Athena Techne: An Assertion of Technical, Civilized Virtue

ISBN-13: 9781452822945 / Angielski / Miękka / 2010 / 138 str.

Lance Miller

Opis

Anthropological investigation interwoven with autobiography, Athena Techne is a call to arms for those who want civilization to succeed against the onslaught of demagogues and the weakest imaginations. The book is not a threat to any religion, it is not a call to practice Paganism in the forest. It is a call to become workers improving the grand human endeavors we call cities, the internet, space travel, and complex inter-racial, inter-cultural trade networks.

Below are quotes from Athena Techne:

The word "demiurge" is a Latinized form of Greek demiourgos, literally "public worker," and which was originally a common noun meaning "craftsman" or "artisan."

Techne can be translated "human endeavor," and zombies are those who have ceased to contribute to human endeavor. Athena Techne is a mythological goddess, a patron of human endeavor, whereas Ares, her brother, is a patron of bloodlust and dumb violence on a massive scale. Zombies listen to an unending message lodged in their heads, such as the Earth Liberation Front's message to destroy civilization in order to save Nature, or Reagan's message to downsize government and the public sphere to a point of no use, or Osama bin Laden's call for Jihad. Zombies eventually aggregate together and fight on the side of Ares.

This work recognizes a conflict that most people have not realized: a struggle between Ares and his Zombies against Athena and her Public Workers.

Techne is human endeavor, whether it be highway construction or amending the Constitution of the United States. All techne (technology) needs maintenance. Any society, as a technological object, should not be seen as inherently running well forever without intervention, nor totally run through and through with evil or stupidity. We should expect some degree of upkeep and modification. The demiurge is human endeavor's only saviour, and the demiurge is you.