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"Foucault's Pendulum" by Eco deeply impacted how I interacted with ideas. I took it as a parable about the danger of mixing dogmas or untestable hypotheses with

"Foucault's Pendulum" by Eco deeply impacted how I interacted with ideas. I took it as a parable about the danger of mixing dogmas or untestable hypotheses with crowds, conspiracy theories in that case. Ultimately, probably against Eco's intentions, it left me skeptical and increasingly dissatisfied with of a lot of his peers in continental philosophy. His view, from this article, that “semiotics is in principle the discipline studying everything which can be used in order to lie” adds an interesting spin on that. Maybe you can lie by crafting an entire belief system, start at the root and people will interpret all incoming contradictory information as falsified. That happens in a few domains. It's hard to get good antibodies in the system for those kinds of manipulation.

floathub 7y ago
Could not agree more. In fact, I find Foucault's Pendulum, in many ways, very strongly supports skepticism in all realms. And adds the sort of lovely literary tinge that if anything can be made to "prove" anything (in "The Plan"), then of course nothing truly proves anything. And so the age of modernity/reason leaves us flailing in uncertainty (science is always skeptical, never certain). And it's such a hoot to boot.
mannykannot 7y ago
At one point, the article suggests that Eco himself had his disagreements with Derrida et. al. Maybe that is what the "risks of over-interpretation" in the title is referring to.
LordN00b 7y ago
Everyone involved in the "discovery" of the conspiracy (Which was random words applied to Rosicrucians dogma?), and those who claimed that the conspiracy really did unravel the secrets of the grail, everyone (except the girlfriend, but including the protagonist) were idiots. Skepticism, rational thought, and a little application of evidence should have stopped the process in it's tracked. They all got carried away, and the lies, begat lies, that became 'a truth'. Much like fake news of today etc. Another novel of his Baudolino comes at this from a different angle, everything the protagonist says is a lie (unreliable narrator plus), yet it all comes true. I love a good Eco conversation, and all the wonderful ways you can pull it apart.

floathub 7y ago

Could not agree more. In fact, I find Foucault's Pendulum, in many ways, very strongly supports skepticism in all realms. And adds the sort of lovely literary tinge that if anything can be made to "prove" anything (in "The Plan"), then of course nothing truly proves anything. And so the age of modernity/reason leaves us flailing in uncertainty (science is always skeptical, never certain). And it's such a hoot to boot.

mannykannot 7y ago

At one point, the article suggests that Eco himself had his disagreements with Derrida et. al. Maybe that is what the "risks of over-interpretation" in the title is referring to.

LordN00b 7y ago

Everyone involved in the "discovery" of the conspiracy (Which was random words applied to Rosicrucians dogma?), and those who claimed that the conspiracy really did unravel the secrets of the grail, everyone (except the girlfriend, but including the protagonist) were idiots. Skepticism, rational thought, and a little application of evidence should have stopped the process in it's tracked. They all got carried away, and the lies, begat lies, that became 'a truth'. Much like fake news of today etc. Another novel of his Baudolino comes at this from a different angle, everything the protagonist says is a lie (unreliable narrator plus), yet it all comes true. I love a good Eco conversation, and all the wonderful ways you can pull it apart.