A New Prometheism
I have been following Jason Reza Jorjani’s audio and video interviews for three years. Here in Europe, many would frown and chuckle about placing the demonym “American” before “philosopher” as being an oxymoron. This is not the case as he offers dangerous philosophical ideas, and that is a compliment nowadays.
It took me two years to read and assimilate his first book, Prometheus and Atlas, as a deeply courageous and encouraging Heideggerian Kulturkampf text for intellectual discourse.
Has it ever happened to you that some concepts, rules, archetypes, symbols inside your head made a lot of sense being put together, but you were somehow incapable of molding that into a name, or even intelligible speech? Well, it happened to me. I was thunderstruck by Jorjani’s “Spectral Revolution” concept that placed the archetypes of Prometheus and Atlas in context and with a clear historical (and mythical) traceability. Let us remember that “context is for kings” as Captain Gabriel Lorca stated on Star Trek Discovery.
Here is my introitus based on my experience reading The Prometheist Manifesto from the official website. It is quite a compelling document that intertwines concepts seen by most people as unrelated, even some of them as outrageous coming from a scholar. I believe the attempt here is to reunite that which was dispersed, a whole body of knowledge that overcomes the centuries-old Cartesian lobotomy.
Dr. Jorjani has endeavored to continue with what started with his first book, by launching an archaic avant-garde he defines as “a techno-scientific, sociopolitical, religious, and aesthetic movement inspired by Prometheus” on the official Facebook page. A decade ago or more there was a fringe Yahoo! eGroup out there but it’s nothing compared to this (yep, I searched for the term and it is not new).
What is it about?
The adjective “Promethean” has always symbolized enlightenment and defiance to unaccountable authority. There have been movements called ‘Prometheism’ before, like Jozef Pilsudski’s during the Second Polish Republic (1918–35), to support nationalist independence among the major non-Russian peoples who lived within the borders of the Soviet Union. So, the use of this archetype is that of resistance, independence, and even a type of war.
“This is a declaration of war.” That is the Manifesto’s first line through which permeates Nietzsche’s Götzen-Dämmerung. “In the name of our liberator, we declare a revolutionary war against fatalism and every other form of tyranny!”
Our technoscience morphed the ancient idealized ‘art of war’ to evolve into a historical series of strategic power trips (and also some ego trips) from stock markets to arms races, with the occasional wars and skirmishes here and there. A Traditionalist would deem this the nemesis of the Way of the Warrior. I happen to disagree. It also has evolved, but rather half-consciously or unconsciously.
There’s never been a time in the historical record — to the best of my knowledge — with such a dire need for true challenges and constructive ideas. The blog channels are full of unproductive prolixity, heavily-hyphenated memetic filibustering, and relentless mind-numbing Red Guard-style political correctness. For this author, it is utterly boring. Why not glimpsing and examining such a still uncontested philosopher as Jason Jorjani is?
The Importance of Mythic Grandeur
Our species, within the natural order and compared to the rest of living beings, as related in Plato’s Protagoras Dialogue, is one of maladaptation, unpreparedness, and vulnerability. From a Darwinian point of view, we should not even be here, as our physique does not place us among “the fittest of the fittest”.
In this Platonic dialogue, the gods instructed the titans Prometheus (forethought) and Epimetheus (afterthought) to weed out other malformed gods and spread their abilities among the races of mortal men. Even so, we were not a good match for Epimetheus’s established equilibrium, a uniform mold or model so there would not be any species superior to others. A sort of ecological egalitarianism in which we were in fact in a condition of inferiority. Howard Bloom would call Epimetheus a “conformity enforcer”.
Thereafter, Epimetheus asked for Prometheus’s help, and having used up all the scattered remains from the malformed gods — to make the story shorter — he snuck in Hephaestus’s workshop and retrieved the fire of the forge as well as Athena’s craft of wisdom, the light of knowledge. It does make sense that fire must be owned and crafted wisely, doesn’t it?. This did not happen to appease Epimetheus’s perplexity; Prometheus, as the name indicates, envisaged our race of mortals as potential gods, as craft masters. Technoscience is the toolbox, and that fact reminds us all of one of Marshall McLuhan’s cryptic statements: “First, we build the tools, then they build us.”
Jorjani’s “Spectral Revolution” explains that we have reached this point unknowingly, inadvertently. It does in such a clear manner that some would laugh at the idea of such a Jungian-like answer being set and not being able to see it before. The archetypes acting blindfolded under “the skin of culture” and the likelihood of political and financial stakeholders making them conscious for their purposes have made it so that the fire of the forge has not been fully mastered and it has been wielded uncontrollably. There was not or barely has been any wisdom behind it.
Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset, a contemporary of Martin Heidegger, wrote about the dissociation of technique from higher education as a blind spot: “Some people are taught special techniques in specialized schools for this purpose. But not even in these are people taught what the significance of this technique is on human life, its connection to other aspects of it, its genesis, its evolution, its conditions, and its dangers. As far as universities are concerned, the technique is not even discussed there –in fact, part of their constitution is that the teaching body excludes this technique, tossing it out and relegating it to special schools. This seems to imply that technique affects specific and secondary services in life which, certainly and perforce, some people have to deal with but which does not affect human beings as a whole.” It seems the fire of the forge and the light of knowledge were separated, and the consequences of their rejoining are only for those willing to bear it.
In the myth of Prometheus, recounted by Plato, Zeus sees it necessary to send Hermes to help men acquire moral knowledge and the sense of his justice, being essential for the civilized organization within the city. Hermes, as the messenger of the gods, asked Zeus if he was expected to deliver this moral knowledge to a few men or all, without distinction. Zeus’s answer was blunt: all men must have moral knowledge because without it the existence of the polis (society) was not possible, and those unable to participate in the moral life of the city, in turn, would have to be eliminated as a disease.
Homo Sapiens is a terrible imago but this Hermetic knowledge apparently enables redemption. In other words, there is confidence in the moral capacity to be human but under Zeus’s rule. And now, the big ‘however’.
On Transhumanism
Is Transhumanism to be framed within the myth of Prometheus? Most detractors point out that this all means the human being can only be improved with technique and that the moral capacity of human nature is reduced to being false. Then, these critics turn (once again) to Nietzsche, who considered morality as a constraint for the Overman. To exercise one’s will, unlimited by reason or moral principles, and with the impetus of all the liberating force, is a work performed by individuals, not by human groups.
Let us not venture here in asking whether humans are of “divine” origin or not. One thing is for sure: acting upon whatever we believe to be true about ourselves is what matters. There seems to be a divine kinship though and the archetype of Prometheus is much closer to that than the Hermetic imposition from Zeus. Prometheus and Hermes are tricksters and our act of creation requires the tension they generate consciously.
Let us assume then that our bodies are vehicles, and if so, should we despise them or underestimate them? Vehicles can be repaired and improved, or even replaced. How we shall do that is truly a work of genius.
It seems Jorjani’s Prometheism implies that the ‘divine gift’ is a legitimate power that requires immense responsibility, a priori. Do you remember that seemingly awe-inspiring phrase Peter Parker’s uncle said to him in Spider-Man? Well, sorry but no! Power before responsibility is the formula of dictators.
For the times they have a-changed. We are rapidly approaching a technological singularity and a whole different type of ethos will be indispensable. Any thinking person would agree with Dr. Jorjani in that sense. This is about a tour d’horizon of new ideas, to welcoming some fresh air.
We will get to the technological aspects of the Singularity’s fiery forge on the next article.
Just a note: if you think some of the statements made on Jorjani’s Prometheist Manifesto are far-fetched or even crackpot delusions, you could go and have a read on reputable sources on mind control technology, technology-based geopolitics, or why Gordon White is an executive consultant to Big Business.
