“Perfect Imperfection” – Jacek Dukaj and the power of evolution
Jacek Dukaj rocks. Another Polish science fiction writer, after Stanislav Lem, has a chance to become a cornerstone on the road of science fiction, another pillar in the cathedral of mind. His “Ice” will be soon translated into English. We should campaign for translation of “Perfect Imperfection” as well. Here’s why.
It suffices to read the synopsis of Dukaj’s book “Perfect Imperfetion” (2004) to become aware of the reach of his dashing vision. The vision, contrary to what many SF writers produce these days, is rooted in the hitherto scientific knowledge and remains at least coherent with the potential future prospect of science. What is more – and very important for me as a philosopher – it is also coherent with the hitherto state of the art in psychology, social sciences and philosophy.
Dukaj envisions a world I would deem “probable” in spite of the fact he pushes the narrative nine centuries ahead. A world in which “Homo Sapiens” as we know it is a relatively inferior race among other races, many of which take the form of disembodied intellects that treat the carriers of their sensors as a secondary and replaceable items (Lem’s ideas from “Golem XIV” come to mind immediately, rather than Stapledon “Last and First Men”).
What is interesting, in Dukaj’s vision evolutionarily higher beings are not hostile towards the non-augmented biological humans. Quite to the contrary – the latter, although not very numerous, are treated with reverence characteristic for the monks. After all, leading analog life with a low information processing ability is a hard task and deserves respect. A population of traditionally living humans pin-points what humanity is and remains an ethical point of reference for those who left flesh behind.
The plot of this monumental work starts when Adam Zamoyski, who used to live in XXIst century, is brought back to life. To cope with the overabundance of stimuli and psychologically unharnessed phenomena he initially perceives the world through a “veil” that downgrades the reality he lives in through brain implants, thus allowing to process it without overheating. But the implants malfunction as a result of an assassination attempt. Moreover, Adam learns that, technically speaking, he is a property of some rich gentleman…
The ideas of human evolution presented in the book are holistic and will be fascinating even for the geeks that consider themselves already well acquainted with the perspectives of our science and civilization. I will not write more about the book here, as there is a very well written essay in English by Luke Maciak, where you can find – among others – a consolation from booksellers in case you do not read Polish: an English translation of Dukaj’s another novel (“Ice”) is being prepared.
Atlantic Books acquired world rights, excluding Poland, to Ice by Jacek Dukaj, a “philosophical and historical adventure”. Nic Cheetham, publishing director at imprint Corvus, bought the rights directly from Pawel Ciemniewski at Wydawnictwo Literackie, Dukaj’s Polish publishers. Corvus plans to publish Ice, which won the Polityka Prize for the “Most Important Polish novel of the last 20 years”, in June 2012.
Time will come for “Perfect Imperfection” as well.
So arm yourself with the virtue of patience and take some action by sending an email in English here – j.dabrowska@wydawnictwoliterackie.pl, telling you’re a very influential public person and nagging: “When will the English translation of Perfect Imperfection be ready?”
In the meantime, you can read the links below.
Google search – a few non-standard tricks
We use Google daily- the ability to use it determines the quality of our access to information. Below some non standard commands which might be useful in daily work of a journalist and researcher. I confess I note them here to have a fast access in case I would once forget them:
+ and - || cut or enrich search outcome
examples: opera +poland or computers -shopping -buy
they serve to either couple two words sort out the unwanted content from search results. The latter example will allow to find infromation about computers that is not coupled with shopping or buying.
.. || numerical range
examples: 10..20 pounds dinner
this serves to search to find some words in the range of related quantities.
~ || a word with its synonyms
examples: netbook ~advice
This will search for a word with its synonyms. E.g. a search above will look for the word “netbook” coupled with synonyms of “advice”, like “advice” itself, “help”, “guide” etc.
filetype: || only files with certain extension
examples: ancient civilization filetype:ppt
This is a search for all possible file extensions like ppt (PowerPoint), doc (Word), pdf (Adobe) or any other. Very useful. The example above will look for all ppt files in the web that contain “ancient civilization” in the file name.
site: || searching within one site
examples: unemployment site:guardian.co.uk
This is very useful to search portals or large web clusters in order to finds specific keywords. The phrase aboove will look for all content on guardian.com that relate to unemployment.
cache: || displaying a cache copy of a website
examples: cache:onet.pl
This is useful when one cannot access certain sites (e.g. blocked access in a company), as it asks Google to show the image of a site “remembered” by Google cache bots, which is different from viewing a page itself.
Note: this post will be occasionally updated after I come across something extremely useful, to form, with time an abundant set of tricks.
Curious detail: you can demonstrate these searches to others through a site called let me Google this for you. Simply paste the relevant example into the window, and the link containing animated search results will appear.
“The camera is on us , baby” – Stephen King’s advice on writing literature
Rarely does a advice of a famous writer make sense to the extent of making an impact on the publicist’s mood. Too often the Famous ones treat giving advice as an opportunity to boast about their own accomplishments. Luckily, Stephen King’s advice on how to write (originallly published as an excerpt from his “On Writing” by ‘the Guardian’) is a short but witty, amusing and readable piece:
1. The basics: forget plot, but remember the importance of ‘situation’
I won’t try to convince you that I’ve never plotted any more than I’d try to convince you that I’ve never told a lie, but I do both as infrequently as possible. I distrust plot for two reasons: first, because our lives are largely plotless, even when you add in all our reasonable precautions and careful planning; and second, because I believe plotting and the spontaneity of real creation aren’t compatible.
A strong enough situation renders the whole question of plot moot. The most interesting situations can usually be expressed as a What-if question:
What if vampires invaded a small New England village? (Salem’s Lot).
What if a young mother and her son became trapped in their stalled car by a rabid dog? (Cujo).
These were situations which occurred to me – while showering, while driving, while taking my daily walk – and which I eventually turned into books. In no case were they plotted, not even to the extent of a single note jotted on a single piece of scrap paper.
2. Similes and metaphors – the rights, the wrongs
When a simile or metaphor doesn’t work, the results are sometimes funny and sometimes embarrassing. Recently, I read this sentence in a forthcoming novel I prefer not to name: ‘He sat stolidly beside the corpse, waiting for the medical examiner as patiently as a man waiting for a turkey sandwich.’ If there is a clarifying connection here, I wasn’t able to make it.
My all-time favourite similes come from the hard-boiled-detective fiction of the 40s and 50s, and the literary descendants of the dime-dreadful writers. These favourites include ‘It was darker than a carload of assholes’ (George V Higgins) and ‘I lit a cigarette [that] tasted like a plumber’s handkerchief’ (Raymond Chandler).
3. Dialogue: talk is ‘sneaky’
It’s dialogue that gives your cast their voices, and is crucial in defining their characters – only what people do tells us more about what they’re like, and talk is sneaky: what people say often conveys their character to others in ways of which they – the speakers – are completely unaware.
Well-crafted dialogue will indicate if a character is smart or dumb, honest or dishonest, amusing or an old sobersides. Good dialogue, such as that written by George V Higgins, Peter Straub or Graham Greene, is a delight to read; bad dialogue is deadly.
4. Characters: nobody is the ‘bad-guy’
The job boils down to two things: paying attention to how the real people around you behave and then telling the truth about what you see. It’s also important to remember that no one is ‘the bad guy’ or ‘the best friend’ or ‘the whore with a heart of gold’ in real life; in real life we each of us regard ourselves as the main character, the protagonist, the big cheese; the camera is on us , baby. If you can bring this attitude into your fiction, you may not find it easier to create brilliant characters, but it will be harder for you to create the sort of one-dimensional dopes that populate so much pop fiction.
5. Pace: fast is not always best
Pace is the speed at which your narrative unfolds. There is a kind of unspoken (hence undefended and unexamined) belief in publishing circles that the most commercially successful stories and novels are fast-paced. Like so many unexamined beliefs in the publishing business, this idea is largely bullshit… which is why, when books like Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose suddenly break out of the pack and climb the bestseller lists, publishers and editors are astonished. I suspect that most of them ascribe these books’ unexpected success to unpredictable and deplorable lapses into good taste on the part of the reading public.
I believe each story should be allowed to unfold at its own pace, and that pace is not always double time. Nevertheless, you need to beware – if you slow the pace down too much, even the most patient reader is apt to grow restive.
6. Do the research, but don’t overdo it for the reader
You may be entranced with what you’re learning about flesh-eating bacteria, the sewer system of New York, or the IQ potential of Collie pups, but your readers are probably going to care a lot more about your characters and your story.
Exceptions to the rule? Sure, aren’t there always? There have been very successful writers – Arthur Hailey and James Michener are the first ones that come to my mind – whose novels rely heavily on fact and research. Other popular writers, such as Tom Clancy and Patricia Cornwell, are more story-oriented, but still deliver large dollops of factual information along with the melodrama. I sometimes think that these writers appeal to a large segment of the reading population who feel that fiction is somehow immoral, a low taste which can only be justified by saying, ‘Well, ahem, yes, I do read [fill in author's name here], but only on airplanes and in hotel rooms that don’t have CNN; also, I learned a great deal about [fill in appropriate subject here].’
© 2000 Stephen King.
Having read this, I found another quote about King by Harold Bloom, from Bloom’s Modern Critical Views: STEPHEN KING, Chelsea , which echoes Oscar Wilde’s idea that bad poetry is sincere (p.3):
I cannot locate any aesthetic dignity in King’s writing: his public could not sustain it, nor could he. There is a palpable sincerity to everything that he has done: that testifies to his decency, and to his social benignity. Art unfortunately is rarely the fruit of earnestness, and King will be remembered as a sociological phenomenon, an image of the death of the Literate Reader.
Should this be true, shall we still appreaciate King’s remarks on good writing or not?
King once told about himself that he is an equivalent to a Big Mac and fries in literature. Should we take him seriously in case we aim at writing something more subtle than bigmacs?
TEDx Goodenough College: Collapse of Complex Society: Learning From History
Check out my TEDx talk on ‘Collapse of Complex Society: Can We Learn From History?‘ at the Goodenough College, London. Watch it at TEDx event website or directly at YouTube.
The talk relates two great sociopolitical entities: Roman Empire and European Union thanks to the concepts of “complexity” and “energy”. To fulfill a promise of showing Roman history “in 20 seconds”, I first introduce the two concepts on the example of transition from a hunter-gatherer society to an agricultural society. Then I present Joseph Tainter’s view on the collapse of Roman Empire (collapse as an economizing process) to juxtapose Roman Empire with the European Union and show substantial structural differences between them. Comparing past historical misery of the partitioned Poland to its current standing in the EU we can reach some optimistic conclusion.
Check out all TEDx Goodenough College videos at tedxgoodenoughcollege.com.
“Why the West Rules” – a milestone in Philosophy of History!
Ian Morris in his book “Why the West rules – for now” (2010) created something remarkable: an index of social advancement which allows us to compare societies from the past, present times and – possibly – future. The index consists of four variables: energy capture, war making capacity, organization and information technology. Apart from usefulness of the index in prognostics, he fulfilled something that other academics have not even dreamt of.
To put this thought bluntly, he accomplished something which I myself vaguely considered as a goal towards which one should tend in academic career, while studying philosophy of history.
Time to redefine the goals.
If you are least a bit interested in history, you must read this. Forget Hegel, forget the others. Morris is empirical, adequate and modest.
First of all, listen to him explaining the Grand Work on Youtube… in only 3 minutes !
If you are inclined to know more, download the detailed methodological account covering significant amounts of the book content here (PDF).
Jared Diamond said about this book:
“Here you have three books wrapped into one: an exciting novel that happens to be true; an entertaining but thorough historical account of everything important that happened to any important people in the last ten millennia; and an educated guess about what will happen in the future. Read, learn, and enjoy!”
I totally agree.
“Philosoverse” – philosophers and poetry
Some students of the Philosophy Department at London School of Economics seem to have poetic inclinations. “Philosoverse” – a recent publication by LSE contains poetic contributions exploring various aspects of philosophers’ lives and biographies. As the editors put it:
Philosophy and poetry are disciplines with well-deserved reputations as superlative modes of expression. Philosophy is admired for its concise and logical argumentation, poetry for its metaphor and emotional evocation. But historically and conceptually they aren’t all that far apart. Both aspire to a level more fundamental than that of our daily lives – expressing and exposing what is hidden beneath the surface of everyday concerns.
Plato made no secret of his aversion to verse, but there is a long tradition of thinkers … who have combined the subtle cadence of poetry with the intellectual heft of rational argument. The desire to merge the poetic medium with the pursuit of philosophical investigation is what gave birth to Philosoverse.
For Your enjoyment, the whole publication is available online here. Check out my contribution and footnotes about Rene Descartes.
Network Medievalism. Welcome to the New Middle Ages!
Welcome to the New Middle Ages! Casimir Pulaski Foundation has just published my policy paper that sketches a framework for an integral theory of social change called “network neomedievalism”.
DOWNLOAD the English version of the paper.
The paper (available also in Polish) is based on an article published previously in Polish Pressje Quarterly (No XX, 2010). Apart from the concise elaboration of the original theses, the paper suggests an application of the theory to understand current international standing of Poland.
Islamic Experience on Russell Square
Arabic notation of "Gregory" (written down by a Muslim artist) juxtaposed with the telling eyes of Virgin Mary. In Muslim tradition Miriam is a mother of Isa (Jesus), an important prophet.
LONDON, a city where people preach on the streets. While I was returning from a supermarket, a leaflet advertising Islamic fair was presented to me. “Meet your neighbours” – says the leaflet. “Free admission” – has it. Well, despite not promising the free meal it convinced me. Why not to have Islamic experience?
In the middle of the Russel Square garden they raised a white tent. Just by the entrance a desk with a booklet “Islam – a brief tour” – (about Muslim contribution to the world culture) and a variety of leaflets containing essays on Muslim contribution to the natural sciences. They are filled with Quranic fragments covering the importance of medicine, biology and chemistry. I collect them all.
Ah – another one – the light blue title page featuring the reflexes of the sunlight tries to attract the attention of the reader. “Who is Allah?” – asks the white font. Let’s see. As I read all five columns of the leaflets, the image of a magnificent, peaceful, truth-loving God emerges, which is almost indistinguishable from what I was taught about Christianity. One of the sections, entitled “What does Allah look like” (sic!) speaks about the lack of any need to picture Him and concludes that the exact details are known “to Allah alone”. Then I read about God as “all-knowing Creator”. Seems familiar. Just a few months ago I read the 800-pages long masterpiece of Toynbee, who claimed Islam merged some tenets of Judaism and early Christianity (monophysitism). There must be serious amount of truth in this statement…
Suddenly, a kind boy in a fluorescent cloth approaches me. On my uttering I am interested in their culture he disappears behind the paper wall featuring Islamic exhibition just to return with a bag filled with reading materials and… a copy of Quran. He then adds that – should I be interested – their fair is also present near the tube station, where the suicide bombings took place some time ago. They also offer Quran for free in that place – to show the TRUE and not the WICKED face of their religion. Why not to place another Holy Book on my bedside table? I thankfully accept the gift.
My new Quran is translated by Yusuf Ali. But wait a second. Had not some Muslim friend told me once that translating Quran is forbidden? I find an answer to this question on page 2: “[Quran] is beyond any translation to render all [its] richness of expression in another language. Yet, the Qur’an is primarily a book of guidance and must, therefore, be accessible to those who seek the truth contained in it. Whilst a translation cannot be an authoritative replacement of the original, it can make the meaning of its verses available to a non -Arabic speaking readership”. Good – now I understand why the book I hold in my hands is called “The Meaning of THE HOLY QUR’AN” and not just “Quran”. What we have here – I said to my spirit – is a trick to obey the spirit of the law without obeying its letter. But then – my spirit keeps nagging me – is “The Meaning of Qur’an” IN FACT a proper “Quran”? Well – yes. Well – no. It’s formally an interpretation, not Quran itself, but it serves as a proper Quran for millions of non-Arabic speaking people. I finally reach the conclusion that – philosophically speaking – the translation keeps Quranic syntax and approximated semantics, but denotation and proper semantics remain different (and incomparable). My spirit murmurs: “weird”.
After studying the exhibition featuring the whole biography of Muhammad (hmm… no single mention about violent part of His life) I had my name written in Arabic and I was introduced to five pillars of their faith. After I got particularly interested in the black irregular circle accompanying many religious names, I was told that EVERY time they mention Muhammad or other religious leaders, they add a phrase “peace and blessings be upon Him” next to their name. In historical religious texts, where these names appear thousands of times – they also obey this rule. And to make text readable they use a graphic font-circle that contains the whole phrase (written in small font calligraphic Arabic).
During the whole event dozens Muslim children were running around, caring mothers watching them. When I was leaving, my spirit told me – “it’s VERY INDICATIVE as to which culture will prevail in the post-Western Europe”.
ANYWAY:
“Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon Him)” = “Prophet Muhammad (@)“.
Welcome to the New Middle Ages!
I czytajcie “Pressje”.
