From: Walpurgis (hidden@lucifer.com)
Date: Sun Jul 28 2002 - 18:04:44 MDT
[Hermit] A distributed learning machine comprised of humans. Beneficial for itself - and for all of its members.
Thanks for the reply. Its good to get a clear understanding of the dynamic at work on the mailing list; something which the website doesn't (and can't?) cover.
[Walpurgis] I don't consider myself a Virian incidentally
[Hermit] Care to say more about this yet?
Ok.
"Virian" is a label and as such is a constraint. I’m often uncomfortable with according myself positions and espousing opinions and forming affiliations... but if I didn’t, quietism would be the only option. However, I attach certain labels to myself - like vegan or atheist - because I feel that some labels need political support, they need to be vocalised, seen. (Its also fun to play with labels and assign contradictory positions to oneself).
But people won’t see your values if they aren’t clearly labelled. They can’t talk about them as easily, and if you have no banner, you can’t march on the gates of our system of law and management to make demands. Many of these labels aren’t even strictly true - I am trying to be a vegan, but the diet is very difficult to arrange (and I would eat meat if it was part of an exotic and local dish whilst I was holidaying). I more agnostic than atheistic - but I’m certainly a political atheist and would like to see an end to Bishops in the Lords, the influence of the Archbishop (despite the fact that the new Rowan Williams seems to be a fair and liberal thinker) - the separation of church and state.
To some degree I have invested time, feeling and thought into labels I willingly attach to myself. So many positions are maintained for these reasons. As such, one can become irrational about them. Here lies a danger and an advantage. Where "Virian" is concerned, I have not had the time to invest in it as a label I would support and apply to myself, nor am I in total agreement with its principles. As "virian" isn't as broad concept like "athiest" or "enviornmentalist" I have little room for personalised and syncretic adjustment.
In short, I am ambivalent about labelling myself and have been trying to reign in what can turn into a mania (kind of like the time I went through Krafft-Ebing's "Psychopathia Sexualis". I believe I am best described as suffering "genital folly" and "degenerascence" )
Walpurgis
---- This message was posted by Walpurgis to the Virus 2002 board on Church of Virus BBS. <http://virus.lucifer.com/bbs/index.php?board=51;action=display;threadid=25797>
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