sicko-wistful

  • aaaaaaadjsf [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    2 days ago

    Ahh the idealistic idea that change/adjustment/progress is both inevitable and always positive. You’re going to hate me for this, but Samir Amin had something to say about that too.

    The fact that these adjustments can be positive or negative argues in favor of an interpretation of historical materialism based on the concept of “under-determination.” I mean by this that each of the various levels of reality (economic, political, ideological) contains its own internal logic, and because of this the complementary nature of their evolution, which is necessary to ensure the overall coherence of a system, does not define in advance a given direction for a particular evolution.

    • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.netOP
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      2 days ago

      The fact that these adjustments can be positive or negative argues in favor of an interpretation of historical materialism based on the concept of “under-determination.” I mean by this that each of the various levels of reality (economic, political, ideological) contains its own internal logic, and because of this the complementary nature of their evolution, which is necessary to ensure the overall coherence of a system, does not define in advance a given direction for a particular evolution.

      That resonates hard with me, especially after being told how I’m against the inevitabilist’s personal idea of “materialism” if I don’t agree that the latest hype wave of consumer products and worker exploitation is different this time and will revolutionize the world in a way that will totally trickle down this time for real.

      I don’t just mean treat printers. Before that I got “materialist” sophistry about internet funny money, and even a brief but fierce moment where dar le VR/AR was the revolutionary hotness.

      • aaaaaaadjsf [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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        2 days ago

        and even a brief but fierce moment where dar le VR/AR was the revolutionary hotness.

        The fact that we’ve gone through multiple phases of this in the last decade is extraordinary. First it was Oculus, then Google cardboard/daydream, then Oculus gain, then the Meta quest headsets, and finally Apple vision pro. Everytime it comes up, people are sure that this time VR will go mainstream! Maybe it’s time to accept that as social creatures, humans do not want to live with a headset strapped to their face 24/7. Hell, even when we had to cover our faces for a good cause and public benefit, like masking for a pandemic, people invented the most juvenile of excuses to not wear a mask.

        • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.netOP
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          2 days ago

          The fact that we’ve gone through multiple phases of this in the last decade is extraordinary. First it was Oculus, then Google cardboard/daydream, then Oculus gain, then the Meta quest headsets, and finally Apple vision pro. Everytime it comes up, people are sure that this time VR will go mainstream! Maybe it’s time to accept that as social creatures, humans do not want to live with a headset strapped to their face 24/7. Hell, even when we had to cover our faces for a good cause and public benefit, like masking for a pandemic, people invented the most juvenile of excuses to not wear a mask.

          Maybe one of the incarnations of “Glassholes” will finally stick around someday soon, but for now I’m enjoying the reprieve from even more socially normalized surveillance and creepshot-enjoying.