is there any method to the madness? I stumbled upon some stuff and its horrifying, but could be understood from a very neutral perspective. Is it entirely full of racists and reactionaries?

  • Budwig_v_1337hoven [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Early Nick Land

    Can you point me to anything specific? I tried reading 'How to kill Oedipus in Cyberspace' and I don't think I really got anything out of that. Might be my fault though, dunno.

    • sleepdealer [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      4 years ago

      He's not an easy writer to get into in all fairness.. In order for your reading to bear fruit a foundational knowledge in Kant, Nietzche, Bataille, Marx, Deleuze/Guattari, and even some Lovecraft is very helpful.

      Also, just because Land is a full fledged reactionary these days, doesn't mean he's like one of these pseudo-intellectual figures of the alt right a la Peterson or Molyneux. Land isn't so easily dismissed in my opinion. He has an incredibly exhaustive background in continental philosophy/ critical theory which he consistently draws from and purposefully subverts at any opportunity.

      His most important essays are probably:

      “Kant, Capital, and the Prohibition of Incest”

      “Machinic Desire”

      “Meltdown”

      I would reccomend reading them in that order. As they get progressively unhinged as they go.

      I would also reccomend reading a bit on his concept of Teleoplexy and his theory of time, which is...fucking wild lol.

      This is article is a good primer for that:

      https://onscenes.weebly.com/philosophy/nick-land-on-time-teleoplexy-templexity

      Edit:

      I would also reccomend the Lemurian Time War, and the Origins of the Cthuhlu Club to get a hint of the pulp horror theory-fiction he had been trying to make as well.

      • Budwig_v_1337hoven [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        First off, thanks for that. I have read your linked primer, and I think I'm getting somewhere. Made me think of roko's basilisk a whole lot, that. I'm planning to make my way through those essays over the next days - do you mind me messaging you, if I do manage to formulate a coherent question regarding the material?

        • sleepdealer [he/him]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Not at all! Although keep in mind I'm still working on formulating my own understanding haha. Nick Land and the CCRU stuff is a fairly recent hyperfixation of mine so I've amassed a ton of resources though.

          • Budwig_v_1337hoven [he/him]
            ·
            4 years ago

            I've been fascinated by all things cybernetics since reading a whiff of Stafford Beer a while ago, so this is really getting interesting. I've been getting into the first pages of 'Kant, Capital, and the Prohibition of Incest', and there's already been a few sentences that... maybe not exactly blew my mind, but certainly were a pleasure to read and re-read. What he said about the ideal of bourgeois politics being the absence of politics; that was just chef's kiss. Anyways, I'll be logging off soon - see ya, and thanks again <3