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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>S.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Oh THAT is creepy! <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>N.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>Nicholas Thompson<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Clark University<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:ThompNickSon2@gmail.com"><span style='color:#0563C1'>ThompNickSon2@gmail.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/"><span style='color:#0563C1'>https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> Friam <friam-bounces@redfish.com> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Steve Smith<br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, May 20, 2020 10:14 AM<br><b>To:</b> The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam@redfish.com><br><b>Subject:</b> [FRIAM] Burroughsian vs. Sontagian<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p><span style='color:black'>from this book review: <a href="https://www.bookforum.com/print/2702/searching-for-prophecy-in-the-midst-of-a-pandemic-24017"> https://www.bookforum.com/print/2702/searching-for-prophecy-in-the-midst-of-a-pandemic-24017</a></span><o:p></o:p></p><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><p><i><span style='color:black'>Whenever an incurable disease mounts a body count, there’s a corresponding linguistic crisis that can be expressed in these Burroughsian vs. Sontagian terms: Is language a metaphoric virus or a metaphoric antibody? Is language the proliferation of falsity or the protection against it, or can it be both, and what of its function is conscious? <br><br></span></i><o:p></o:p></p></blockquote><p><span style='color:black'>and for those who aren't hooked by the linguistic aspects of it, there is a tidbit in here to feed those more hooked by morbid fascination:<br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><p><i><span style='color:black'>this was a thing that still happened, a hazing that was also an homage: You scooped the bit of Einstein’s brain out of the jar and shook off the excess formaldehyde; then, you put some salt in the crook of your thumb and licked it, after which you took down a shot of cheap room-temperature tequila and sucked on the brain-bit until your mouth went numb—until the formaldehyde paralyzed your lips and tongue and you couldn’t be understood, you couldn’t even feel yourself trying to make language.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p></blockquote><p><span style='color:black'><br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p><p><br><br><o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>