Babylon

by Виктор Пелевин

  Let us draw our first conclusion. Corresponding to the object of the second type, that is, to a television that is switched on, we have a subject of the second type - that is, a virtual viewer, who manages his or her attention in exactly the same way as a programme production crew does. Feelings and thoughts, as well as the secretion of adrenalin and other hormones in the viewer’s organism, are dictated by an external operator and determined by the calculations of another individual. And of course, the subject of the first type does not notice the moment when he is displaced by the subject of the second type, since following this displacement there is no longer anyone to notice it, as the subject of the second type is unreal.

  But it is not merely unreal (this word is in effect applicable to everything in the human world). There are no words to describe the degree of its unreality. It is a heaping of one unreality upon another, a castle constructed of air, the foundations of which stand upon a profound abyss. The question might arise: why are we wallowing in these non-existences, attempting to gauge the degree of their unreality? However, this difference between subjects of the first and second types is of extreme importance.

  Subject number one believes that reality is the material world. But subject number two believes that reality is the material world as it is shown on the television.

  As a product of false subject-object division, subject number one is illusory. But at least there is an observer of the chaotic movement of his or her thoughts and moods - in metaphorical terms we can say that subject number one is constantly watching a television programme about himself or herself, gradually forgetting that he or she is an observer and identifying with the programme.

  From this point of view subject number two is something absolutely improbable and indescribable. It is a television programme watching another television programme. Emotions and thoughts participate in this process, but the individual in whose consciousness they arise is entirely absent.

  The rapid switching of a television from one channel to another, which is used to avoid watching the advertisements, is known as zapping. Bourgeois thought has investigated in considerable detail the psychological condition of the individual who engages in zapping, and the corresponding thought patterns, which are rapidly becoming the basic forms of the modem world. But the type of zapping that is considered by the researchers of this phenomenon corresponds only to switching between channels by the viewer.

  The switching to and fro of the viewer that is controlled by the producer and cameraman (that is, the forcible induction of subject number two by means of technomodifications) is a different type of zapping, a coercive form, study of which is effectively prohibited in every country of the world except Bhutan, where television is forbidden. But coercive zapping, whereby the television is converted into a remote control for the viewer, is not simply one method among others of organising an image sequence; it is the very foundation of television broadcasting, the major means by which the advertising-informational field exerts its influence on consciousness. From this point on, therefore, we shall refer to the type-two subject as Homo Zapiens, or HZ.

  Let us repeat this extremely important conclusion: in the same way as a viewer who does not wish to watch the advertisements switches between television channels, instantaneous and unpredictable technomodifications switch the actual viewer to and fro. Assuming the condition of Homo Zapiens, the viewer becomes a remotely controlled television programme. And he or she spends a significant part of his life in this condition.

  Comrades in the struggle! The position of modern man is not merely lamentable; one might even say there is no condition, because man hardly exists. Nothing exists to which one could point and say: ‘There, that is Homo Zapiens.’ HZ is simply the residual luminescence of a soul fallen asleep; it is a film about the shooting of another film, shown on a television in an empty house.

  At this point the question logically arises of why modern man has found himself in such a situation. Who is trying to replace the already deluded Homo Sapiens with a cubic metre of empty space in the condition of HZ?

  The answer, of course, is clear: nobody. But let us not become fixated on the bitter absurdity of the situation. In order to understand it in greater depth, let us recall that the main reason for the existence of television is its advertising function, which is indissolubly linked with the circulation of money. We shall therefore have to turn our attention to that area of human thought which is known as economics.

  Economics is the name of a pseudo-science that deals with the illusory relations between subjects of the first and second types as they are involved in the hallucinatory process of their imaginary enrichment.

  This discipline regards each individual as a cell of an organism that the economists of the ancient world knew as Mammon. In the educational materials of the Front for Full and Final Liberation it is called simply ORANUS (which translates into Russian as ‘moutharse’). This more accurately reflects its real nature and leaves less scope for mystical speculation. Each of these cells - that is, each individual, when regarded as an economic entity -possesses a kind of social membrane that allows money (which plays the role of blood and lymph in the organism of oranus) to pass into and out of the cell. From the point of view of economics, the function of each of these cells is to absorb as much money as possible through this membrane and to release as little as possible back through it.

  But the imperative of oranus’s existence as a whole requires its cellular structure to be bathed in a constantly increasing stream of money. Therefore oranus, in the process of its evolution (and it is located at a level of evolution close to that of a mollusc) develops a primitive nervous system, the so-called ‘media’. This nervous system transmits throughout its virtual organism impulses that control the activity of the monadic cells.

  These impulses are of three types, which are called oral, anal and displacing wow-impulses (from the commercial ejaculation ‘wow!’).

  The oral wow-impulse induces a cell to ingest money in order to eliminate its suffering as a result of the conflict between its self-image and the image of the ideal ‘super-self created by advertising. Note that the point does not lie in the things that can be bought for money in order to embody this ideal ‘self - the point lies in the money itself. Certainly, many millionaires walk around in rags and drive cheap cars, but in order to be able to do that one has to be a millionaire. A poor man in the same circumstances would suffer inexpressible agonies as a result of cognitive dissonance, which is why many poor people will spend their last penny in an effort to dress well.

  The anal wow-impulse induces the cell to eliminate money in order to experience pleasure from the coincidence of the above-mentioned images.

  Since the two actions described (the ingestion of money and its elimination) contradict each other, the anal wow-impulse acts in a concealed form, and the individual genuinely believes that the pleasure is derived not from the act of spending money, but from the acquisition of a certain object. But of course it is quite obvious that as a physical object a watch that costs fifty thousand dollars cannot afford an individual any greater pleasure than a watch that costs fifty dollars - the whole point lies in the amount of money involved.

  The oral and anal wow-impulses are so called by analogy with sphincteral functions, although it would be more accurate to compare them with inhaling and exhaling; the sensation that they induce is akin to psychological asphyxia, or, by contrast, hyperventilation. This oral-anal irritation achieves its greatest intensity at the gaming table in the casino or during speculation on the stock market, although the means of wow-stimulation may take any form.

  The displacing impulse suppresses and displaces from an individual’s consciousness all psychological processes that might hinder total identification with a cell of oranus. It arises when a psychological stimulus contains no oral-anal components. The displacing impulse is a jamming signal that blocks the transmission from an undesirable radio-station by gen
erating intense interference. Its mode of action is admirably expressed in the sayings: ‘Money talks, bullshit walks’ and, ‘If you ‘re so clever, show me your money.’ Without this lever of influence oranus would not be able to make individuals function as its cells. Under the influence of the displacing impulse, which blocks out all subtle psychological processes that are not directly related to the circulation of money, the world comes to be seen exclusively as the embodiment of oranus. This produces terrifying results. For instance, one broker from the London Stock Exchange has described his hallucinatory vision of the world, induced by the displacing wow-impulse as follows: ‘The world is a place where business meets money.’

  It is no exaggeration to say that this psychological condition is widespread. All the questions dealt with in modem economics, sociology and culturology are in effect the description of metabolic and somatic processes occurring in the organism of oranus.

  By its nature oranus is a primitive virtual organism of a parasitic type. Its distinctive feature is that it does not attach itself to any single donor organism, but makes other organisms into its own cells. Each of its cells is a human being possessing unlimited potential and endowed by nature with the right to freedom. The paradox lies in the fact that oranus as an organism stands much lower on the evolutionary scale than any of its cells. It is incapable of abstract thought, or even of self-awareness. One might say that the famous eye in the triangle that is depicted on the one-dollar note actually sees nothing. It was simply daubed on the surface of the pyramid by some cartoonist and nothing more. Therefore, to avoid confusing the theorists of conspiracy, with their inclination to schizophrenia, it would be more correct to cover the said eye with a black blindfold.

  Oranus has neither ears, nor nose, nor eyes, nor mind. And of course, it is far from being the embodiment of evil or the spawn of hell that many representatives of the religious business would have it be. In itself it wishes for nothing, since it is simply incapable of wishing in the abstract. It is an inane polyp, devoid of emotion or intention, which ingests and eliminates emptiness. Each of its cells is potentially capable of realising that it is not one of oranus’s cells at all, in fact just the opposite: that oranus is merely one of the insignificant objects of its mind. It is in order to block this possibility that oranus requires the displacing impulse.

  Previously oranus possessed only a vegetative nervous system, but the emergence of the mass media has allowed it to evolve, developing a central nervous system. In our times oranus’s most important nerve ending, which reaches every individual, is the television. We have already mentioned that the consciousness of the television viewer is displaced by the consciousness of the virtual Homo Zapiens. Now let us consider the mode of action of the three wow-impulses.

  In his or her normal state the human individual is theoretically capable of identifying the wow-impulses and resisting them. But Homo Zapiens in unconscious fusion with a television broadcast is no longer a personality, merely a condition. Subject number two is not capable of analysing events, in exactly the same way as an electromagnetic recording of a cock crowing is incapable of it. Even the illusion of critical assessment of what takes place on the screen is itself part of the induced psychological process.

  After every few minutes of a television programme - that is, within the consciousness of subject number two - a sequence of advertising clips is shown, each of which is a complex and carefully constructed combination of anal, oral and displacing wow-impulses, which resonate in phase with various cultural strata of the psyche.

  To employ a crude analogy with physical processes, the patient is first anaesthetised (subject number one is displaced by subject number two) and then follows a rapid and intensive session of hypnosis, each stage of which is fixed in the memory by means of a conditioned reflex mechanism. At some stage subject number two switches off the television and once again becomes subject number one - that is, an ordinary individual. After that he no longer receives the three wow-impulses directly. But an effect is produced similar in nature to residual magnetisation: the mind begins to produce the same influences for Itself. They arise spontaneously and act as a background against which all other thoughts appear. While the subject in the condition of HZ is subject to the three wow-impulses, on returning to a normal condition he or she is subjected to the action of the three wow-factors that are automatically generated by his or her mind.

  The constant and regular assumption by an Individual of the condition of HZ and exposure to the displacing wow-impulse lead to the development in consciousness of a specific filter that allows the ingestion of only that information which is saturated with oral-anal wow-content. The individual, therefore, is not even afforded the capability of inquiring after his or her own true nature.

  But just what is this true nature?

  By virtue of a number of circumstances that we have no space to deal with here, each individual can only answer that question for himself or herself. No matter how lamentable the condition of the ordinary individual might be, he or she still has the opportunity to find an answer. But subject number two has no such opportunity, since he or she does not exist. Despite this (or possible, precisely because of it), the media system of oranus, which transmits the three wow-impulses through the informational field, confronts HZ with the question of self-identification.

  Now we come to our most interesting and paradoxical conclusion. Since subject number two does not possess any inner nature, the only possible answer for it is to define itself via a combination of the material objects shown on the television, which are quite clearly neither it nor any part of it. This is reminiscent of the method of apophatic theology, in which God is defined through what He is not, only here we are dealing with apophatic anthropology.

  For subject number two the only possible answer to the question ‘What am I?’ is:Iam the individual who drives such-and-such a car, lives in such-and-such a house, wears such-and-such a type of clothes.’ Identification of the self is only possible through the compilation of a list of goods consumed, and transformation is only possible by means of a change in the list. Therefore, most objects advertised are associated with a specific personality type, character trait, propensity or quality. The result is a completely convincing combination of these properties, propensities and features, which is capable of producing the impression of a real personality. The number of possible combinations is practically unlimited, as is the scope for choice. Advertising formulates this as follows:Iam a calm and self-confident individual, therefore I buy red slippers.’ The type-two subject, wishing to add to its collection the qualities of calmness and self-confidence, achieves this by remembering that it must buy red slippers, which is accomplished under the influence of the anal wow-factor. In the classic case the oral-anal stimulation forms a closed loop, as in the famous instance of a snake biting its own tail: you need a million dollars to buy a house in an expensive neighbourhood, you need the house to have somewhere to wear your red slippers, and you need red slippers to provide you with the calmness and self-confidence that will allow you to earn a million dollars, in order to buy the house in which you can wear the red slippers, thus acquiring the qualities of calmness and confidence.

  When oral-anal stimulation forms a closed loop, we can say that the goal of advertising magic has been achieved: an illusory structure is created that has no centre, although all objects and qualities are related to each other via a fictional centre that is called ‘identity’.

  Identity is the type-two subject at the stage of development when it is capable of existing independently without constant activation by the three wow-impulses, under the influence only of the three residual wow-factors, generated independently by its own mind.

  Identity is a false ego, which says everything there is to be said about it. In its analysis of the modern human situation, bourgeois thought regards the violent escape from identity back to one’s own ego as a tremendous spiritual achievement. Perhaps that really is
the case, since the ego is non-existent in relative terms, while identity is absolutely non-existent. The only difficulty with this is that it is impossible, since there is nowhere to escape from or to and nobody to escape. Despite that, however, we might allow that in this situation the slogans ‘Back to the ego!’ or ‘Forward to the ego!’ do acquire, if not actual meaning, then at least a certain aesthetic justification.

  The superimposition of the three wow-impulses on the more subtle processes taking place in the human psyche is the source of all of the mediocre variety of modern culture. A special role is played in this by the displacing impulse. It is like the rumbling of a pneumatic drill, which drowns out all other sounds. Any external stimuli apart from the wow-oral and wow-anal impulses are filtered out, and the individual loses interest in everything that has no oral or anal component. In this brief article we do not consider the sexual aspect of advertising, but let us note in passing that more and more frequently sex becomes attractive only because it symbolises the vital energy of youth that can be transformed into money. This can be confirmed by any competent psychoanalyst. In the final analysis the modern individual experiences a profound distrust of practically everything that is not connected with the ingestion or elimination of money.

  Externally this is manifested in the fact that life becomes ever more boring, and people become evermore cold and calculating. In bourgeois science the new code of behaviour is usually explained by the attempt to maintain and conserve emotional energy, which is a response to the demands of the corporate economy and the modern lifestyle. In actual fact there is no less emotional content in human life, but the unremitting influence of the displacing wow-factor results in all of the individual’s emotional energy being shunted into psychological processes related to oral and anal wow-content. Many bourgeois specialists instinctively sense the part played by the mass media in the paradigm shift that is taking place, but as comrade Allende junior used to say, ‘They are searching for a black cat which has never existed in a dark room which will never exist.’ Even when they go so far as to call television a prosthetic support for the wrinkled and withered ‘self, or say that the media inflate a personality that has become unreal, they are still missing the point.