Awesome article, Erik. I can't read about the power of the negative octopus image in political art without taking a tour through the peri-natal matrix work of Stanislav Grof. One time when I was working with him on a publishing project, we were standing in a big work space in the art department, talking about the cover for his work. As part of the conversation, he busted out his powerpoint slide deck on this topic (very specifically the use of octopuses as a negative symbol in political art) and began giving an impromptu talk. Eventually, everyone in the art department was crowded around this one screen, totally fascinated.
He related the strange, magnetic power of these images to upset and disgust us (Why do pictures of octopuses seem sinister?) to negative experiences some infants experience in what he calls the third stage of the Basic Perinatal Matrix (BPM III), which include accidental strangulation with the umbilical cord, etc. Grof says that the trauma of such birth experiences is unresolved in people, and some images (such as octopuses) trigger this trauma.
In any case, not saying I buy the theory, but couldn't resist sharing here.
Thanks for this. As soon as I sent off this article I realized there was *so much* more to say about the octopus as a psychological and mythopoetic image (as well as how cool cephalopods are, and therefore abused by the negative imagery!). Science fiction is dripping with alien cephalopods, no doubt for similar reasons, Another email I got referred to these Pari-natal possibilities.
I have mixed opinions about Grof's whole theory, but it stays with me. In a way, it is a sociobiological theory that also functions as a Freudian idea: early traumatic experience, in the body as well as the mind, sets up the templates for all the liminal spaces to come. The paradox Grof is such a mystic Jungian cosmist and yet his theory is a "reductionist" idea that is too much even more mainstream Freudian psychology!
But I suspect it has something to do with icky cephalopods.
Every time I see a reference to an octopus, I think of grigori on the beach with Katje. Grigori was trained with Pavlovian techniques. It seems your mythical octopuses have a Pavlovian reaction to the smell of money
Yeah there is so much to say about octopi from a literary or mythopoetic perspectives. All the tentacled SciFi creatures—Alien, War of the Worlds—especially. I hadn't thought about Grigori, but that is a sweet—if troubling—resonance. And further fire under my ass to write here about Gravitys Rainbow, the great California-spawned conspiracy novel!
How could one forget the adenoid? Part of my struggle in writing about GR here is that since most people havent read it, I either write about incomprehensible things OR take waaayyyy too long explaining things, which isnt ultimately what I am interested in. I think I have a way though...keep your eyes peeled!
Also if you havent definitely check out the podcast Death Is Just Around the Corner. Its funny, wry, and conspiratorial in the best sense---meaning not feverish, realistic, psychologically sophisticated, and plausible (hint: the CIA did in JFK). But the bonus is that the dude is a total Pynchon head. I listened to the Crying of Lot 49 episodes and they were brilliant, and there are like 5 on GR that I haven't listened to yet. The guy is smart about literature and philosophy, but he reads Pynchon as coded conspiracies that go farther than the text--very interesting!
I’ll check it out. You are probably familiar with the Pynchon in public podcast. They discussed the whole book, but I came across an interesting take GR on the Supercontext podcast. They also did some on Lovecraft
Speaking of monopolies, and perhaps more to the point: the centralization of power and its caustic effect on those who have little to none. I've spent the last few weeks studying the rise of Amazon.com, google, Microsoft and Facebook. While most of these companies have faced a variety of anti trust allegations and paid big fines, none have been broken up or have had yet to deal with a slew of new federal regulations. This may come, but until that happens, all I see is government collaboration with big tech increasing.
It's becoming clearer just how big of a game changer big data and artificial Intelligence (AI) is. The pentagon has given hundreds of military contracts to these tech giants, some of which are shrouded in secrecy and are difficult to find info on due to a layer of subcontracts and shell companies. Some info has come out via FOIA requests.
Anyhow, it is my somewhat conspiratorial belief that the new arms race is between China and the US, and AI is both the battleground and the prize. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has recently made comments regarding Chinese spies stealing tech secrets and how the US needs to stop China from winning this tech battle. He mentioned the threat of an authoritarian super power with little concern for human rights using technology to further its economic growth and destroy private industry.
I found myself in the strange world of agreeing with a military intelligence industrial talking head.... yet, I also recognize that these tech giants are currently using AI data collection on us and have the power to manipulate a population in ways that would make Orwell blush. This type of power is something you might imagine occurring in a sci-fi book, yet we are seeing just the beginning of what looks like a new arms race.
One of the most convincing conspiracy theories I've come across lately is the World Economic Forum's Great Reset and Fourth Industrial Revolution. In many ways, its not even a conspiracy theory, their aims are shared openly and you can listen to the world they want us to live in. Private property won't really exist. Automation and AI will do most of the work. A universal basic income will become commonplace. The list is too long to repeat here, but needless to say some of it sounds MAYBE ok, while other aspects sound somewhat dystopian.
Meanwhile in China:
China is going cashless. They have launched social credit apps. They have video surveillance cameras going up in even rural areas. Jaywalkers will see their photo appear on digital screens on the streets as a way to shame them into subservience. Other crimes will result in automatic subtraction of your digital currency. There are efforts to use data to predict crimes or socially unacceptable behavior. They have re-education camps. You don't dare speak ill of the government, especially online.
Anyhow, I can't help but be utterly amazed at the pickle we've gotten ourselves in to. Our technology is threatening to enslave us. Centralized power seems to get more Orwellian the more powerful and more centralized it becomes. If Facebook or Amazon seems to have too much power and influence, wait till you see governments implement these tools for social control.
Does this sound conspiratorial or merely realistic?
I think Erik’s point is one that he frequently asserts in his writing: conspiracy theories have been around forever. It is simply part of human nature to be suspicious of elites and those in power. Erik’s inference in this piece (and others) seems to be that our conspiratorial history is better understood as a psychological phenomenon rather than as a factual reality. But Erik cleverly leaves the door open and you have rightly put your finger on the compelling nature of our present peril.
9/11 and now COVID-19 have brought many thoughtful people into the alternative narrative scene. I find it to be a disquieting place. It assumes a fundamental mistrust of our fellow man. The best answer I have found is to put my attention upon the creation of a better world and not stress over the machinations of the powerful. The conspirators exist but in the end, the good people of the world will prevail.
I have found so much value in connecting with people lately (mostly on zoom and within communities of really thoughtful and bright people) and bridging any perceived divides that any mistrust lingering about in this liminal space we find ourselves in dissipates to some degree. I was definitely not disagreeing with Erik's historical take on the conspiracy narratives and how they often exaggerate the situation... yet I do find some level of signal or coherence emerging from the many sources of information I look into. Instead of following conspiracy theorists, I have made an effort to study the words of those in positions of power and who are alleged to be conspiring. It may not exactly bring clarity of intent, but it does make it easier to determine whether or not I can live with the world they seem to be describing. As I tried to describe in my post, I can see some net positives and some less positive outcomes... I merely want to share my insights in the hope that us less powerful sorts might ask ourselves if this is the world we want to live in. Thanks for your thoughtful response... and I hope you are right that the good people of the world will prevail.
Yossarian I took your concerns to heart, and I do not deny the thrust of your account, nor do I find it particularly conspiratorial. The struggle with China, with AI and data surveillance as new fields of battle, is clearly underway. I am outright shocked when I encounter people on the left who discount all the Western concerns about China as just CIA lies and propaganda. Its another example of a common problem in conspiracy thinking: if nefarious actors in the CIA or representative of "the System" bring public attention to actual phenomenon (like re-education camps for Uighers, or pro-democracy activists in HK), or even provide money and resources to the latter, does that mean the phenomenon doesn't exist, or is totally false, or worthy of dismissal? Of course not. Instead, actual realities—from dreadful things like re-education camps to flickering lights like the HK activists—are themselves "weaponized" by forces and powers; its more about the selection of the reality field than the outright engineering of the reality field. And these actors have multiple agendas: both cynical power games that merely manipulative public opinion AND the journalistic/open society values of anti-totalitarianism. You can be cynical about the open society and the violence it depends on, but that should be a different thing from believing that the open society and a totalitarian state like China are the same things.
Yes a pickle!
As for the Great Reset, I think it is important to distinguish between two things: 1) a conflict between a reformist agenda and a conservative/libertarian agenda within the management of the global economy by elites—and 2) another replay of the New World Order populist fears concerning evil elites whose every technocratic revision becomes a form of mindrape.
With the Great Reset, it seems clear that conservative climate denying elites are weaponizing NWO and Covid-enineered paranoia as a way to drag what should be a more wonky discussion about resetting the global economy into fear and paranoia. Why? Because they are defending (a rather old and naive idea of) "freedom"? Sure, at least in part. But they also have vested interests in business as usual—oil, for example. Do I think the reformist elites have our best interests at heart? Not really. I do believe some of them are studying climate projections and other future scenarios that are a lot closer to my own sense of the future, and are justifiably concerned. But do they also want to lock in their own privilege, as if floating off into a hyperwealthy orbit like something out of William Gibson? More or less, at least a lot of the time. That's why I hope that journalists, critics, and non-paranoids can use whatever remains of the Open Society to nudge and push and yell and condemn to move it in the right direction, like UBI.
Crises are obviously good opportunities to change working arrangements, and while crises can sometimes be engineered to take advantage of the chaos (like Klein's "shock and awe" thesis), it seems more important to stay focused on agendas and actors that are happening than in succumbing to the narratives of powerful puppet masters turning us all into dupes. That is a very attractive narrative, because it provides a kind of powerless power, and a sense of righteousness, and of prophetic rage. But perhaps its the non-dupes who are the deeper dupes.
In terms of manipulating crises: One of the main problems in conspiracy thinking is to backdate "the plan" to include Event X rather than acknowledging that all we can really say a lot of the time is that once Event X happens, then a variety of actors, recognizing the contingency of the situation, aggressively implement plans—already cooked up through various scenario castings— to manipulate X as quickly as they can for their own, sometimes terrible motivations. If one of those actors succeeds, it is very easily to backdate X so that it appears to be part of a larger plan.
Our brains work this way, our narratives of evil work this way, our obsession with control and our terror of contingency all push us towards these kinds of backdated narratives. So...9/11 makes possible both the Patriot Act and further warring with Iraq, THEREFORE 9/11 was an intentional part of the master plan. (I am leaving aside discussions of some of the physical evidence here, which still puzzles me.)
Event X is now Covid, and with it the shuddering of a global economy already confronting the limits of growth, climate crisis, and our psychic and socio-cultural self-disemboweling through technology and surveillance capitalism. As the stakes raise, my sense is that every major actor—governments, corporations, think tanks, militaries, NGOs—are moving full speed ahead with their particularly contingency plans.
Yes a pickle! Faced with this, I am with you and Harold: build solidarity and spirit and critical conversations with the good people (and the good earth), even as we keep one eye on the machinations of the archons.
Revelatory typo: "incoporeal" – which I guess reflects how police are the embodiment of authority
Ha!
Awesome article, Erik. I can't read about the power of the negative octopus image in political art without taking a tour through the peri-natal matrix work of Stanislav Grof. One time when I was working with him on a publishing project, we were standing in a big work space in the art department, talking about the cover for his work. As part of the conversation, he busted out his powerpoint slide deck on this topic (very specifically the use of octopuses as a negative symbol in political art) and began giving an impromptu talk. Eventually, everyone in the art department was crowded around this one screen, totally fascinated.
He related the strange, magnetic power of these images to upset and disgust us (Why do pictures of octopuses seem sinister?) to negative experiences some infants experience in what he calls the third stage of the Basic Perinatal Matrix (BPM III), which include accidental strangulation with the umbilical cord, etc. Grof says that the trauma of such birth experiences is unresolved in people, and some images (such as octopuses) trigger this trauma.
In any case, not saying I buy the theory, but couldn't resist sharing here.
Thanks for this. As soon as I sent off this article I realized there was *so much* more to say about the octopus as a psychological and mythopoetic image (as well as how cool cephalopods are, and therefore abused by the negative imagery!). Science fiction is dripping with alien cephalopods, no doubt for similar reasons, Another email I got referred to these Pari-natal possibilities.
I have mixed opinions about Grof's whole theory, but it stays with me. In a way, it is a sociobiological theory that also functions as a Freudian idea: early traumatic experience, in the body as well as the mind, sets up the templates for all the liminal spaces to come. The paradox Grof is such a mystic Jungian cosmist and yet his theory is a "reductionist" idea that is too much even more mainstream Freudian psychology!
But I suspect it has something to do with icky cephalopods.
Every time I see a reference to an octopus, I think of grigori on the beach with Katje. Grigori was trained with Pavlovian techniques. It seems your mythical octopuses have a Pavlovian reaction to the smell of money
Yeah there is so much to say about octopi from a literary or mythopoetic perspectives. All the tentacled SciFi creatures—Alien, War of the Worlds—especially. I hadn't thought about Grigori, but that is a sweet—if troubling—resonance. And further fire under my ass to write here about Gravitys Rainbow, the great California-spawned conspiracy novel!
Not an octopus, but don’t forget the giant slurping adnoid
Yes I will often prod you to discuss GR. It’s my favorite book and it’s so hard to find anyone that’s actually read it
How could one forget the adenoid? Part of my struggle in writing about GR here is that since most people havent read it, I either write about incomprehensible things OR take waaayyyy too long explaining things, which isnt ultimately what I am interested in. I think I have a way though...keep your eyes peeled!
Also if you havent definitely check out the podcast Death Is Just Around the Corner. Its funny, wry, and conspiratorial in the best sense---meaning not feverish, realistic, psychologically sophisticated, and plausible (hint: the CIA did in JFK). But the bonus is that the dude is a total Pynchon head. I listened to the Crying of Lot 49 episodes and they were brilliant, and there are like 5 on GR that I haven't listened to yet. The guy is smart about literature and philosophy, but he reads Pynchon as coded conspiracies that go farther than the text--very interesting!
I’ll check it out. You are probably familiar with the Pynchon in public podcast. They discussed the whole book, but I came across an interesting take GR on the Supercontext podcast. They also did some on Lovecraft
Speaking of monopolies, and perhaps more to the point: the centralization of power and its caustic effect on those who have little to none. I've spent the last few weeks studying the rise of Amazon.com, google, Microsoft and Facebook. While most of these companies have faced a variety of anti trust allegations and paid big fines, none have been broken up or have had yet to deal with a slew of new federal regulations. This may come, but until that happens, all I see is government collaboration with big tech increasing.
It's becoming clearer just how big of a game changer big data and artificial Intelligence (AI) is. The pentagon has given hundreds of military contracts to these tech giants, some of which are shrouded in secrecy and are difficult to find info on due to a layer of subcontracts and shell companies. Some info has come out via FOIA requests.
Anyhow, it is my somewhat conspiratorial belief that the new arms race is between China and the US, and AI is both the battleground and the prize. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has recently made comments regarding Chinese spies stealing tech secrets and how the US needs to stop China from winning this tech battle. He mentioned the threat of an authoritarian super power with little concern for human rights using technology to further its economic growth and destroy private industry.
I found myself in the strange world of agreeing with a military intelligence industrial talking head.... yet, I also recognize that these tech giants are currently using AI data collection on us and have the power to manipulate a population in ways that would make Orwell blush. This type of power is something you might imagine occurring in a sci-fi book, yet we are seeing just the beginning of what looks like a new arms race.
One of the most convincing conspiracy theories I've come across lately is the World Economic Forum's Great Reset and Fourth Industrial Revolution. In many ways, its not even a conspiracy theory, their aims are shared openly and you can listen to the world they want us to live in. Private property won't really exist. Automation and AI will do most of the work. A universal basic income will become commonplace. The list is too long to repeat here, but needless to say some of it sounds MAYBE ok, while other aspects sound somewhat dystopian.
Meanwhile in China:
China is going cashless. They have launched social credit apps. They have video surveillance cameras going up in even rural areas. Jaywalkers will see their photo appear on digital screens on the streets as a way to shame them into subservience. Other crimes will result in automatic subtraction of your digital currency. There are efforts to use data to predict crimes or socially unacceptable behavior. They have re-education camps. You don't dare speak ill of the government, especially online.
Anyhow, I can't help but be utterly amazed at the pickle we've gotten ourselves in to. Our technology is threatening to enslave us. Centralized power seems to get more Orwellian the more powerful and more centralized it becomes. If Facebook or Amazon seems to have too much power and influence, wait till you see governments implement these tools for social control.
Does this sound conspiratorial or merely realistic?
It’s both.
I think Erik’s point is one that he frequently asserts in his writing: conspiracy theories have been around forever. It is simply part of human nature to be suspicious of elites and those in power. Erik’s inference in this piece (and others) seems to be that our conspiratorial history is better understood as a psychological phenomenon rather than as a factual reality. But Erik cleverly leaves the door open and you have rightly put your finger on the compelling nature of our present peril.
9/11 and now COVID-19 have brought many thoughtful people into the alternative narrative scene. I find it to be a disquieting place. It assumes a fundamental mistrust of our fellow man. The best answer I have found is to put my attention upon the creation of a better world and not stress over the machinations of the powerful. The conspirators exist but in the end, the good people of the world will prevail.
I have found so much value in connecting with people lately (mostly on zoom and within communities of really thoughtful and bright people) and bridging any perceived divides that any mistrust lingering about in this liminal space we find ourselves in dissipates to some degree. I was definitely not disagreeing with Erik's historical take on the conspiracy narratives and how they often exaggerate the situation... yet I do find some level of signal or coherence emerging from the many sources of information I look into. Instead of following conspiracy theorists, I have made an effort to study the words of those in positions of power and who are alleged to be conspiring. It may not exactly bring clarity of intent, but it does make it easier to determine whether or not I can live with the world they seem to be describing. As I tried to describe in my post, I can see some net positives and some less positive outcomes... I merely want to share my insights in the hope that us less powerful sorts might ask ourselves if this is the world we want to live in. Thanks for your thoughtful response... and I hope you are right that the good people of the world will prevail.
Yossarian I took your concerns to heart, and I do not deny the thrust of your account, nor do I find it particularly conspiratorial. The struggle with China, with AI and data surveillance as new fields of battle, is clearly underway. I am outright shocked when I encounter people on the left who discount all the Western concerns about China as just CIA lies and propaganda. Its another example of a common problem in conspiracy thinking: if nefarious actors in the CIA or representative of "the System" bring public attention to actual phenomenon (like re-education camps for Uighers, or pro-democracy activists in HK), or even provide money and resources to the latter, does that mean the phenomenon doesn't exist, or is totally false, or worthy of dismissal? Of course not. Instead, actual realities—from dreadful things like re-education camps to flickering lights like the HK activists—are themselves "weaponized" by forces and powers; its more about the selection of the reality field than the outright engineering of the reality field. And these actors have multiple agendas: both cynical power games that merely manipulative public opinion AND the journalistic/open society values of anti-totalitarianism. You can be cynical about the open society and the violence it depends on, but that should be a different thing from believing that the open society and a totalitarian state like China are the same things.
Yes a pickle!
As for the Great Reset, I think it is important to distinguish between two things: 1) a conflict between a reformist agenda and a conservative/libertarian agenda within the management of the global economy by elites—and 2) another replay of the New World Order populist fears concerning evil elites whose every technocratic revision becomes a form of mindrape.
With the Great Reset, it seems clear that conservative climate denying elites are weaponizing NWO and Covid-enineered paranoia as a way to drag what should be a more wonky discussion about resetting the global economy into fear and paranoia. Why? Because they are defending (a rather old and naive idea of) "freedom"? Sure, at least in part. But they also have vested interests in business as usual—oil, for example. Do I think the reformist elites have our best interests at heart? Not really. I do believe some of them are studying climate projections and other future scenarios that are a lot closer to my own sense of the future, and are justifiably concerned. But do they also want to lock in their own privilege, as if floating off into a hyperwealthy orbit like something out of William Gibson? More or less, at least a lot of the time. That's why I hope that journalists, critics, and non-paranoids can use whatever remains of the Open Society to nudge and push and yell and condemn to move it in the right direction, like UBI.
Crises are obviously good opportunities to change working arrangements, and while crises can sometimes be engineered to take advantage of the chaos (like Klein's "shock and awe" thesis), it seems more important to stay focused on agendas and actors that are happening than in succumbing to the narratives of powerful puppet masters turning us all into dupes. That is a very attractive narrative, because it provides a kind of powerless power, and a sense of righteousness, and of prophetic rage. But perhaps its the non-dupes who are the deeper dupes.
In terms of manipulating crises: One of the main problems in conspiracy thinking is to backdate "the plan" to include Event X rather than acknowledging that all we can really say a lot of the time is that once Event X happens, then a variety of actors, recognizing the contingency of the situation, aggressively implement plans—already cooked up through various scenario castings— to manipulate X as quickly as they can for their own, sometimes terrible motivations. If one of those actors succeeds, it is very easily to backdate X so that it appears to be part of a larger plan.
Our brains work this way, our narratives of evil work this way, our obsession with control and our terror of contingency all push us towards these kinds of backdated narratives. So...9/11 makes possible both the Patriot Act and further warring with Iraq, THEREFORE 9/11 was an intentional part of the master plan. (I am leaving aside discussions of some of the physical evidence here, which still puzzles me.)
Event X is now Covid, and with it the shuddering of a global economy already confronting the limits of growth, climate crisis, and our psychic and socio-cultural self-disemboweling through technology and surveillance capitalism. As the stakes raise, my sense is that every major actor—governments, corporations, think tanks, militaries, NGOs—are moving full speed ahead with their particularly contingency plans.
Yes a pickle! Faced with this, I am with you and Harold: build solidarity and spirit and critical conversations with the good people (and the good earth), even as we keep one eye on the machinations of the archons.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Erik! I see a lot of wisdom and truth in this counter narrative! Hahaha... seriously though, good stuff.
Speaking of William Gibson -https://onezero.medium.com/william-gibson-takes-aim-at-the-silicon-valley-he-helped-create-in-an-exclusive-excerpt-of-agency-97c3604fbcde