[109050] in Cypherpunks
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daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Anonymous)
Tue Mar 9 15:18:06 1999
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 20:56:18 +0100 (CET)
From: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Reply-To: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
At 09:08 AM 3/8/99 -0800, Bill Stewart wrote:
>that doesn't make it any easier. For instance, are Toto's
>"Sp*ce Al*ens H*de My Dr*gs" going to be interpreted by juries
>as crazed ravings by someone who really _believes_ that LGMs
>are controlling his precious bodily fluids, or as somebody
>who has a weird sense of humor? Can you be innocent on grounds
>of insanity even if you haven't actually _done_ anything? :-)
How about if your insanity is a pre-meditated self-parody of paranoia?
The SAHMD title considered by itself brings in classic
paranoid themes, including Space Aliens, hostile space
aliens, and drugs (the stimulant genre often producing
well-known temporary paranoia), including the concept
where the protagonist has, e.g., drank all his liquor
then woke up wondering who committed this unremembered act
of pharmaceutical consumption. There's even the
concept of not taking one's anti-psychotic drugs,
and waking up paranoid again. All in one title,
which gives the flavor of the fable to come.
I found subsequent tracts similarly titled to be thick
with multiple meanings and references, often requiring
some arcane history-of-practical-computing background
to understand. Easier than James Joyce but not
as readily digestable as a FAQ. Certainly not threatening:
this forum is the flood-control-structure for
the ravings of madmen, and pretend madmen. It is each of our
futurist manifestos harmlessly tossed into the ether,
bounced off other minds or ignored altogether.
It is widely known to be monitored by exactly the people
who are offended. And we encourage each other's paranoia
as a profesional exercise.
--------------------
"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws."
-- Ayn Rand, "Atlas Shrugged"
