Ginsberg's poem 'Howl' really hit me in the gut when I first read it, back in the early 60s. I've just had my own book about this subject published - it's called 'Village Building at the End of the World', and covers into much the same material as Paul's essay series on 'The Machine' (I hope it's OK to mention it here). I've referred t…
Ginsberg's poem 'Howl' really hit me in the gut when I first read it, back in the early 60s. I've just had my own book about this subject published - it's called 'Village Building at the End of the World', and covers into much the same material as Paul's essay series on 'The Machine' (I hope it's OK to mention it here). I've referred to Rudolf Steiner's work on the old Zoroastrian 'devil', Ahriman, as an embodiment of the 'dark force' that's behind all this - I think it works very well as a symbol for the relentless tenacity with which it is trying to pull us downwards into a kind of zombie state - to replace the Human with the robotic, and turn the human spirit into a nightmarish simulacrum of itself. I agree with Paul that the best way we can meet this threat is to 'turn away from the Machine in our own hearts and minds, one human soul at a time'.
Ginsberg's poem 'Howl' really hit me in the gut when I first read it, back in the early 60s. I've just had my own book about this subject published - it's called 'Village Building at the End of the World', and covers into much the same material as Paul's essay series on 'The Machine' (I hope it's OK to mention it here). I've referred to Rudolf Steiner's work on the old Zoroastrian 'devil', Ahriman, as an embodiment of the 'dark force' that's behind all this - I think it works very well as a symbol for the relentless tenacity with which it is trying to pull us downwards into a kind of zombie state - to replace the Human with the robotic, and turn the human spirit into a nightmarish simulacrum of itself. I agree with Paul that the best way we can meet this threat is to 'turn away from the Machine in our own hearts and minds, one human soul at a time'.