4 ms·

Thanks for responding in such detail, I appreciate it. So because of the supernatural elements of acquiring the unattainable would you say that it is unusable

Thanks for responding in such detail, I appreciate it. So because of the supernatural elements of acquiring the unattainable would you say that it is unusable as a real world metaphor or analogy? Or is there a real life example that you believe would fall under the category of a Faustian Bargain?

tucnak 2y ago
No, not at all it's not! The most beautiful thing about the Faustian is that it's very much applicable. You know what they say: the virtual is just as important as the real, if not more important. Like any device in language, the very application thereof is what defines, attracts, multiplies its meaning. (To risk being exactly philosophical about it: see Wittgenstein.) For something to be real, or indeed for a device like the Faustian to be useful—it must be rooted in reality, not supernatural. And yet some Acts are so exceptional, the thoughts that make them so–are so elegant, it helps to read them as divine so as not to risk colouring it mundane! I'm sure you've come across acts and thoughts like that. If you eliminate the mundane like "power" and moneys, what remains? Well, plenty remains in fact. Imagine a scientist that would try and test dangerous experimental new drugs on themselves—to save their dying daughter—disregarding the established process, in spite of conventional wisdom. There have been cases like that, and sometimes they succeed. Sometimes they don't, but it's not the outcome that makes it interesting but the act itself; this theme is explored in the second act of Faust. I'm personally fascinated by modern-day AI researchers who have clearly made the deal, and might as well succeed in it someday to build something truly godlike with no actual regard to the contemporary ontologies of human well-being. The poetic quality is beautiful in its simplicity: as long as the irreplaceable is bartered for the divine, the Faustian applies. The distribution of moneys as well as boring ideological presuppositions need not apply.

tucnak 2y ago

No, not at all it's not! The most beautiful thing about the Faustian is that it's very much applicable. You know what they say: the virtual is just as important as the real, if not more important. Like any device in language, the very application thereof is what defines, attracts, multiplies its meaning. (To risk being exactly philosophical about it: see Wittgenstein.) For something to be real, or indeed for a device like the Faustian to be useful—it must be rooted in reality, not supernatural. And yet some Acts are so exceptional, the thoughts that make them so–are so elegant, it helps to read them as divine so as not to risk colouring it mundane! I'm sure you've come across acts and thoughts like that. If you eliminate the mundane like "power" and moneys, what remains? Well, plenty remains in fact. Imagine a scientist that would try and test dangerous experimental new drugs on themselves—to save their dying daughter—disregarding the established process, in spite of conventional wisdom. There have been cases like that, and sometimes they succeed. Sometimes they don't, but it's not the outcome that makes it interesting but the act itself; this theme is explored in the second act of Faust. I'm personally fascinated by modern-day AI researchers who have clearly made the deal, and might as well succeed in it someday to build something truly godlike with no actual regard to the contemporary ontologies of human well-being. The poetic quality is beautiful in its simplicity: as long as the irreplaceable is bartered for the divine, the Faustian applies. The distribution of moneys as well as boring ideological presuppositions need not apply.