My fave Anime Princess, Eve, has allowed a certain user (who is not a pimecone, BTW) to fill the Elfin Lied hole with a timely tale of social networks and connectivity.
Lain
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Serial Experiments 12
We were looking at the basics of formal modern democratic thought, and had basically reduced the malignant Authortarian toxic meme-mimic of Natural Law to a simple set of truisms based on observable natural history. What we’re left with is not a Social Contract, a mysterious extra-legislative all-empowering and perpetually binding pre-natal “agreement” suspiciously familiar in tone and effect, but a simple nexus state from which to chart development.
Toxic Mimics
Toxic Originals
It is the nature of life systems to evolve, as opposed to being intentionally constructed. Few branches of hard science even bother to attempt a divination of inception for traces of artiface, linguistics being a notable exception. Social science loses it’s footing as science immediately when it assumes a priori that the institutions and methodologies of hierarchical social ordering apparent in such wide diversity across almost all human cultures are intentional and architectured via Social Contracting.
This is one of the many reasons that sociologists and statisticians sit at the table with the broken leg in the Faculty Dining Commons, while historians and NeoMarxian PolyEconomicists sit with the computer science and anthropology people. It does not explain why the historians occassionally huck ketchup cups at them, nor does it shed light on why all involved will blame the physicists for acts of food violence; but you digress.
Please, try to stay on message.
The alienation of humans from the basic aspects of what they as a society and as individuals actually are has accelerated in recent years, at least on the apparent level. It’s noticable by the most casual observer; and i highly suggest you try this little experiment.
First, think about the last time you walked around the neighborhood in which you live. Not as exercise; no, just to walk around the block, even better a 2-block radius. How many people live within that area? How many do you know? How many do you talk to?
Now go take that walk. Women should of course wait until daylight, or go with a freind/razor knife. If you see somebody, say “Hi”. If you don’t know them, introduce yourself as a neighbor.
Just do it. Then we’ll talk about comunitee.
Sex, Drugs, & Third-Wheel Politics 