Too many colors (was: Bersani - Pynchon, Paranoia, and Literature)

[jbor]

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>From: jporter <jp3214 at earthlink.net>


> Paranoia might be seen as a shortcut for
> self-preservation- a subconscious reductionist scheme to deal with
> information overload. So the implicit preamble to "keep cool..." might be:
> "given the overwhelming opportunities (and temptations) to become paranoid-
> keep cool, but care."

Sure, that's part of it I think. In the sphere of individual human attitudes
and actions (Profane, Oedipa, Slothrop, Dixon etc ... "us") there is a need
to proceed in the key of "as if" ... as if whatever it is that we are about
to do is going to do any "good" at all, for example. You mentioned
determinism and free will: these correlate to paranoia and anti-paranoia in
Pynchon's texts. And what is demonstrated (hinted?) is that the reductio ad
absurdum of either epistemology leaves the human organism/ human
consciousness/ human *conscience* in an absolutely invidious position. If
determinism (Predestination) be true, then why bother because it's a done
deal anyway ... but if free will (existentialism: cf. anti-paranoia, "where
nothing is connected to anything" 506) is it then randomness and anarchy
swallow us up into a great big morass of meaninglessness and absurdity.
There is no "middle way" ("indeterminism" being one of the biggest jokes
that 20th century philosophy produced) between the two; once either one or
the other is accepted as operating, from the molecular to the cosmic level,
then there is *no way out*. This is why whatever "solutions" there might be,
or those which Pynchon investigates, will be local, temporary, conditional,
more often a process rather than a result, and also why such alternatives
are being sought in both/and constructions, paradoxes, irrationality and so
forth. Imo.

best