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Nadin, Mihai, 1938-

"The Civilization of Illiteracy"

Incest, bestiality, and sexual practices
usually defined as perverse are reaching unheard of proportions.
It's not that changes in sexual experience take place, but that
practices known from the earliest of times assert themselves,
usually by appealing to the literate notion of freedom. As with
many aspects of the change human society undergoes, we do not
know what the impact of these sex practices will be. Probably
that is the most one can say in a context that celebrates
permissiveness as one of the highest accomplishments of modern
society. Such changes challenge our values and attitudes, and
make many wonder about the miserable state of morality. We
already know about the cause and physical effects of AIDS. We do
not even know how to wonder what other diseases might come upon
humanity if the human relation with animals moves in the
direction of bestiality. "Is this the price we pay for
democracy?" is asked by people accused of having a conservative
leaning. Enthusiasts celebrate an age of unprecedented
tolerance, indulgence, and freedom from responsibility. But no
matter to which end of the spectrum one leans, it should be
clear that these considerations are part of the pragmatics of
sexuality in the civilization of illiteracy. Shorter cycles are
characteristic not only of production, but also of sexual
encounters. Higher speed (however one wants to perceive it),
non-linearity, freedom of choice from many options, and the
transcendence of determinism and clear-cut dualistic distinctions
apply to sexuality as they apply to everything else we do.


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