<nettime> maxnmherman@hotmail.com Xx

[nettime's it's-all-too-much-but-at-the-moment-there-is-time-digest <nettime@kein.org>]

From: Max Herman <maxnmherman@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: <nettime> coronavirus questions
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2020 14:45:07 +0000
To: James Wallbank <james@lowtech.org>, "nettime-l@mail.kein.org"
	<nettime-l@mail.kein.org>

   Hi James,

   Complexity is a huge factor I agree, for human history writ large but
   yes also for various economic models.

   In a way, both unregulated free markets and excessive central planning
   are maladaptive, sort of like genetic inbreeding that causes
   fragility.  The all-or-nothing of Marx v. Smith debate is rather 18th
   c., frankly reminiscent of antique doctrinal and liturgical warfare.
   Networks in nature mix both.  One of my favorite articles of late is:

   "Integral feedback control is at the core of task allocation and
   resilience of insect societies."
   Link:  [1]https://www.pnas.org/content/115/52/13180

   Network theory is the key, but it has to get over its digital and cyber
   fixations as well as its cozy theoretical cocoon and gold-fever
   buffoonery -- we have to live this stuff!  It was here, analog, in
   cells and brains long before the first PC or printing press.  The first
   cave paintings and guttural utterances were about it, and were it.

   As we live daily today, network thinking and practice have to be
   working and evolving at all levels and locales.  You cover your sneeze,
   I cover mine; don't sell the wild fowl at the market next to the
   domestic fowl.  It's all network reality.  They call it network
   medicine in cases like we have today, but just like in category theory
   once you start talking about relationships rather than objects as the
   locus of activity you need to go "all the way up" (and as Hemingway
   said only bullfighters ever live their lives all the way up).  In
   category theory and the new math of equivalence they call it "infinity
   categories."  This has a rich heritage however in Ovid and Lucretius
   plus most indigenous henges and origin myths.  It also means we have to
   flip a large complex system-pancake; we have to do network medicine,
   network economics, network math, network literature, network art,
   network physics, network elementary art education, network cooking
   dinner, and we have to do them all all at once.

   But we don't have to be perfect or pure.  Just apply reasonable amounts
   of network thinking to all spheres (art/literature/science/selfhood
   etc.) in just proportion, what the ancient Greeks called "dike," with
   reasonable consistency (of which we are all a priori capable ) and all
   manner of thing shall be well.

   Today is an important day to remember the Hippocratic Ethos.  Smith
   wrote that without moral judgment capitalism cannot function, and
   socialism can also take a lesson from Hippocrates.  This alone is
   enough to put the battle to rest a bit or at least on hold, but we
   ought also to ponder mayhaps the dicta "physician heal thyself" and "in
   this the patient must minister unto himself."

   My other fragmentary hope of late is for Bernie to be like the Hulk and
   join the Avengers.

   All very best to all,

   Max
     __________________________________________________________________


From: Max Herman <maxnmherman@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: <nettime> coronavirus questions
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2020 14:59:46 +0000
To: "sebastian@rolux.org" <sebastian@rolux.org>, "nettime-l@kein.org"
	<nettime-l@kein.org>

   That's a lot to discuss in one email!

   Here they call it COVID-19 which I prefer as a name.  I had an
   interesting short conversation at a standup pizza gathering with
   extended family last weekend.  I said, "I wish I knew more biology so I
   could understand what the hell is going on.  What even is a virus?
   What do they do?"  One person, young, who studies bogs, said "They
   aren't even alive, they're just this floating stuff that attacks and
   hijacks our cells."  This made me think of shadows, demons, and
   ghosts.  We talked about "they are the undead."  (This reminds me now
   of the native American term "indeh" for the dead.)  Then I had an image
   of something like flaking skin or paper in a copy machine, little bits
   that floating around and goofed up the printing plans.  Then I thought
   this was like a cloud-mirror or fugue-plate of unintended consequence
   itself, the inevitable side effect of events happening in a complex yet
   finite system.  A bit like static cling, but with biotoxic
   inflections.  I was reminded of a word I learned recently,
   "abiogenic."

   Here we are all taking the Hippocratic approach and staying fairly
   calm.  There's a sense that it will all blow over like the flu does
   every year, or maybe not, in which case goodness knows, hellstorm city.

   Is there such a thing as New Wave without cameras or film?  I guess I'd
   say it has to bring forth the Old Wave, the original very oldest wave
   of all waves.  As if time were a wave, or were waves.  Minds are always
   capable of being reminded, so time and network time are important.  If
   only there were an email discussion list, cross-disciplinary, about
   network time to help the Hippocratic discussion, theory, and practice
   across spheres, and people really cared about it, used it, made the
   most of it.
     __________________________________________________________________


From: Max Herman <maxnmherman@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: <nettime> coronavirus questions
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2020 15:04:29 +0000
To: Felix Stalder <felix@openflows.com>, "nettime-l@mail.kein.org"
	<nettime-l@mail.kein.org>

   I like this post Felix!  It strikes me as having a very Hippocratic
   ethos.

   Certainly at the very subtlest levels of the being (not soul, but
   what?  person?  human?) there are truths that need to be perceived with
   nuance often denied even or especially to the ways we make our art and
   literature lately.

   Perhaps it is an integrative and syncretic time, for better and for
   worse.
     __________________________________________________________________

From: Max Herman <maxnmherman@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: <nettime> COVID-19 questions
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2020 16:33:53 +0000
To: "sebastian@rolux.org" <sebastian@rolux.org>, "nettime-l@kein.org"
	<nettime-l@kein.org>

   Hi Sebastian,

   I think it is worth considering the ancient "goat song" in this current
   crisis.

   The goat song started out as a dance people did in ancient Greece when
   sacrificing a goat in order to get the gods' help in a crisis.  They
   danced together and sang words together to help the group "get on the
   same page."  Another aspect was to do the goat-song-dance for the grape
   harvest, when things were good, more like comedy in that the characters
   in such settings would survive and laugh rather than die.

   The main crises in ancient times were plague, and its political
   sibling, tyranny.  These were the topics of the goat-song: Classical
   Greek trag�di'a, contracted from trag(o)-aoidia = "goat song", which
   comes from tragos = "he-goat" and aeidein = "to sing" (cf. "ode").

   Here is one interpretation we might want to consider somewhat:

   "Anyway, arising from an improvisatory beginning (both tragedy and
   comedy--tragedy from the leaders of the dithyramb, and comedy from the
   leaders of the phallic processions which even now continue as a custom
   in many of our cities), [tragedy] grew little by little, as [the poets]
   developed whatever [new part] of it had appeared; and, passing through
   many changes, tragedy came to a halt, since it had attained its own
   nature."  -- Poetics IV, 1449a 10-15[18]

   Cycles don't come to halts, nor do paths, nor do networks.

   "It is well-known that the 'Age of Pericles' was also the Golden Age of
   Greek tragedy, whose evolution we can follow from Aeschylus' Persians
   in 471 BC to Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus, staged in 401.  It is less
   well-known that this is also the Golden Age of Greek medicine.  The
   Greek doctor Hippocrates, who was born in 460 BC and died around 370
   BC,  originated from the island of Cos and came from a family of
   Aesclepiads.  If we may believe Plato, his younger contemporary, by the
   end of the fifth century his fame as a doctor was already similar to
   that of Polyctetes of Argos or Phidias of Athens as sculptors."

   [1]https://brill.com/view/book/9789004232549/B9789004232549-s005.xml

   All best,
   Max

From: Max Herman <maxnmherman@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: <nettime> coronavirus questions
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2020 18:04:28 +0000
To: Eric Kluitenberg <epk@xs4all.nl>, Nettime-l <nettime-l@kein.org>,
	"sebastian@rolux.org" <sebastian@rolux.org>, James Wallbank
	<james@lowtech.org>

   Hi Eric,

   I cannot recall hearing of schizoanalysis and hesitate to look it up
   via internet search (how many psychic viruses does that habit create I
   wonder?) but I think I get the gist.  I have always been phobic about
   certain theorists and am living out the experimental hypothesis that
   what is worthwhile in what they wrote can reach me just fine
   indirectly, by other people and writers; it's a filtration experiment
   like tracking groundwater migration.

   By way of answer, I'd like to type out the following passage I read
   today on the bus in to work, from a paper book:

   "At certain moments I felt that the entire world was turning into
   stone: a slow petrifaction, more or less advanced depending on people
   and places but one that spared no aspect of life.  It was as if no one
   could escape the inexorable stare of Medusa.  The only hero able to cut
   off Medusa's head is Perseus, who flies with winged sandals; Perseus,
   who does not turn his gaze on the face of the Gorgon but only upon her
   image reflected in his bronze shield.  Thus Perseus comes to my aid
   even at this moment, just as I too am about to be caught in a vise of
   stone -- which happens every time I try to speak about my own past.
   Better to let my talk be composed of images from mythology."

   All very best as the world lives its life!

   Max
     _____________________________________________________________

From: Max Herman <maxnmherman@hotmail.com>
Subject: Fw: An Update Regarding COVID-19
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2020 15:08:22 +0000
To: "nettime-l@mail.kein.org" <nettime-l@mail.kein.org>

   Hi all,

   I don't want to beat a dead goat but this is an odd email.

   The Guthrie Theater was founded in 1972 by Tyrone Guthrie.

   My ticket to Twelfth Night has been canceled by a non-living molecule.

   Non-living molecules and their ilk were the original creators of the
   goat-song tragedy as well as comedy by way of grammatical balancing.

   So.

   Best regards,

   Max
     __________________________________________________________________

   From: Guthrie Theater <guthrie@GuthrieTheater.org>
   Sent: Friday, March 13, 2020 9:54 AM

   Performances Cancelled Through April 5
   [1]Guthrie Theater

   After careful consideration, and a desire to ensure the health and
   safety of everyone who engages with the Guthrie, we have made the
   difficult decision to cancel all remaining performances of Twelfth
   Night and The Bacchae and the upcoming performances of CENTERPLAY.

   At this time, we expect performances of Emma (April 11 - May 31) to go
   on as scheduled, and we will continue to reevaluate that decision as
   more information about COVID-19 develops. As stated in our previous
   communications, our internal task force is monitoring the situation
   with care and will continue to follow the recommendations of key health
   organizations.

   We deeply value your commitment to the Guthrie, and we will accommodate
   all patrons to the best of our ability as we manage the ticketing
   logistics. If you have tickets to an upcoming performance of Twelfth
   Night, The Bacchae or CENTERPLAY, you may:
     * Donate your tickets
     * Exchange your tickets to another performance
     * Hold the value of your tickets on your account for future use
     * Receive a refund

   As a nonprofit arts organization, the Guthrie relies heavily on the
   support of donors, subscribers and single ticket buyers. If you are
   able to exchange or donate your tickets rather than request a refund,
   it would help sustain the Guthrie during this uncertain time.

   In the coming weeks, please contact the Box Office at 612.377.2224 or
   [2]boxoffice@guthrietheater.org with your preferred ticketing option.
   We will be fully staffed to care for your ticketing needs, and we are
   grateful for your patience and understanding as we work through this
   process.

   Although we won't be gathering together in the near future, we remain
   together in spirit. May you be well in the weeks ahead, and I look
   forward to seeing you at the Guthrie again soon.

   Joseph Haj
   Artistic Director

                             [3]2019-2020 Season
     __________________________________________________________________

                             [4]Health & Safety
     __________________________________________________________________

                                 [5]Support

   [6]twitter   [7] facebook   [8] youtube   [9] instagram

   Guthrie Theater
   818 South 2nd Street
   Minneapolis, MN 55415

   612.377.2224 or 1.877.44.STAGE

   Guthrie Theater Est. 1963

   Box Office Hours
   Performance days
   In person: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
   By phone: 12 p.m.* - 8 p.m.
   *10 a.m. for matinees
   Non-performance days
   In person: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
   By phone*: 12 p.m. - 5 p.m.
   *Closed Saturday - Monday
     __________________________________________________________________

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From: Max Herman <maxnmherman@hotmail.com>
Subject: What You Should Know About The Novel Coronavirus
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2020 17:12:28 +0000
To: "nettime-l@mail.kein.org" <nettime-l@mail.kein.org>

   The Post Most: The pandemic is upending our relationship to space, time
   and each other

   https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=novel
   https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=corona
   https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=virus
   https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=vision
   https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=art
   https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=medicine
   https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Telomere-structure-A-Telomeres-are-
   composed-by-a-double-strand-region_fig2_323523320
   Chapter Four: Hippocratic Medicine and Greek Tragedy
   https://brill.com/view/book/9789004232549/B9789004232549-s005.xml
   https://www.etymonline.com/word/*weid-?ref=etymonline_crossreference
   [1]https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=*weis-



From: Max Herman <maxnmherman@hotmail.com>
Subject: Agency in the Anthropocene is Hippocratic
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2020 19:25:32 +0000
To: "nettime-l@mail.kein.org" <nettime-l@mail.kein.org>

   This about sums it up:

   [1]https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/13/you-are-hero-we-are-waiting/

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