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Surreal nature of current global governance as experienced


Engaging with Hyperreality through Demonique and Angelique? (Part #2)

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Surreality: There is no lack of recognition of the current reality of national and global governance as being surreal. Originally understood as a movement to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality", it could be said that surrealism has become a defining characteristic of international politics, if only to some degree (as argued on a website Surrealism in Politics).

Especially interesting are the media echoing that perspective:

In that vein, as queried by Christopher Fear, do academic discussions of political theory belong to the world of make-believe? (Down the rabbit hole, Prospect: Harvard University Press, 1 October 2013). From a perspective of international relations theory, for Victoria Lennox, as a graduating student:

Although particular theoretical paradigms within IR emphasise specific characteristics of global governance, no single paradigm has been capable of fully capturing the complexity of global governance. Resultantly, the conceptualisation of global governance requires a combination of particular aspects of realism, institutionalism, constructivism, and pluralism, that embraces and goes beyond Rosenau's conception of global order to enhance the comprehensiveness and sophistication of the conceptualisation of global governance by infusing it with meaning and value. (Conceptualising Global Governance in International Relations, E-International Relations, 3 October 2008)

Consistent with its origins, the engagement with the surreal is evident both in the arts and in the special effects of popular entertainment and marketing. In the following exploration of its relation to hyperreality, it is also evident in the unconstrained use of hyperbole and spin in many domains, most notably politics.

Rationality is indeed a strategic option -- but it is no longer the only one, as embodied by the campaigning success of Donald Trump as variously noted, despite repeated comments on the absurdity of his proposed strategies:

With such examples, and the associated mystification of processes of governance, it is appropriate to ask whether the future will find past and present preoccupation with angels and demons to be equally questionable -- and whether angelology offers some relevant insights into new forms of engagement with the "wicked problems" of the policy sciences.

Absurdity: Associations with the surreal are consistent with recognition of the absurd (Michael Foley, The Age of Absurdity: why modern life makes it hard to be happy, 2010). This is further associated with both nihilism and the challenge to many of the "nothing" they face in their lives (Emerging Significance of Nothing, 2012).

Most curious is the extent to which global governance is currently framed by a preoccupation with terrorism -- through the Global War on Terror -- engendered by the world view of suicidal jihadists.

Contrasting worldviews: The surreal condition of the times can be usefully caricatured by the following schematic indicating the relation between the worldviews of the World Economic Forum (notably held annually in Davos) and the World Social Forum (initially held in Porto Alegre). Use is made in the schematic of reference to Dante's famous contrasting representations of Paradiso (Heaven) and Inferno (Hell).

Contrasting perspectives of conventional archetypes

Such a polarity frames the question of the locus of Purgatorio as Dante's intermediary state. A previous exercise in reframing the archetypal dynamics between the two worldviews was articulated through a musical metaphor (All Blacks of Davos vs All Greens of Porto Alegre: reframing global strategic discord through polyphony? 2007). The schematic indicates the extent to which each is quite unable to encompass or justify the reality of the other -- each desiring the disappearance of the other. The pattern is similarly evident in the relation between science and religion -- neither apparently capable of acquiring the skills or insights to encompass that dynamic (or aspiring to do so).

Palestine-Israel: The pattern is otherwise exemplified in the archetypal relation between Palestine and Israel as a driving dynamic of regional conflict -- also variously recognized as surreal in a supposedly knowledge-based global civilization:

"Reality distortion"? In the world of high-tech, the fundamental significance of the surreal has been noted with respect to the manner in which leading creative entrepreneurs engender a so-called reality distortion field by which managers and leaders try to convince their employees to become passionately committed to projects without regard to the overall product or to competitive forces in the market. It has been most notably applied to the ability of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, to convince himself and others to believe almost anything with a mix of charm, charisma, bravado, hyperbole, marketing, appeasement and persistence. It was said to distort an audience's sense of proportion and scales of difficulties and made them believe that the task at hand was possible. The same phenomenon is now associated with Elon Musk (Drake Baer, What It's Like Inside Elon Musk's 'Reality Distortion Field', Business Insider, 1 January 2015). For Jobs, it was a bubble he lived in that shielded him from the normal fears that held back so many others.

It is difficult to avoid use of the term "radical" with respect to the modalities and mind-set of extremely innovative leaders, such as Jobs and Musk. Especially relevant to the nature of radicalism is the critique of Michael Shermer (The Reality Distortion Field: Steve Jobs's modus operandi of ignoring reality is a double-edged sword, eSceptic, 10 July 2013). Shermer suggests that these might be more fruitfully understood through frameworks such as that provided by Robert Triversin (The Folly of Fools: the logic of deceit and self-deception in human life, 2011). Such a critique completely avoids the issue of widespread appreciation of the product of such thinking, most evident in the Apple products -- presumably also appreciated by sceptics -- and of whether there is proven capacity to engender products of such quality otherwise.

Clearly there is considerable relevance to the question of Markus Giesle (Is There a Science Behind Reality Distortion Fields? The Huffington Post, 16 September 2015). Curiously any reference to such a reality bubble is reminiscent of the filter bubble cultivated for each through personalization of search engine results (Eli Pariser, The Filter Bubble: what the internet is hiding from you, 2011). Definitive closure by some on the nature of "reality" might be better understood as premature -- even a reality distortion field in its own right (Einstein's Search and the Illusion of Reality, Knowledge of Reality Magazine, 2005, 11).

As might be expected, the process is now explored with respect to the campaigning success of Donald Trump, as the possible superpower leader of global civilization (Matt K. Lewis, The Trump Reality Distortion Filter: why so many US Republicans are suspending their disbelief, The Telegraph, 28 November 2015).

Virtual reality: Much is now being made of virtual reality and its potential impact on society. This follows from speculation about artificial worlds in science fiction, extensive development of virtual worlds in cyberspace (Second Life, etc), and the familiarity with designing and embodying avatars in online gaming -- whatever extraordinary forms they may take. Current possibilities suggest that there will be little difficulty in creating virtual reality environments populated by angels and demons, whether embodied as avatars or otherwise.

More intriguing is the possibility that some institutions with offices in virtual worlds (as is already the case) may choose to use reception (and other) personnel configured as angels -- as religious institutions might have wished to do in the past. The other extreme may well be adopted, using demonic configurations to threaten visitors -- perhaps through failure to fulfill financial or other commitments, or as a modality for responding to deprecated critics. Politicians and others may choose to configure themselves according to occasion, much as dress is currently selected.

Further adaptations are to be envisaged. These might include a facility of individual viewers to reconfigure the images of politicians, celebrities and other TV personalities -- to dress them otherwise, modify their racial type or skin colouring, and change the tone of voice. Viewers would then acquire a greater degree of control of their environment -- with the possibility of allowing such changes to occur dynamically, perhaps in continuing reaction to appreciation of the viewing experience.

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