[ExI] Mediocracy

kuromaku at hush.com kuromaku at hush.com
Thu Feb 28 13:34:58 UTC 2008


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Howdy, Extropians!

I just thought I'd advertise one of the best anti-Hughes, anti-
Carrico, anti-Vaj thinkers around that I'm aware of: namely Fabian
Tassano. Hopefully some of you are already aware of his stuff but
if not please see his Mediocracy blog at http://inversions-and-
deceptions.blogspot.com/ which is quite thought-provoking. Tassano,
the great man himself, starts introducing the idea with the words

"There is a new model of society. Let us call it mediocracy, as in:
the rule of the mediocre, the triumph of style over substance.

In a mediocracy, real cultural progress is impossible because it
requires conditions that are incompatible with a commitment to
egalitarianism. There is no room for genuine cultural innovators,
because one cannot permit any individual to think they are special.
Nevertheless, mediocracy maintains a cultural elite, to validate
its ersatz culture and to protect it from criticism.

A mediocracy lives off the cultural capital accumulated in the
past, perpetually recycling the old products, though with
increasing mockery. The illusion of cultural fitness is maintained
by having institutions with the same names as the old ones
(‘universities’, ‘philosophy’, ‘theatre’) and some resemblance to
the originals."

Tassano goes on a lot farther than most others which is why he is
worth reading. And I'd say Mediocrats are basically the worst
enemies of extropians ever as they hold so much power.

- --
Enjoy my blog at http://psychogenesis.thinkertothinker.com/
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