

The Last of the Magicians: On Jack Parsons and JPL - benbreen
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-last-of-the-magicians

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sonoffett
Neophilic interests often span areas that are taboos within (American)
mainstream society. It seems to come with the territory of genius, but some
are better at hiding it than others. Tesla's ether physics and Wilhelm Reich's
orgone come to mind. From [1]:

(Eric S.) Raymond observes a high concentration of neophiles in or around what
he calls "leading edge subcultures" such as science fiction fandom, neo-
paganism, transhumanism, etc. as well as in or around nontraditional areas of
thought such as fringe philosophy or the occult.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neophile](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neophile)

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MrBuddyCasino
Yes, I always got the feeling that transhumanism and the singularity is
today's flavour of this "fringe philosophy". Not with as much sex, though.

~~~
api
Oh totally. Transhumanism is older than civilization too. Humans have been
trying to go beyond themselves ever since they started thinking about the
concept of self, and augmentation with technology began with clothing,
tattoos, and of course drugs. Modern transhumanist ideas are just a rehash of
a very deeply ancient impulse.

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samatman
Not the last.

Not even the latest.

Ridley Scott is producing a documentary on Jack Parsons. This... should be
good. [http://boingboing.net/2014/10/28/ridley-scott-to-produce-
min...](http://boingboing.net/2014/10/28/ridley-scott-to-produce-minise.html)

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mikeyouse
I listen to a comedy podcast called "The Dollop" that's hosted by Dave Anthony
and Gareth Reynolds. I'd recommend it to anyone who appreciates a bit of
light-hearted reflection on some American History. In any case, they did a
pretty great episode about Jack Parsons, but more from a "Who put this guy in
charge of anything?" perspective;

[http://thedollop.libsyn.com/jack-parson](http://thedollop.libsyn.com/jack-
parson)

