Machinic Unconscious Happy Hour

They trace Freud's ideas about crowd dynamics, from eros as the bond that holds groups together to how suggestion and hypnosis shape collective behavior. They contrast mass and group forms, explore leader-driven versus leaderless structures, and link libidinal ties to scapegoating, narcissistic leaders, and the rise of mythic authority.

They parse becoming-intense, becoming-animal, and becoming-imperceptible from A Thousand Plateaus. They map bodies by longitude/latitude, speeds, and compositions rather than meanings. They read vampires, contagion, QAnon, and Twin Peaks as metaphors for molecular spread and fascism. They track alliance versus filiation, sorcery and secret forms, and how capitalism reconfigures collective individuation.

This week Coop and Taylor discuss chapters 7, 8, and 9 of Moishe Postone's Time, Labor, and Social Domination. We discuss ties to our manuscript, Deleuze & Guattari, and Baudrillard. William Wordsworth's The World is Too Much With Us: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45564/the-world-is-too-much-with-us I Pencil PDF: https://fee.org/wp-content/uploads/ebooks/i-pencil-final-proof-for-website-pdf.pdf I Pencil Milton Friedman Video: https://youtu.be/67tHtpac5ws?si=g_2vxJt5pOH0nmu8 Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/muhh Twitter: @unconscioushh

This week Coop and Taylor revisit the Introduction and 1st chapter in Gilbert Simondon’s Individuation in Light of Notions of Form and Information: the introduction and ch 1. Form and Matter. The discussion largely focuses on developing a Simondian political economy by way of his critique of the hylomorphic schema and theory of individuation. Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/muhh Twitter: @unconscioushh

Conor O'Dea joined Coop and Taylor for a discussion on Henri Atlan focusing on Part 3: Spinoza: The Spinoza Path (2005) 209 Immanent Causality: A Spinozist Viewpoint on Evolution and the Theory of Action (1998) 2112. Spinozist Neurophysiology (2007) 237 13. Knowledge, Glory, and ‘‘On Human Dignity’’ (2007), Golems, and Noise as a Principle of Self-Organization (1972/1979) from Selected Writings: On Self-Organization, Philosophy, Bioethics, and Judaism. Conor is an indie scholar, accidental civil servant and patron of MUHH. Conor's links: https://www.janusunbound.com/ https://journals.library.mun.ca/index.php/JU Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/muhh Twitter: @unconscioushh

Charles Stivale joined us this week to discuss the recently published Unfolding the Deleuze Seminars, 1970–1987. Charles co-translated Deleuze's Logic of Sense and has also published Gilles Deleuze's ABCs: The Folds of Friendship among others. deleuze.cla.purdue.edu/ Book Link: https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-unfolding-the-deleuze-seminars-1970-1987.html Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/muhh Twitter: @unconscioushh

They revisit Freud's The Ego and the Id and place it in historical and theoretical context. They explore the id as a lived force and the ego as representative. Discussions weave in Kantian echoes, Simondonian topology, and schizoanalytic cartographies. The conversation brings together libido, death drives, reproduction risks, and cinematic metaphors like dream shards and hallucination mechanics.

A lively discussion of Bataille's idea of a general economy where solar excess must be squandered. They trace wasteful ornamentation, mating displays, and death drive to expenditive systems. Conversation connects war, state power, and capitalism's tendency to channel or produce scarcity. They contrast sacrificial and extractive social forms and probe technology's role in expanding limits.

Explore the fascinating intersection of libidinal economics and the philosophy of gift-giving. The hosts dive into Derrida's complex ideas on obligation and the essence of true gifts, stressing the paradox of radical forgetting. Discover how ancestral debts shape our economic structures through notions of hauntology and sovereignty. They also link biblical parables to moral judgments on generosity and investment in time. The conversation poses provocative questions on social credit and the implications of refusing gifts, making for a thought-provoking discussion.

Dive into Freud's intriguing exploration of masochism as an economic puzzle, blending pleasure and pain. The discussion ranges from primal guilt and incest prohibition to the intertwining of desire and social economy. Discover how masochistic impulses relate to consumer behavior and impulse spending, all while grappling with the moral dimensions of this psyche. The hosts also tackle the implications of Freud’s theories on modern issues like climate change and political structures. A thrilling mix of psychology, philosophy, and societal critique awaits!