Encyclopedia Demonica

By Mike Erkulev

Most non-fiction works start by positing a problem, a solution to which the work aims to provide. This book addresses three such problems. Problems that have been first acknowledged at different times, yet none of which have a universally accepted solution to this date. In addition to providing alternatives to existing solutions of these problems, the aim of this book is to examine how they are interrelated and how solving each subsequent problem is not possible without having an adequate solution to the previous one.

The first problem is as old as civilization itself. Its name is suffering. The problem of suffering is twofold: on one hand, thinkers throughout history have sought a way to cease suffering, on the other, many teachings have focused on finding a justification for it. While pursuing one of these directions does not necessarily exclude developments in the other, the most influential paradigms in human culture have usually focused on one of the two dilemmas. In the West the predominant paradigm had been the explanation used by Abrahamic religions. This explanation deemed suffering on Earth a trial before judgment in the afterlife which, depending on one’s deeds, would either reward one with an eternity of bliss, or doom one to an eternity of suffering.

Meanwhile, in India, both types of inquiry developed in parallel. On one hand, the concept of karma was widespread across many teachings of Hindu philosophy, justifying a person's condition by their past life, and encouraging them to act according to their dharma to have better future lives or even break the cycle of rebirth. On the other hand, many thinkers tried to find ways of alleviating suffering instead of justifying it. Gautama Siddhārtha presented his followers with a teaching that can help in achieving the cessation of suffering. The core of his teachings were formulated into the Four Noble Truths. However, Gautama’s teachings are not the only way to achieve cessation of suffering. I will contrive to formulate my Four Noble Truths of the Demonology of Desire just as Gautama Siddhārtha did.

The second problem this book addresses first arose at the beginning of the XIX century, with the upsurge of science and the industrial revolution. It was first outlined by Friedrich Nietzsche, who was also the first to propose a solution to it. The essence of this problem is directly related to the first one, or rather, to its solution in Western culture. A solution that gave justification to suffering and directed the course of development of Western civilization no longer worked. Scientific rigor had decidedly replaced belief in divine judgment, afterlife, and the will of god. This hole left in the place once occupied by Christianity became a cause for fear and confusion, often resulting in nihilism. Finding a way out of this predicament is the focus of the second problem.

The third problem is only beginning to surface now; the problem of technological singularity and emergence of a global brain. Many contemporary philosophers and scientists have speculated as to the exact nature of this issue, but a strong paradigm of the subject is yet to arise. The mission that lies ahead involves examining the question of technological singularity on its own, as well as a part of the bigger problematique that unites all three problems. We are going to look at what the issues surrounding technological singularity are composed of, how they are related to the problems of suffering and purpose, and how the solutions for the latter can also serve as a basis for approaching the former. In the following chapters the new kind of man I propose as a solution to the second problem is going to play a vital part in solving the issues involved in the creation and organization of the superhuman consciousness that will become the central focus of this problematique.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mike Erkulev
• Release date: Jan 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463239452

Mike Erkulev

Wisdom's lover. Prophet. Poet. Mad scientist. Author of the book Encyclopedia Demonica.

Book preview

Four Noble Truths

Most works of non-fiction literature start by positing a problem, a solution to which the work aims to provide. As it happens, this book addresses not one, but three problems. Problems that have been first acknowledged at drastically different times, yet none of which have a universally accepted solution to this date. In addition to providing alternatives to existing solutions of these problems, the aim of this book is to examine how they are interrelated and how solving each subsequent problem is not possible without having an adequate solution to the previous one. In other words, one goal of this work is to create a unified problematique that spans across all three of the conundrums and resolve them.

The first problem is as old as civilization itself, possibly even older. Its name is suffering, or as philosophers call it, the human condition. The problem of suffering is twofold: on one hand, thinkers throughout history have sought a way to cease suffering, on the other, many teachings have focused on finding a justification for its existence. While pursuing one of these directions of inquiry does not necessarily exclude developments in the other, the most influential paradigms in human culture have usually focused on one of the two dilemmas. In the West the predominant paradigm had, for most of its history, been the explanation used by Abrahamic religions. This explanation deemed suffering on Earth a trial before judgment in the afterlife which, depending on one’s deeds, would either reward one with an eternity of bliss, or doom one to an eternity of suffering. It is an example of the latter way of addressing the problem of why suffering exists, which has dramatically influenced all Western thought to this day.

Meanwhile, in India, both types of inquiry developed in parallel. On one hand, the concept of karma was widespread across many teachings of Hindu philosophy, justifying a person's condition by their past life, and encouraging them to act according to their dharma to have better future lives or even break the cycle of rebirth altogether. On the other hand, many thinkers tried to find ways of alleviating suffering instead of justifying it. One of the most important figures in this tradition is Gautama Siddhārtha, who has become known as a Buddha for presenting his students and followers with a teaching that can help in achieving the cessation of suffering. The core of his teachings were formulated into the Four Noble Truths which, like the medical tradition of the time, came in the form of a name of the illness, its cause, a way of treatment, and a prescription. This is a purely philosophical interpretation of Gautama’s thought. It does not leave a place for the metaphysical aspects of Buddhism as a religion, such as karma and rebirth. Instead, it focuses on cessation of suffering within one’s lifetime.

However, Gautama’s teachings are not the only way to achieve cessation of suffering. I will contrive to formulate my Four Noble Truths of the Demonology of Desire just as Gautama Siddhārtha did.

1. Dukkha. The illness of suffering.

2. Origin. The cause of the illness is desire.

3. Cessation. By perfectly balancing the production and exhaustion of demonic energies, as well as resolving conflicts between one’s desires, one can achieve the cessation of suffering.

4. Path. A balance in demonic energies is attainable by being mindful of one's desires, learning about unconscious demons, knowing your limits and never trying to push them, and by keeping your demons from getting too hungry without overfeeding them.

To an extent, these propositions are similar to the teachings of Gautama, but the prescription is different. Where he suggested getting rid of desire altogether to cease suffering, I am offering a way of analyzing and controlling desire so it no longer causes distress. This path can be seen as a more general approach, a local case of which is the dispersion of desire, although more optimal strategies can also be found. One may find parallels in the conclusions made in these propositions to the ideas of David Hume, who wrote that reason is the slave of passions and therefore should be used to pursue them. It is the methodology that allows this pursuit, or following of the prescription, that a large portion of this book is dedicated to.

The second problem this book addresses first arose at the beginning of the XIX century, with the upsurge of science and the industrial revolution. It was first outlined by Friedrich Nietzsche, who was also the first to propose a solution to it. The essence of this problem is directly related to the first one, or rather, to its solution in Western culture. A solution that gave justification to suffering and directed the course of development of Western civilization had now been found baseless and insufficient, it no longer worked. The tenets of Christianity were no longer sufficient to explain why so many people had to suffer and why seemingly wicked individuals were the most prosperous. Scientific rigor had decidedly replaced belief in divine judgment, afterlife, and the will of god within the minds of the brightest individuals of the time. Nietzsche called this development the death of god. Lack of a justification for the human condition and a moral framework to go with it left the Western intellectual tradition, and perhaps even humanity as a whole, with no fundamental goal to strive towards, no raison d'être, resulting in a feeling of insignificance. This hole left in the place once occupied by Christianity became a cause for fear and confusion, often resulting in nihilism. Finding a way out of this predicament is the focus of the second problem.

The solution proposed by Nietzsche is a new kind of man who is capable of finding his own way and creating his own meaning, the Übermensch. A man capable of being his own master and his own compass, capable of walking on his own, no longer relying on the crutches of established moral guidelines. After Nietzsche, as the problem became more evident, many philosophers followed similar lines of thought in their search for a solution; the Absurd Hero of Albert Camus is a good example of this tendency. The answer to the problem of nihilism I propose within this work is fundamentally the same. However, an important distinction sets it apart. Unlike the Übermensch and the Absurd Hero, the Postmodern Man described in this book is intrinsically tied to the first problem, the condition of suffering, and its solution serves as the basis for creating the meaning required to resolve this issue. The goal of this solution is to incorporate the best ideas of previous thinkers into a framework that reflects current circumstances, while being aware of the shortcomings of each of them and making corrections where necessary. In addition, it must also be a way to bridge the gap between the first and third problems.

The third problem this text addresses is only beginning to surface now; the problem of technological singularity and emergence of a global brain. Many would argue it is a problem of the future, but I believe we are already seeing its effects today. Many contemporary philosophers and scientists have speculated as to the exact nature of this issue, but a strong paradigm of the subject is yet to arise. It would be unrealistically ambitious to attempt to create such a paradigm within these pages, but perhaps contributing to this task in the ways I can is not an unachievable goal. Many aspects of this third problem remain ambiguous until further stages of technological singularity are achieved, which makes coming to any definitive conclusions on the subject extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The mission that lies ahead involves examining the question of technological singularity on its own, as well as a part of the bigger problematique that unites all three problems described above. We are going to look at what the issues surrounding technological singularity are composed of, how they are related to the problems of suffering and purpose, and how the solutions for the latter can also serve as a basis for approaching the former. In the following chapters the new kind of man I propose as a solution to the second problem is going to play a vital part in solving the issues involved in the creation and organization of the superhuman consciousness that, as we explore the subject, will become the central focus of this problematique. The issue of technological singularity can also be seen from a retrospective point of view, as an additional justification in favor of the solution that I am going to propose.

Each of the three problems raised above has puzzled many a mind, and each could easily deserve a lengthy examination on its own. This makes the prospect of answering all three of them in such a small volume seem impossible, and independently it would undoubtedly be so. But, as demonstrated in subsequent pages, these issues are intimately interconnected, making a solution to one, crucial to solving the next. Nevertheless, even with this aspect considered, providing answers to them in the format of a typical philosophical inquiry would require a work much larger than this brief tome. However, when one begins to read it, one will quickly find a density of ideas in this book that significantly exceeds that of a typical inquiry, which also means more attention is required from the reader for the content to be comprehensible. It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book, Friedrich Nietzsche said. That statement holds true for this work, as well.

So what is this project exactly, and how does it hope to achieve everything mentioned above? To answer this, let us first take a look at what it is not. It is not a guru guide in the modern western meaning of the word, because it does not focus on esoteric teaching or spiritual guidance. It does not provide a universal model of values, but does help one analyze the desires they have, and from that analysis, build a personal doctrine. It is not a scientific theory either, at least not in the context of modern academia, which is inherently limited by its fragmentation of the fields of knowledge and its mechanistic approach to the world. The same also holds true for contemporary philosophy, which has become too abstract and self-absorbed in unfalsifiable ideas that are distant from actuality. It is more like philosophy in the classical meaning of the term before it was split into multiple subjects, an examination of life as a whole, not just any part in particular. Perhaps the last notable figure to hold such a view was Willard Van Orman Quine, who saw philosophy as a continuation of science. The insight of Quine also stretched beyond the subject of philosophy, erasing the distinction between analytic and synthetic sciences that polluted the perception of many previous thinkers. Like Quine, I attempted to make the approach of this work to the aforementioned problems fundamentally skeptical, while at the same time avoiding the alluring trap of solipsism. Despite what the title of this chapter may suggest, the ideas proposed in the text below do not attempt to pose as the one and only Truth, not even a noble one. They should rather be treated as suggestions and invitations to a discussion, as one of the many possible paths.

The content of the book is divided into three parts, each of which attempts to accomplish a different task. In Part I we look at what constitutes desire, examine the various demons out of which desires are composed, and see how this theory is different from those of previous thinkers. The purpose of this part is to provide a theoretical basis for the rest of the volume and allow the reader to understand what kinds of desires one might have. Part II is devoted to studying the nature of the Postmodern Man and his role in a world of technological singularity. Its goal is to outline the second and third problems discussed above, show how they are related to desire, and provide a possible solution to those problems. Finally, in Part III we take a look at some practical applications of the theory and analyze how one can resolve conflicts between desires, control one’s demons, and achieve contentment.

Part I: HIC SVNT DAEMONES

Paronomasia

Words.

Samuel I. Hayakawa

Before delving any further into the subject, we need to establish a common terminology so it is easier to understand the problematique established above. Let us start with the core principle itself. The term desire is intuitively understood by most people, but few would be able to give a clear definition of it. So what exactly is desire? What do we mean when we say this word? Let us look at a few definitions.

The natural longing that is excited by the enjoyment or the thought of any good, and impels to action or effort its continuance or possession; an eager wish to obtain or enjoy.

GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

An emotion directed to the attainment or possession of an object from which pleasure, whether sensual, intellectual, or spiritual, is expected; a passion consisting in uneasiness for want of the object toward which it is directed, and the impulse to attain or possess it; in the widest sense, a state or condition of wishing.

The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

Desire is a sense of longing for a person or object or hoping for an outcome. The same sense is expressed by emotions such as ‘craving’ or ‘hankering’. When a person desires something or someone, their sense of longing is excited by the enjoyment or the thought of the item or person, and they want to take actions to obtain their goal. The motivational aspect of desire has long been noted by philosophers; Hobbes asserted that human desire is the fundamental motivation of all human action.

Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Having taken all of these definitions into account, we can summarize the properties of desire by the following statements:

It has a target − an object, idea, process, feeling, or outcome.

It may cause excitement and uneasiness.

It motivates action to reach the target.

Some of the definitions also try to provide a list of desires or define its target as pleasurable; we will get back to those points later and I will show why they do not always apply. The three points listed above are completely valid, and the further development of the theory may take root based on those three points. In addition to these three properties of desire we are going to assume there exists a limited amount of common basic desires that compose all of the other possible cravings people may experience. Moreover, this hypothesis also postulates that these basic desires can be enumerated, classified, and examined in further detail.

Analysis of the different desires and their interactions will compose the first part of this theory. For a more vivid classification, the term demon will be used to name and represent the various desires one may have. The term is just used as a metaphor and its meaning should not hold a negative or mystical connotation even if, in some cases, certain desires may be presented in a negative or mystical light. As will be discussed later, desires are not something that should be suppressed or resisted. They should be carefully examined and controlled in a nonforceful way. Therefore, the reader should resist the temptation of jumping to an image of fighting one’s demons when this term is introduced. Historically, when Abrahamic religions became dominant in Western civilization the old pagan gods were proclaimed demons, and those who worshiped them, demon worshipers. This was also confirmed by the old religions themselves, where demons were considered to be benevolent spirits that lay between the worlds of gods and men, similar to angels in Christianity. Therefore, you can see the demons in this book as gods of old, or angels responsible for your wishes and hopes.

The concept of demons has been used in a philosophical context before. Perhaps the most interesting definition of demons can be found in Plato’s Cratylus. In it, Socrates mentions how Hesiod used the word to describe a race of golden men that came before the current iron race. The golden race was superior to the iron one in every aspect. Socrates further infers that these were wise men, which is not surprising considering Socrates valued wisdom above all. From a slightly different perspective, one might suggest that this golden race refers to none other than the Postmodern Man described in the later parts of this very book, a once forgotten kind of man that has now become needed again.

The symbolism of this pun is not just an ironic curiosity; it may serve as an example of how ancient myths can influence our lives today. In another one of Plato’s dialogues, the Symposium, Socrates tells a tale of Diotima, a wise woman who names Love a demon, a mediator between gods and men. The significance of this comparison, considering that The Lover is one of the demons described in this theory, cannot be ignored.