“People tell you the computer is just a handier, more complex kind of typewriter. But that isn't true. The typewriter is an entirely external object. The page floats free, and so do I. I have a physical relation to writing. I touch the blank or written page with my eyes - something I cannot do with the screen. The computer is a prosthesis. I have a tactile, intersensory relation to it. I become, myself, an ectoplasm of the screen. And this, no doubt, explains, in this incubation of the virtual image and the brain, the malfunctions which afflict computers, and which are like the failings of one's own body. On the other hand, the fact that priority belongs to the network and not to individuals implies the possibility of hiding, of disappearing into the intangible space of the Virtual, so that you cannot be pinned down anywhere, which resolves all problems of identity, not to mention those of alterity. So, the attraction of all these virtual machines no doubt derives not so much from the thirst for information and knowledge as from the desire to disappear, and the possibility of dissolving oneself into a phantom conviviality. A kind of 'high' that takes the place of happiness. But virtuality comes close to happiness only because it surreptitiously removes all reference from it. It gives you everything, but it subtly deprives you of everything at the same time. The subject is, in a sense, realized to perfection, but when realized to perfection, it automatically becomes object, and panic sets in.”
Quote by Jean Baudrillard
Work
The Intelligence of Evil or the Lucidity Pact
Browse quotes and source details for this work. more
Author
You May Also Like
Source: The Waters
Source: Il cavaliere inesistente
Source: Il cavaliere inesistente
“Wojna to trochę rzeźnia, a trochę rutyna i nie ma co czepiać się zanadto szczegółów.”
Source: Il cavaliere inesistente
Source: Il cavaliere inesistente
“[...] a życie to tylko tarzanie się między łóżkiem a trumną [...]”
Source: Il cavaliere inesistente
“I ja także chcę tylko jednego: być kimś, kto wie, czego chce!”
Source: Il cavaliere inesistente
Source: Il cavaliere inesistente
Source: Evanglie gnostique de la vérité
