XVII. A Swiftean Diatribe

Although the magnitude of the threats that this planet and its population face seems to have escalated beyond anything previously known, it is perhaps not always useful to approach the problems facing mankind from this quantitative vertex. The difficulty lies in our limited capacity for thought and its foundation in adequate emotional responsiveness. It may seem, superficially, that cataclysm stirs us deeply but careful examination suggests something quite contrary. Such spectacles, descriptions, statistics and prophecies of doom excite rather than stir. That is, they excite in us the orientation of opposition to what is already known but do not stir us to discover the unknown. In that sense they activate perverse tendencies of mind, the negative links, minus L, minus H, minus K.

The ‘end of the world’ can be stated in megatons rather than, as by Laputa's astronomical mathematicians, in terms of the temperature of the tail of a comet - or, in the language of the Old Testament prophet, as God's wrath, but this does not make the concept any more stirring of emotion. For horror is a perverse state of excitement as is amply testified to by TV, film or pulp magazines and their addicted population. Individual mentality and the individual's participation in groups is somehow contaminated by the perverse appeal of modern warfare and its obvious kinship to magic.

It is of some interest to note that the term ‘magic’ has dropped out of the psycho-analytical vocabulary, probably since the forties. Its replacement, ‘omnipotence’, has very little punch owing to its vagueness, for it suggests in its etymology that this issue is an ability to do anything and everything. This misses the crux of the fascination of magic which lies in the ability to bring about certain ends without concern for the means. ‘Wish fulfilment’ also fails in impact, perhaps because the penumbra both of meaning and of music of the word ‘wish’ is fairly devoid of violence. ‘Magic’ covers these implications, imp