Conversation · A Brief Look at Infra-Materialism
Speakers · 15
Interfacing
Half Light
Authority
Encyclopedia
Kim Kitsuragi
Esprit de Corps
RhetoricResponses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
You spend a moment contemplating the cover's slightly unnerving swirl of orange, yellow, and green.
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Responses · 1
Responses · 5
Earlier lines · 6
- You turn to the table of contents. The guide itself is divided into several sections with seemingly esoteric titles like 'Effects of Plasm on Root Vegetables' and 'Mental Projection and Transference'. There's also a brief introduction about the life of Ignus Nilsen.
- Continue
- Continue
- Continue
- The book fits quite snugly into your palm. It would also fit comfortably into a jacket pocket.
- Continue
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
If you're like most people, you probably believe that your thoughts reside in your brain, right?
Earlier lines · 1
That's not right at all. Thoughts don't exist in the brain, they float through the air! Your brain is but a fish swimming through them...
passive · 2
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Responses · 5
Earlier lines · 1
Very interesting. And not so far removed from Ignus Nilsen's own theories...
Earlier lines · 1
As Mazov's devoted comrade and leading theoretician, Nilsen was responsible for developing much of the intellectual foundation of communism. But his interests and speculations were famously wide-ranging.
Earlier lines · 5
- Wrong! At least according to Ignus Nilsen...
- There is no evidence that the human digestive system is the seat of cognition. But let's get back to Ignus Nilsen, shall we?
- This sounds more like a question for a psychiatrist. (See also: 'A Brief Look at Psychiatry'.) But let's stick with Ignus Nilsen a moment...
- It's common for some developmentally delayed children to confuse sites of sensory input with the site of cognition. But let's get back to Ignus Nilsen, shall we?
- Very interesting. And not so far removed from Ignus Nilsen's own theories...
During his final years in exile, he produced, among other things, an early guide to homebrewing, instructions for raising revolutionary children, plans for a universal pictographic language, and a detailed materialist critique of Dolores Dei's chess strategy.
Responses · 1
But one subject he returned to time and time again was the fundamental relationship between thoughts and matter...
Earlier lines · 1
"We may yet discover," he wrote in his notebooks, "that under certain, exceptional circumstances, the proletariat's embrace of historical materialism may be so fervent that their beliefs take form in the world of matter as a kind of revolutionary 'plasm'."
Earlier lines · 2
- "We may yet discover," he wrote in his notebooks, "that under certain, exceptional circumstances, the proletariat's embrace of historical materialism may be so fervent that their beliefs take form in the world of matter as a kind of revolutionary 'plasm'."
- Certainly. In essence, Nilsen is arguing that thoughts don’t just reside inside the brain, they radiate outward from it. According to this idea, the brain is an ideological transponder, constantly emitting waves of highly politicised energy, which Nilsen called 'plasm'.
Whoa is right! What's more, Nilsen speculated that this plasm, when it becomes powerful enough, might begin to influence the material reality surrounding it. Hence the name: infra-materialism.
Earlier lines · 1
Unfortunately, Nilsen passed away before he was able to develop these initial ideas into a full-fledged theory. That work was left to subsequent generations of communist theorists...
Earlier lines · 2
- Stay with us a moment longer. What's more, Nilsen speculated that this plasm, when it becomes powerful enough, might begin to influence the material reality surrounding it. Hence the name: infra-materialism.
- Whoa is right! What's more, Nilsen speculated that this plasm, when it becomes powerful enough, might begin to influence the material reality surrounding it. Hence the name: infra-materialism.
Building on Nilsen's basic insight, these theorists reached a startling conclusion: that a sufficiently revolutionary state might begin to exhibit certain extra-physical effects based on the amount of plasm generated by its citizens.
Responses · 4
So these people are saying that if enough people just believe in communism, it will... come true?
Earlier lines · 2
- Building on Nilsen's basic insight, these theorists reached a startling conclusion: that a sufficiently revolutionary state might begin to exhibit certain extra-physical effects based on the amount of plasm generated by its citizens.
- Correct. Though certain particulars of the theory are commonly attributed to Nilsen himself, the evidentiary basis of those attributions has always been a point of contention between infra-materialists and their critics.
The actual theory is highly technical, but for the purposes of this Brief Look(TM), that's a fine working definition of the concept.
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 3
- Please, just stick with it. Otherwise, may we recommend 'A Brief Look at Words and Concepts'?
- In fact, many of infra-materialism's critics both inside and outside the communist movement have said the same thing.
- The actual theory is highly technical, but for the purposes of this Brief Look(TM), that's a fine working definition of the concept.
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Responses · 2
Earlier lines · 1
Infra-materialists divide the extra-physical effects of the revolutionary state by the level of plasm required to achieve them.
At the lowest, or first level, revolutionary plasm is believed to stimulate or invigorate matter without altering its essential properties.
Responses · 2
Precisely, though plasm does more than increase vegetable yields. It may also influence the physiology of revolutionaries themselves.
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Earlier lines · 1
It's also been postulated that plasm may account for the remarkably full and manly facial hair observed on some communist males.
Responses · 2
Earlier lines · 1
Responses · 1
Your hand feels clammy against your bare chin. You wipe it along the back of the book and keep reading...
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Of course, infra-materialists argue that revolutionary plasm may stimulate human physiology in other ways as well.
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Earlier lines · 1
That's correct! Reports from the Revolutionary period claim that the most radically devoted communards were able to engage in vigorous intercourse for up to eight hours at a time.
Earlier lines · 1
Eight hours, huh? Seems doable. Your machinery could go the distance if called upon...
passive · 6
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 2
- That's correct! Reports from the Revolutionary period claim that the most radically devoted communards were able to engage in vigorous intercourse for up to eight hours at a time.
- In fact, reports from the Revolutionary period claim that the most radically devoted communards were able to engage in vigorous sexual intercourse for up to eight hours at a time.
Earlier lines · 1
Earlier lines · 1
No wonder the communards couldn't shoot straight -- they were too shagged out!
passive · 2
Hyper-productive vegetables and ultra-horny communards are fine, but this theory hasn't quite gotten strange enough for you.
passive · 2
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Sexual euphoria... increased sensitivity to stimulation... if you didn't know better, you'd say this plasm stuff sounds a lot like being on amphetamines.
passive · 2
Earlier lines · 1
And on that note, you feel like you've gotten the general idea of Infra-Materialism. Enough to carry on a basic conversation, at least. But if you'd like to go even deeper into some of the more speculative aspects of the theory, you could always read further...
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 2
The book fits quite snugly into your palm. It would also fit comfortably into a jacket pocket.
Responses · 1
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Earlier lines · 1
Earlier lines · 1
In fact, reports from the Revolutionary period claim that the most radically devoted communards were able to engage in vigorous sexual intercourse for up to eight hours at a time.
Earlier lines · 1
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
It's also been postulated that plasm may account for the remarkably full and manly facial hair observed on many communist males.
Responses · 2
Earlier lines · 1
Responses · 1
Responses · 1
To take one example: During the Revolutionary period, many communard farmers in Graad reported extraordinary yields of certain root vegetables, most notably turnips.
Earlier lines · 1
The difference in these yields was simply too great to be accounted for by mere climate or soil conditions. The only reasonable explanation, infra-materialists argue, is the high level of revolutionary plasm emanating from the commune itself.
Even today, in parts of the SRV there are collective farms whose root vegetable yields exceed those thought possible by capitalist agronomists.
Responses · 1
Who's to say the farmers aren't just cooking the books? Sounds like obvious SRV propaganda.
passive · 1
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 1
There's probably something wrong with this theory, but you're the kind of person who believes anything they read in a book, so why don't you just roll with it?
passive · 1
Responses · 2
Earlier lines · 1
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 2
- Building on Nilsen's basic insight, these theorists reached a startling conclusion: that a sufficiently revolutionary state might begin to exhibit certain extra-physical effects based on the amount of plasm generated by its citizens.
- Correct. Though certain particulars of the theory are commonly attributed to Nilsen himself, the evidentiary basis of those attributions has always been a point of contention between infra-materialists and their critics.
Please, just stick with it. Otherwise, may we recommend 'A Brief Look at Words and Concepts'?
Earlier lines · 1
Responses · 1
Earlier lines · 2
- Building on Nilsen's basic insight, these theorists reached a startling conclusion: that a sufficiently revolutionary state might begin to exhibit certain extra-physical effects based on the amount of plasm generated by its citizens.
- Correct. Though certain particulars of the theory are commonly attributed to Nilsen himself, the evidentiary basis of those attributions has always been a point of contention between infra-materialists and their critics.
In fact, many of infra-materialism's critics both inside and outside the communist movement have said the same thing.
Earlier lines · 1
Correct. Though certain particulars of the theory are commonly attributed to Nilsen himself, the evidentiary basis of those attributions has always been a point of contention between infra-materialists and their critics.
Responses · 3
Earlier lines · 1
Certainly. In essence, Nilsen is arguing that thoughts don’t just reside inside the brain, they radiate outward from it. According to this idea, the brain is an ideological transponder, constantly emitting waves of highly politicised energy, which Nilsen called 'plasm'.