the WILLIAM SEWARD BURROUGHS thread

[kid charlemagne]

bob dylan on cut up writing

 

[mvuent]

I had a thought last night that if what Burroughs says about us developing towards astral projection into space and shedding the body is true and that the controllers will die if that happens so they're desperate to prevent it then you could posit the internet as some sort of snare or decoy.

We gradually shed the body, but, rather than traveling into space, we're funneled into cyberspace. A prison for the astral body that's still governed by the controllers.

I'm picturing the collection of venom from a snake or semen from a horse by tricking them into thinking they're interacting with another organism. A hijacking of the biological functions steering them into a cul-de-sac.

legendary post. increasingly i feel like the trap is more temporal than spacial.

i used to think my problem was hanging out on the wrong sites. that doomscrolling twitter or especially reddit was inherently spiritually numbing. but then why did i keep coming back? i always had to grudgingly admit that there was some positive aspect to the experience. it may be pseudo-astral projection, a faulty facsimile of a more profound state, but the internet’s endless expanse of content is amazing. and occasionally it shows you something important.

yet berardi noted that while cyberspace is unlimited, cybertime isn’t. i think that disjunct is what’s so malevolent about the internet. it gives you infinite space to wander around in without making you immortal. it's an instrument of control rather than liberation because, as burroughs said, control needs time (@sus).

this is reflected in my own decade plus of farcical attempts to stop wasting my life on the internet. blocking certain sites never seems to work; with the usual cunning of an addict, i find new ways to be unproductive. it’s only by limiting my usage to certain time windows that i’ve had any success. but the problem now is i keep getting around it by changing the time zone setting on my computer—pretending i’m outside of time.

 

[IdleRich]

 

[IdleRich]

this is reflected in my own decade plus of farcical attempts to stop wasting my life on the internet. blocking certain sites never seems to work; with the usual cunning of an addict, i find new ways to be unproductive. it’s only by limiting my usage to certain time windows that i’ve had any success. but the problem now is i keep getting around it by changing the time zone setting on my computer—pretending i’m outside of time.

Did you ever read that novel The Fermata? I've often thought that if I could gain a magic power or superpower then the one to go for would be the ability to step out of time like the protagonist of that book (though without the aging).

 

[mvuent]

no i've never read any books for the reasons described above but that does sound cool.

 

[sus]

legendary post. increasingly i feel like the trap is more temporal than spacial.

i used to think my problem was hanging out on the wrong sites. that doomscrolling twitter or especially reddit was inherently spiritually numbing. but then why did i keep coming back? i always had to grudgingly admit that there was some positive aspect to the experience. it may be pseudo-astral projection, a faulty facsimile of a more profound state, but the internet’s endless expanse of content is amazing. and occasionally it shows you something important.

yet berardi noted that while cyberspace is unlimited, cybertime isn’t. i think that disjunct is what’s so malevolent about the internet. it gives you infinite space to wander around in without making you immortal. it's an instrument of control rather than liberation because, as burroughs said, control needs time (@sus).

this is reflected in my own decade plus of farcical attempts to stop wasting my life on the internet. blocking certain sites never seems to work; with the usual cunning of an addict, i find new ways to be unproductive. it’s only by limiting my usage to certain time windows that i’ve had any success. but the problem now is i keep getting around it by changing the time zone setting on my computer—pretending i’m outside of time.

What would you prefer to be doing with your time?

 

[Mr. Tea]

this is reflected in my own decade plus of farcical attempts to stop wasting my life on the internet. blocking certain sites never seems to work; with the usual cunning of an addict, i find new ways to be unproductive. it’s only by limiting my usage to certain time windows that i’ve had any success. but the problem now is i keep getting around it by changing the time zone setting on my computer—pretending i’m outside of time.

I'm convinced the internet is such an advanced time-wasting technology that it's now possible to waste 25 or even 30 hours in a single day.

 

[kid charlemagne]

legendary post. increasingly i feel like the trap is more temporal than spacial.

i used to think my problem was hanging out on the wrong sites. that doomscrolling twitter or especially reddit was inherently spiritually numbing. but then why did i keep coming back? i always had to grudgingly admit that there was some positive aspect to the experience. it may be pseudo-astral projection, a faulty facsimile of a more profound state, but the internet’s endless expanse of content is amazing. and occasionally it shows you something important.

yet berardi noted that while cyberspace is unlimited, cybertime isn’t. i think that disjunct is what’s so malevolent about the internet. it gives you infinite space to wander around in without making you immortal. it's an instrument of control rather than liberation because, as burroughs said, control needs time (@sus).

this is reflected in my own decade plus of farcical attempts to stop wasting my life on the internet. blocking certain sites never seems to work; with the usual cunning of an addict, i find new ways to be unproductive. it’s only by limiting my usage to certain time windows that i’ve had any success. but the problem now is i keep getting around it by changing the time zone setting on my computer—pretending i’m outside of time.

i relate to this. even when i decide to "take a break" from certain sites, I always find that my productivity will only increase for a few days and then stagnate. the time i spent on a site i am off of, i now just put on some other doomscrolling site.

 

[mvuent]

What would you prefer to be doing with your time?

dunno, suppose i could spend even more time wandering around the office complexes near my apartment

 

[sus]

dunno, suppose i could spend even more time wandering around the office complexes near my apartment

I took a 3-meo-pcp trip last night for the first time in a while, and it was boring and terrible while I was on my computer, and then I walked around the neighborhood and it was great, and I thought about this comment. They're trying to prevent us ascending, that's what I thought

 

[WashYourHands]

It’s called Walkabout

Many US urban centres don’t really want you to ascend, compare east and west coasts

I dunno though, is this why people are increasingly doing daft jumps over building rooftops with Aussie breakdance heel flicks and lethal drops everywhere? “I WANT TO ASCEND MYSELF AND MY FEARS!”. Sure, just watch the crumbling edges and cracked fascia boards

 

[WashYourHands]

There’s the Stan option too, where you invert ascending by taking a heroic dose and jumping out of a plane

 

[version]

 

[kid charlemagne]

i saw that.... not going to try and read too into anything until i see the film

 

[Corpsey]

I guess that answers my question on the other thread

 

[IdleRich]

So Craig David is Burroughs... or Lee whatever? Hmmm, seems strange casting.

 

[dilbert1]

Why did they release that clip

 

[kid charlemagne]

yea idk, honestly the visual sheen doesnt look great, and it doesnt feel like a great representation of gross raunchiness that the characters and book should be adapted to... also just release a trailer ffs