“here is a movement that follows all the typical stages in the history of innovation: some novelty fulfills its historical role, namely to reshape reality in some crucial way, first in the public sphere, that is to say, in the sphere of collective consumption and only later finds its way into the realm of private, domestic consumption. the public phase of an innovation can be termed heroic, in that it changes reality. the subsequent private phase must be termed conformist in that, on its own, it demonstrates no change of dynamic, but rather serves to affirm and stabilize. thus, for example, the transportation revolution in the nineteenth century began publicly with the railroad as a means of mass transportation; in the twentieth century it took a private and domestic turn with the family automobile. films began publicly with movie theaters; they then became privatized with the advent of the television set in the living room. in each instance what comes after is a reduction. it is not merely in the scale or dimension that the machines in question are reduced when they move from the public sphere into the domestic one, cars are smaller than locomotives, television sets smaller than movie screens, but the essential character of the thing has diminished; the heroic aspect has been lost so to speak. in comparison with their tiny successors the railroad and cinema are powerful instrument that excite the imagination, inviting their near mythical associations. cars and television sets lack this power and impact.” wolfgang schivelbusch. tastes of paradise: a social history of spices, stimulants, and intoxicants. pp.62-63_______________________________________________
“some novelty fulfills its historical role”_____...ah...historicism...has wolfie been reading ozzie spengler...thinking so...well..i have read ozzie as well...and he had the advantages of considering hitler to be a nonentity and could say things that could knock you out of your chair...but his histoicism was ( and is ) rank bullshit...so to with wolfgang...all of life is contingent with a critical lack of actual meaning and nothing is predetermined by “the laws of history”...no one actually knows what’s next and anyone who wants me to believe they do has an agenda…
_____“the subsequent private phase must be termed conformist, in that, on its own, it demonstrates no change of dynamic…”_____
“cars and television sets lack this power and impact”_____
what? not being a prolific user of television i probably am not in any position to dispute old wolfgang here...although one wonders who goes to theaters to binge on theatrical films...say “the godfather” series or “star wars” or “star trek” for that matter however will watch film after film on a streaming service on their televisions...with the railroad/automobile comparison wolfgang seemingly disjoins from the reality he says the railroads changed...true they were mass transportation and the creators of suburbs and in that respect they did create a new dynamic...to say that automobile “lack this power and impact” seem absurd to me on a camus like level...let’s stop and consider how much land has been paved over for roads and parking lots to pander to the driver...and how much land has been utilized for malls, strip malls, professional buildings, supermarkets, and the other “conveniences” that driving an automobile provide the consumer...not to mention that the lack of walkable, public pedestrian spaces has made auto ownership a necessity in most places...looking at change in landscape and the displacement of species i have to say the auto has had some “impact” on the “dynamic” and probably stands second only to agriculture in doing so...at least in anthropogenic terms...the historicism and this howling error have me wondering about old wolfie and intoxicants.
