The Internet as a Development from Descartes' Res Cogitans: How to Render It Dionysian

The vision of the human condition that emerges from both an-cient Greek tragedy and pre-Christian philosophy involves the fundamental duality of Apollo and Dionysus, among other di-vinities, naturally. Accordingly, life is defined and ordered by the influence of both of these divinities. As such it involves defi-nite form, growth and change through time, as well as finitude and the dissolution of every form into chaos and death. Apollo and Dionysus both always win and ultimately always also lose. Nothing lasts, except the constant regeneration of new forms of growth and movements toward the future that transit brief presents, before becoming memories of the past. From this per-spective we are indeed all goats that sing and dance for a while before vanishing into the nihilating nothing.2 Or, in another image, we are all donkeys that celebrate for a while, welcom-ing new donkeys to the celebration before singing our songs of goodbye.3 Yet the fact that every singing donkey or goat stands under the influence of two divinities has also given birth to much hope and longing for eternity and the promise of escap-ing from the depredations of time. Some of these structures of hope have been based on vehement attempts to defeat Dionysus altogether and enthrone a permanent Apollo.