem1 9 күн бұрын

I lived in the Monterey Bay area during the late 1960s and again in the early 1980s. The serenity of those times in that area is gone, wholly given now to tourism.

@elaineroddy9958 14 күн бұрын

Wonderful speech. Lovely to listen too.

@albertarnswald 14 күн бұрын

Impressive. Many thanks to Paul and the organisation of the conference.

@jimrichardson1069 11 күн бұрын

We would do well, I think, to heed the Huxley of his last book Island. The Huxley, friend of Krishnamurti, who urges us to realize who we really are, beyond the thinking mind and who, in that regard, quotes Shakespeare: 'But thought's the slave of life, and life time's fool; And time, that takes survey of all the world, Must have a stop.’ The Huxley of The Perennial Philosophy. He did offer something of a way out. Great talk, you’re on it Kingsnorth! These are the issues. And Huxley, one of my favorite human beings, saw it very clearly.

@SamanthaGluck 17 күн бұрын

That was BEAUTIFUL, Paul Kingsnorth. YOU are beautiful.

@TheNoblot 15 күн бұрын

so is Samantha smile ☺ a beauty

@TheNoblot 15 күн бұрын

Machines have taken over 🌎💔🤳 concrete hearts selfish tongue useless cars AI humans return to mother ship 🛳 wondering is 📏 ruler is ruling 📐 on straight line 🤡 anyway is just a waste of time you only meet 💗minds when you seat and have a chat taste a warm🥂🍻 hand /LGTP 🌎📲 LGBT is just the diversion of a dream 💤 that comes true only on the machines 💦 that have taken over for what once was a living loving life 💞

@PilgrimMission 15 күн бұрын

Brilliant speech.

@thurstonhowellthetwelf3220 11 күн бұрын

Enjoyed this very much... listening on my smart phone Bluetooth connected to my soundbar....😳

@gedofgont1006 11 күн бұрын

Which surely means the whole experience has been irredeemably corrupted!😅

@piretkivi3218 15 күн бұрын

Giving your kids a little wine is harmless. S.Europeans have been doing it for centuries. Giving your kids a smartphone on the other hand...

@jaysphilosophy1951 14 күн бұрын

Great speech! I wish there were more like this....

@LeonieMart 15 күн бұрын

Thankyou and bless you Paul

@pamelajansson4785 13 күн бұрын

Fabulous! A parallel society might be inevitable now? It will come down to choice!

@spacebookpub3376 12 күн бұрын

Very reminiscent of Jacques Ellul The Technological Society where efficiency is the prevailing value

@lindajohnson4204 14 күн бұрын

Hebrews 6:17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 19 *¶Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast,* and which entereth into that within the veil; 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

@mariabyrne1954 12 күн бұрын

An Amazing talk, thank you☘

@janchmiel7302 15 күн бұрын

sound observations, smart analysis - specially the observation that 'Silicon Valley' is a theological project..

@alomaalber6514 9 күн бұрын

Yes, that is good, also Huxley was in New Mexico and LA in the 1940's when it was "perfection" good weather and smiles!

@faza553 16 күн бұрын

Digital ID Goes Global "No digital ID? Forget about the basics like power, phones, or even buying a home." - Nicole James

@lovevolv 5 күн бұрын

"the machine that we built will never save us" - jimi hendrix

@alomaalber6514 9 күн бұрын

Huxley was in New Mexico and LA in the 1940's when it was perfection, perfect climate and smiles. Glad his work is still read. I have read it twice.

@willgeorge5644 14 күн бұрын

"the replacement of nature with technology", of course. "they" have been quite blatant about that, Uval Noah Harari, Klaus Swab's chief advisor has said that what shall be.

@gedofgont1006 11 күн бұрын

Have you heard of a DARPA project called the Sentient World Simulation? They really believe it can be done. They plan to monetize, trade and control the entire global commons: that is, everything single aspect of natural life on this planet, from the plankton in the oceans to the microbes in the soil.

@rossanajoubert4881 12 күн бұрын

Thank you

@louelle8653 12 күн бұрын

Pure Gold❤

@nickparkes8462 13 күн бұрын

I always found “2000AD “prophetic, I don’t think there will be a single global government rather as in Judge Dredd,Mega city 1,East Meg 1 and 2 Sino city,also “Rogue Trooper “shows the future of warfare

@mattsreptileroom 9 күн бұрын

Its interesting how orwell and huxley were both aware of wachother and each saw their vision as the final form, while seeing the others as merely transition societies

@dorothygorska-tyas6958 11 күн бұрын

Simply beautiful! ☆

@skipperdando 2 күн бұрын

Great speech. I would say put the correct knowledge back into our national curriculum, rather than the spoon fed lies that most of us have been accustomed too. If we can unknowingly build it, we can certainly reverse engineer it!

@Artezia 9 күн бұрын

War is the foundation of Economy. War is the missing argument in this debate.

@GregHillmy4re 13 күн бұрын

Seek first the Kingdom of God and all else will be added. There probably is a God? I pray that you seek Him first.

@Mikkihiiri27 10 күн бұрын

Paul is Christian, so you know.

@CC-lf7ff 12 күн бұрын

The Giver is a very good movie that describes the distopian world...

@thomassimmons1950 16 күн бұрын

The Garden of Eden and Fall in an endless loop. "Same as it ever was Same as it ever was Same as it Ev-er-was"

@edithcrowther9604 16 күн бұрын

Yes - but the details are different each time, and endlessly fascinating IMO. How simple and beautiful the description in Genesis is - and how complex the same situation has now become - so it warrants all of Paul's well-chosen words, IMO. For the record, which is perhaps mankind's only true glory.

@faza553 16 күн бұрын

❤ Hygienic Autonomy: A Manifesto ❤ the LIBERTY to declare myself sick; the LIBERTY to refuse any and all medical treatment at any time; the LIBERTY to take any drug or treatment of my own choosing; the LIBERTY to be treated by the person of my choice, that is, by anyone in the community who feels called to the practice of healing, whether that person be an acupuncturist, a homeopathic physician, a neurosurgeon, an astrologer, a witch doctor or someone else; the LIBERTY to die without diagnosis. BRAVE NEW BIOCRACY: HEALTH CARE FROM WOMB TO TOMB , By: Illich, Ivan

@edithcrowther9604 15 күн бұрын

@@faza553 Thanks - found the essay, free, thanks to the Machine! Might as well make use of the Machine for our own ends, if we are trapped in it .....

@LoraDavis-oo9xz 12 күн бұрын

A 24,000 year cycle, the cycle of the Sun. The Golden Era is still 1000s of years in the future. We are still in the Dark Age .

@thomassimmons1950 12 күн бұрын

@@LoraDavis-oo9xz Whoop...der it is!

@mattsreptileroom 9 күн бұрын

Aldous huxley's brother Julian was the head of the eugenics society for decades. Huxley had this vision, because he was raised to expect it, and embrace it. It wasnt a warning, it was a blueprint.

@jimrichardson1069 9 күн бұрын

It was unquestionably a warning. Aldous is not Julian. And Island is proffered as an alternative. Aldous kept up the warning until his death Nov 22, 1963. See his interview with Mike Wallace.

@mattsreptileroom 9 күн бұрын

@@jimrichardson1069 that's fair. I've always been a fan of Aldous. It's uncanny how accurate his predictions were. It's obviously the path we're set on. It's more than a work of fiction, it's the ideal of the elites. Even the ending, maybe especially it's ending.

@jimrichardson1069 9 күн бұрын

@@mattsreptileroom thanks. I would say that its more like fascism in the sense that it seems to be a tendency in the human being that can only be countered with heightened conscious attention and a sincere, deep-seated desire for human well-being----ethical concern----which Aldous had in spades. ('Attention! Here and now boys! Here and now!") Rather than just an "ideal for the elites." It is surely something desirable to psychopaths who seem to have an advantage in our world for seizing positions of power. This psychopathic tendency in human nature is, again, something that must be understood and countered to the extent possible. I think Island, the possible form of life laid out there, deals with that among many other things.

@robertcox14 12 күн бұрын

I realize that archival photos are from "a time long ago." There was a time when everyone, everywhere "smoked." Unfortunately, "poopaganda" was part of the "selling" of a deadly addiction, very much a part of The Machine, so much more deeply understood today than In the time of Aldous. It is possible to reject ANY archival photo of a famous person that happened to contain a cigarette. (Oh, imagine if the photo is/was actually a "promo photo" from an advertisement for cigarettes?) Doctors recommended Camel's...Is that still ok? It certainly was NOT the fault of a "genius" like Huxley who simply got "hooked" like all the other suckers, just like me. I sure hate tobacco, after quitting in 1991. I have lived on to 73 because I quit smoking. Ten years older than my father, who died at the "normal smoker's age" of 63. Sorry for the digression, I MUST attack every attack I witness.

@martin92177 7 күн бұрын

I’m surprised he didn’t mention the Amish - who are very Erehwon. As a way of staying out of the tentacles of the Machine.

@revsamsonendigeri1976 13 күн бұрын

"Man😂 Dare But Machine Not"

@Lyra0966 13 күн бұрын

The machine always requires a plug or a battery.

@gedofgont1006 11 күн бұрын

And that's its Achilles heel?

@Mikkihiiri27 10 күн бұрын

the machine is pretty large, already, though, and its webs of plugs go all around. not a single source, unfortunately.

@B_Ruphe 8 күн бұрын

The system will ensure that this is not an issue. Convenience is the order of the day. Cf. cashlessness, data to the cloud, cards and keys to implanted chips.

@jaysphilosophy1951 8 күн бұрын

I think we are moving from brave new world to 1984...........

@kentvanschuyler9520 12 күн бұрын

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Let him who hath eyes to read+++

@ChucklesMcGurk 11 күн бұрын

I feel the current era is the end of humanity, there is no return from here, what is gone is lost forever. Even the people who resist the alienation are mad, just in a different way

@writingryan301 11 күн бұрын

The solution is learning to embrace the right to suffer. It's the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We must follow the servant King and suffer as he did. We just need to preach the gospel far and wide. That is the only answer to the machine. These writers arriving at these truths is paid that God exists. But they are sign posts not the destination or solution.

@rickmcentee9204 11 күн бұрын

Fair warning on trends to resist but way too pessimistic IMO. The prophesy this is based on has largely failed but people prefer doom and horror movies to enjoying all the spirit opening, community building and personal connectivity of modern times. To each their own... 👍

@letitzibz 4 күн бұрын

Another option would be reinventing society by adopting a resource-based economy, and most importantly renouncing the Monetary system and its profit-oriented madness. Renouncing Technology altogether is unnecessary since it is the result of human creativity and must be celebrated. But it does need a shift in its purpose. It doesn´t have to be Ai or going back to the Dark Ages or living with carriages and candles :)) No need for this kind of extremes. What the world needs to understand is that the profit-based society is what created this nightmare. Abolishing the monetary system the way you see suggested in the Venus Project is the closest to a solution that I have ever seen. Check the Venus Project - Jaque Fresco.

@wendyjoywelsh 11 күн бұрын

He asks: Which tools should we get rid of? Answer: The tools which are used to oppress us. We should not get rid of most of our technological advances. I disagree with this guy that the system isn’t really the problem. The system is definitely the problem. The system puts the steering wheel of progress in the hands of the oligarchs, which literally have us creating these tools which enslave us. We are directed to create these tools which monitor and control us.

@user-or2nj2cg3x 12 күн бұрын

I think without the internet i would have missed a lot and iam 70

@Truthstandsalone 10 күн бұрын

including this talk.

@willgeorge5644 14 күн бұрын

at 11:27 To become God.... This is not only what people secretly hope for, but it is God's desire for us. This is the basis of Christianity. It's "Christ in YOU, the hope of Glory".

@mongolianqwerty123 13 күн бұрын

If Christ is already within us, we do not have to create him externally. To attempt to become God is the Antichrist pattern, which resembles the Christ pattern but inverts it (fooling many)

@willgeorge5644 11 күн бұрын

@@mongolianqwerty123 "already", as in before what? Is the Holy Spirit in you, is the Holy Spirit God?

@willgeorge5644 11 күн бұрын

@@mongolianqwerty123 I was first tempted to say I agree on all points! But then, I thought I better clear up the many questions this raises! 1: "If Christ is already within us", guess this means you do believe this, but what does it look like for you? Is it different to the Holy Spirit being in you? How?

@charlesweinberg9511 12 күн бұрын

Crushed stacians (crabs) Crabs walk backwards Just to learn Always me Throughly spurned Born and bread In this small town Where psychics Souls and people Ground Children of Gods’ Lesser Kiss Tides are flowing Tides are missed Remember dear dead Brother Al Much to Old To be my Pal Men are always Cast in Stone No North Direction Home Like Water In a stagnant Pool O’Cock the O’s So Fing Cool I leave now All I L O V E At my throat With Velvet Glove My Wife, my Children All my Homes’ Cut ME Loose At last A L O N E ! Kiss88 KMA

@charlesweinberg9511 12 күн бұрын

Clatu Barda Nicto “The Day the Earth…… Kiss88