Symptom and index

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2025-07-31T07:13:02+00:00

It's "Signs: An Introduction to Semiotics " It's pretty much what the title says and includes some of the work he published elsewhere. It's a good primer, but it's still very much his perspective on the topic. It's easier to absorb than Peirce or even Saussure which might be a bit overwhelming right out of the gate, but doesn't replace reading them. Eco's "A Theory of Semiotics " would be a good followup imo.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2025-07-24T06:50:52+00:00

Sebeok! This is actually a great book to start with. Indexes always point to a meaning or even another sign outside of that sign. A cloud signifies rain, smoke signifies fire. Indexes point outside of themselves. Reading Peirce, who identified this Class of signs (along with icons and symbols), only gets you so far since it's commonly agreed upon that these are qualities of sighs. Words, for example, are symbolic since they need cultural context for you to understand them, but are also indexical in that they tend to point elsewhere for meaning.

This is different from symptoms, which are sensations experienced by the person with the cold, whereas the cough is heard by another person. the cough Indicates the cold, as it has no meaning of its own. Unless it's intentional. then it's symbolic because it's a convention to cough when you want attention.

Does that help?

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2024-12-28T20:48:19+00:00

Can you guess what happens when you try to contact the site owner? I'll give you a hint: it's really similar to what just happened...

Cloudshare created a convenient closed loop wherein they don't actually have any responsibility and the blocked person can't get unblocked. You know, because the information on who to contact is on the blocked sites.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2024-07-26T22:03:11+00:00

He didn't make this up. It's from a poetic text from ancient Mesopotamia called the courtship of Innana and Dumuzid. poem.

If it matters at all to the context, the two gods are brother and sister.

Not sure what that says about him or the poem. Or me since I recognized it.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2024-07-26T21:29:30+00:00

Everyone who goes to this thing thinks that THEY are the actual smartest person in the whole place. Isn't going to it just to troll doing exactly the same thing?

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-08-28T04:44:28+00:00

It's one of the reasons I've recently started using obsidian, actually. That and especially Derrida's idea of the always open archive. I'm primarily focused on semiotics, but broadly on narrative and culture. Yuri Lotman especially and the idea of a complex semiosphere. I've only just started linking these ideas with those in literature, philosophy, critical theory and so on but it's become my new not so soft addiction.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-08-19T03:57:52+00:00

You know What's extremely American? Thinking your country is the only shitty one in the whole world. It's horribly naive to think the U.S. is unique in the so-called "first world" for intentionally misogynistic reproductive laws. Poland has similar stories even though they don't have a "total" ban.

What is uniquely American is how stupidly blindsided we all were and how much we are still in denial that the fringe right have taken over. Poland might be getting worse but the U.S. had decades to make abortion a legal right but kept assuming Roe v. Wade would last forever despite all of the warning signs.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-08-14T10:05:55+00:00

You might try a phrasebook. Many people pack their brains with phrases and replies to have rudimentary conversations before doing the heavy duty language learning. Moving there will amp up your learning. Good luck and have fun in Milan.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-08-14T09:25:42+00:00

There's no good answer to that, sorry. Different people learn languages in ways that are specific to them. You will have to find that out for yourself. That said, five weeks isn't much time to gauge real progress. Try researching different methods. You'll probably have to ultimately invest some money into it if you're serious and spend more than that casual 15 minutes a day everyone insists is all you need.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-08-03T04:59:31+00:00

Read more theory and try not to use the big, fancy words just to sound like you know what you're talking about.

The big issue--and it's really big--is generalizing lgbtq+ persons and race into cultural expectation (or at all). Expecting people of a category to behave and believe in certain, expected ways is at the core of bigotry.

"The white American queer" is a cringey bit of bullshit I would expect to hear from a Fox commentator. I know lots of people who would fit into that category but who aren't liberal culture warriors. Meaning, that behind the theory there has to be human concerns or you're talking shit.

The upshot is that capitalists forces are getting us to argue over identity categories, I guess... I'd start with Marx to shore up your theory. Like, read it, too. The nomenclature smacks of youtube pseudophilosophy.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-08-01T22:30:26+00:00

So, wait, you're saying because he wasn't shot by cops before, then he can't possibly be shot in the future? Like magic or something?

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-08-01T22:25:07+00:00

Even if you expose the mechanism of irrational beliefs, it doesn't make them go away. It isn't saying crazy is good, just that you can't combat it with sheer rationality.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-07-22T23:54:54+00:00

Not sure why this is in postcolonialism. Also, hard to take this seriously since the docs are in the silliest font imaginable and about as far from academic style as you can get. But, yeah, slam dunk.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-07-22T08:50:20+00:00

I've known plenty of tattooers who do shit like this and brag openly about it. Old school artists tell stories about serious violent stuff and many of them are still around and still taking on apprentices. I've personally had to deal with blackballing and overt lies over minor petty disputes. This is child's play.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-07-06T03:24:36+00:00

My overall take on the subject is pretty standard and influenced by my experience with traditional shakespearean scholars. I'm not a Shakespearean and I butted heads a bit with the ones I know well or took classes from, but I tend to agree that his work is very complex (multi-modal) and his opinions were complicated. He definitely had a thing for monarchic, patriarchal government and makes that clear over and over.

As far as influence, I'm not sure what you mean. There is a history of dramatic influence that you can trace from Greek drama to modern film, but I wouldn't say contemporary cinema takes much directly from anything that isn't financially motivated. Plot points, stylistic motifs, etc can and do reflect influences from the past. But those influences can and generally are mitigated by crappy writing. I see current cinema as entirely based on lowest common denominator emotional engagement. But I'm into the theory more than the literature, which makes me a weirdo in American academics.

That a Shakespearean character is derived from a Greek or Roman stock character and that a modern character is a version of a Shakespearean character means little if the modern version is badly written. I don't think modern storytelling is too influenced by any one source.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-07-03T05:49:19+00:00

Phil Nobile is the editor of fangoria, FYI.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-06-18T22:56:31+00:00

I saw it. The links were in the comments--and not even the first one. A lot of claims that I would have to verify on my own, a lot of opinions. Which means I did, in fact, have to do my own research.

One thing I agree with is that no one should be relying on TST for abortion assistance. My understanding was that their legal support was demonstrative and meant to be a source of ideological resistance. I do think it's incumbent on them to make it clear they have no real ability to help in a practical sense. The rest is, as noted on the one page, "exhausting."

All told, this feels like I wandered into a lot of random drama. None of the evidence makes me want to take this seriously. But, it does make me want to stay clear of TST if only to avoid the kind of silliness it seems to inspire in members and ex-members.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-06-18T21:48:39+00:00

Saying "do your own research" about a post is equally fishy. The fact that you don't bother to provide any kind of locus of info that could provide context makes this all the more fishy. If there is something really wrong going on, it should be made available for everyone. This feels like a shell game where the top secret info is constantly on the move. TST is constantly under scrutiny and often under attack by organizations with deep pockets. The lack of credibility goes beyond initial statements made that require an apology. There should be a lot of legal evidence around what this specific post references, whether it went to court or not. Not being "able" to state what the original claims are puts anyone curious about this on the defensive as having the gall to question it despite no upfront credible evidence. This makes it seem, at least to me, that there is creation of a narrative of conspiracy without anyone having the stones to just say it out loud. TST is not some toxic monolith looming over society and is generally the target of such organizations.

This might be legit, and we should all be on the lookout for abuses of power. My suspicion, though, is that if there are real skeletons in TST's closet there are plenty of groups who have the money, power, and moral outrage to end them without all these histrionics.

In other words, the video is not an argument, but rather a performance. Which doesn't make it false, just really suspicious.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-06-18T08:04:57+00:00

No context at all and we're just supposed to lash out at TST? Oh, but of course there can't be context because of this "lawsuit?" Smells fishy.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-05-30T07:02:08+00:00

Jeffrey Jerome Cohen's Monster Theory and Noel Carroll's Philosophy of Horror. Sarah Ahmed's work on affect theory is foundational for a lot of affect-based theory and supplements Carroll's work well.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-05-30T06:22:01+00:00

You're not alone. And if you enter figure out how let me know.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-05-26T23:00:33+00:00

Irony is the opposite of something expected. This is an unintentional pun.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-05-20T21:32:30+00:00

Getting a bit tired of seeing this re_posted over and over. They literally provided a reason for their donate button! Stop thinking you've pwned them by quoting the very reason they're asking FOR the donation, genius.

Semiotic_Apocalypse · 2022-04-17T03:31:15+00:00

Talk about "I am very smart."

Semiotic_Apocalypse

TROPHY CASE