Words used within our society and their true meaning
The Apocalypedia is a fantastic book by Darren Allen, which pierces through the veil of modernity by taking common words and giving the reader their actual meaning, or defining new words which express feelings and situations that aren't typically discussed about.
Some great entries found in his free preview of his book:
gulag wisdom
n.phr advice useful in prisons, cages, death-camps and technocratic prison worlds
kinertia
n 1 to be simultaneously paralysed by emotion and provoked into restless movement by it 2 the never-ending sense that one never seems to quite have enough time while, at the same time, that nothing is ever really happening 3 constant movement at the service of nothing ever changing
materialism
n idealism by another name
phibulogmagog
n a lie so massive, so outrageous, it does not need to be (officially) concealed or denied
unhappy
adj happy, unhappy, happy, unhappy, happy, unhappy…
This is my version of his idea, with entries nowhere near as original, but still a good light-hearted exercise of honesty about the world we live in.
I will be using two types of definitions: the symbol (r) denotes the real, and the symbol (m) the meaning within the modern world and its web of beliefs. For instance, Happiness (m) Comfort, means that within our system, happiness is seen as comfort. This doesn't mean that I believe that they are the same, just that through the incredibly weird and distorted lens of our society, one gets happy by being more comfortable.
If I do not use any symbol, then it is implied to be (r), as in the original Apocalypedia, which attempts to reveal the real meaning of the words we use.
Burnout (noun)
The result of work that has become so abstract and alienating that it doesn't produce any satisfaction, as well as the constant worry induced by the micromanaging workplace
Cars
A source of debt, alienation from one's body, wasted time in traffic jams and the frustration of increasing fuel and maintenance costs
Child
A young person who lacks much experience but who also hasn't been tampered by the coercive societal program which homogenizes vibrant unique individuals with curiosity into automatons of the system
Collapse (noun)
The sobering wake-up call from reality of the unsustainable lifestyle reliant on the massive exploitation of our planet's resources and human beings
Cynicism
The misdirection of clever individuals into intellectualizing about problems they can do nothing about, as opposed to meaningful action
Death
(m) Something that happens to others but not you
Degree
The proof that one is able to obey a great deal of senseless orders and tolerate significant restriction in their freedom, including the lifelong monetary debt in some parts of the world
Economics
The field of study which justifies the parasitical activities of the technological system, and which can only produce reliable predictions in retrospect
Entertainment
The socially acceptable form of apathy 1
FOMO - Fear of missing out
The state of not being clear about what one wants out of life, and as such swept up by the obsessive quest for novelty and impressing others, commonly found on social media
Freedom
(m) Choice within the constrictions of the system
God
(m) Something we've stopped worshiping
(r) The technological system we worship by fueling its growth and maintaining it, at the expense of our freedom and quality of life
Gossip
The act of talking to distract oneself from action or uncomfortable truths, such as one's dissatisfaction in life, one's loss of agency within society, or one's death. Can also be done internally
Happiness
(m) 1. Hedonistic escape
(m) 2. Comfort
Health
(m) To be under a tolerated threshold for a set of metrics related to one's body
(r) A sense of aliveness and delight found in one's body
Holiday
House
The most expensive purchase in one's life which leads to lifelong monetary debt, used as a token for status by way of storing things one never uses, in order to be shown to other people who do not even care
Human (noun)
(m) A unit of production which needs to be managed in order to serve the technological system
(r) Someone who is able to love, grow, learn, connect, and ultimately live for something greater than his/her self
Intelligence
(m) the ability to fit in and contribute to the technological system
(r) the ability to ask the most important questions in a precise manner
Law
A kafkaesque system of restrictions and obfuscations which ultimately serve the most powerful people and the system which they depend on
Management
Largely disposable middlemen who cannot do anything else but command others
Market
A system which is able to manufacture what people desire and serve the interests of the most powerful
Meaning (noun)
(m) A story overlaid on top of reality to justify one's meaningless life within the technological system
(r) A felt sense of connection to a broader context, through other people and that which sits Outside the shell of self
News
Distraction away from what one can control, in order to induce passivity, learned helplessness, despair and anxiety
Nice (adj)
(m) A person who cannot assert their boundaries and turns it into a virtue
Normal (adj)
The most accepted form of insanity.
Natural (ajd)
(m) Denotes green stuff that has been carefully placed to give a semblance of being connected to an ecological context
(r) In accordance with the flow of conscious Life
Passion
(m) The activity which can make rich people richer and that one dislikes the least
Politics
The distraction from real agency and making sense of the world, in favor of propaganda, outrage, and a global narrative war
Progress (noun)
(m) Having the same fundamental problems but at a bigger scale
Psychology
The field of study that pathologizes and manages natural symptoms which show up in an unnatural world
Reform
The act of shifting chairs on a sinking ship
School (noun)
The trauma factory that forms automatons of the technological system
Self-help
Sleep (noun)
The usual state of modern man
Social media
Solve (a problem) (verb)
(m) To export them in space or time
Stress (noun)
Success
(m) The carrot dangled in front of people to make them play the game of society
Time
(m) The quantified abstraction used by the technological system to micromanage individuals at a large scale and make them tense about what they are not doing
True
(m) 1. What causes the least amount of cognitive dissonance in someone
(m) 2. In accordance with the collective reality
Work
(m) 1. A bottomless hole for a paycheck
(m) 2. A socially accepted form of slavery which fuels the technological system
1 See Exiting modernity: are you not entertained?
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2024-05-30