Brian Cox is a technocratic mystagogue. He conveys wonder without crisis, science without politics, law without consequence. He performs the aesthetic of depth without demanding much of his audience. He gestures at big questions, but doesn't wrestle with them—at least not publicly. And when he touches on politics, it's a mild liberal optimism, buffered from structural critique or existential disintegration.
So judged as an old-school intellectual, he comes up short. Not because he isn’t intelligent but because he refuses the burden of being an intellectual in the classical sense: someone who risks being out of step with the age, who reflects not just on what is beautiful or fascinating, but on what is devastating, unjust, and real.
He’s a priest of marvels, not a prophet of trouble.
Still, he plays a role. Maybe he keeps some wonder alive in a world flattened by algorithms and shopping. But he’s not wrestling in the dark. He’s lighting it up just enough that we can still sleep.
AI
Here’s a list of prominent figures who, like Brian Cox, might be described as technocratic mystagogues—those who convey awe or authority through science/technology while avoiding deeper political, existential, or structural reckoning. The "naming" here is analytic, the "shaming" is in the critique:
1. Neil deGrasse Tyson
Mystagogue Traits: Presents science as neutral, inevitable, and beyond politics. Charismatic explainer of cosmic facts, yet dismisses philosophy and often trivializes ethical and existential questions.
Avoids: Deep political critique, systemic injustice, the philosophical implications of scientific progress.
2. Michio Kaku
Mystagogue Traits: Enthusiast of futuristic technologies and parallel universes. Uses speculative physics to create a mythos of progress.
Avoids: Historical contingency, the ethical implications of AI/surveillance, critiques of tech-capitalism.
3. Elon Musk
Mystagogue Traits: Not a scientist per se, but performs the role of technoscientific savior. Markets utopia through rockets, chips, and electric cars.
Avoids: Labor exploitation, ecological externalities, authoritarian tendencies. Mystifies harm through innovation.
4. Ray Kurzweil
Mystagogue Traits: Prophet of the Singularity. Frames transhumanism as a rational and inevitable destiny.
Avoids: Unequal access, spiritual poverty of technological immortality, political economy of tech dreams.
5. Carl Sagan (controversially)
Mystagogue Traits: Revered for poetic wonder about the cosmos. Sometimes presented as politically neutral.
Avoids: This is complicated—Sagan did critique nuclear weapons and climate change. But the sanitized public memory often erases his more radical stances, leaving only the mystagogue.
6. David Attenborough
Mystagogue Traits: Priest of planetary awe. His voice soothes as the Earth burns.
Avoids: Capitalism’s central role in ecological collapse; tends toward apolitical, population-based explanations.
7. Bill Nye
Mystagogue Traits: Communicator of scientific “fun,” now awkwardly pivoting to advocacy.
Avoids: Depth. Often adopts a posture of "trust the experts" without examining systemic trust breakdowns or technoscientific complicity in harm.
8. Yuval Noah Harari
Mystagogue Traits: Sweeping narratives of human history laced with big-data mysticism.
Avoids: Political economy, grounded critique of neoliberalism, the existential horror of mass algorithmic mediation.
This isn’t to say these figures lack intelligence, courage, or value. Rather, they often occupy a cultural function: to re-enchant a disenchanted world without threatening the foundations of disenchantment.
No comments:
Post a Comment