Anarky is back!!!!

[The Xenos]

That's pretty neat. I remember seeing him back in the 90s. Of course now I know Moore's V as the more potent original version of the character, but I still like this kid. Rather interesting to see him back, especially at such a crazy time in the Bat books.

Also, anyone else guessing that he's somehow this second Red Robin? Meh. Can't stand this whole Red Robin fiasco. Never mind Jason being involved.

[Lorendiac]

All this talk about Anarky reminds me of a question I once had about some details of his philosophy. Years ago, I bought the TPB that collects his earliest appearances, including the 4-part miniseries he once had. (But I've never read any of his later monthly title which lasted what, 8 issues before it was cancelled?)

In that miniseries, every once in awhile we'd get another page in which he was delivering a lecture on his ideas about the development of human thought and so forth. He was speaking to a very small audience: His dog. In this lecture, at one point Lonnie asserted that it was only about 3000 years ago (meaning around 1000 B.C.) that the human race made an evolutionary leap and started "hearing voices" in people's heads; voices which I think Anarky credits with being the basis for the newfangled fad called "religion" and the idea of "getting inspiration from divine sources" . . . or words to that effect. (Been awhile since I actually reread that material.)

That was the general idea, anyway -- Anarky asserted, as if it were an undeniable historical fact, that a fundamental shift occurred in how human brains functioned, beginning as recently as 3000 years ago. I disagreed with him on that, but I was also interested because I didn't think I had ever seen that exact theory put forth before, and I wondered if it was something Alan Grant had invented on the spur of the moment, or did he get it from somebody else's philosophical writings or something?

I never did really research that point, so I still don't know if Grant was just making it up as he went along, or what! Anyone care to comment?

[Vidocq]

Originally Posted by Lorendiac

All this talk about Anarky reminds me of a question I once had about some details of his philosophy. Years ago, I bought the TPB that collects his earliest appearances, including the 4-part miniseries he once had. (But I've never read any of his later monthly title which lasted what, 8 issues before it was cancelled?)

In that miniseries, every once in awhile we'd get another page in which he was delivering a lecture on his ideas about the development of human thought and so forth. He was speaking to a very small audience: His dog. In this lecture, at one point Lonnie asserted that it was only about 3000 years ago (meaning around 1000 B.C.) that the human race made an evolutionary leap and started "hearing voices" in people's heads; voices which I think Anarky credits with being the basis for the newfangled fad called "religion" and the idea of "getting inspiration from divine sources" . . . or words to that effect. (Been awhile since I actually reread that material.)

That was the general idea, anyway -- Anarky asserted, as if it were an undeniable historical fact, that a fundamental shift occurred in how human brains functioned, beginning as recently as 3000 years ago. I disagreed with him on that, but I was also interested because I didn't think I had ever seen that exact theory put forth before, and I wondered if it was something Alan Grant had invented on the spur of the moment, or did he get it from somebody else's philosophical writings or something?

I never did really research that point, so I still don't know if Grant was just making it up as he went along, or what! Anyone care to comment?

That's Neo Tech phylosphy, Apparently Grant was getting into it when he wrote the Last Story of the trade, I think it was called Metamorphosis. If your going to research about it I recommend you not to go to Wikipedia for this one, They only had a section in the Frank R Wallace (The originator of the philosophy) article which is quite vague.

Neo Tech is somewhat of an spin off, if you will, of Objectivism.

[Xero]

Originally Posted by Vidocq

That's Neo Tech phylosphy, Apparently Grant was getting into it when he wrote the Last Story of the trade....

It's an idea partially based on the work of Julian Jaynes in the field of Bicameralism, and outlined in his book, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. It's a great book and you can still find copies on Amazon.

[SilverDagger]

Are we talking about the apparent bridging of the left and right brain here, giving you the voice of your thoughts inside your head?

I reckon it was extraterrestrial shrooms that pointed us in the right direction 2001 monolith style. Just ask my mate Terry.

[Mysterio's Helmet]

I think it's realllllllllly interesting that Anarky is listed in the promo for the "Faces of Evil" January runthrough.



Anarky back to being what he started???????

[LukeRed5]

I think Anarky will turn out to be Red Robin.

[Laurence]

Sci-fi age him and "V" him up a bit. If Anarky can build that sort of tech at 13, imagine him at 35. He'll have Bruce on the ropes.

[lead sharp]

Anarky as Bats...

[Lorendiac]

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned, paraphrasing from memory, something interesting in a speech Anarky made in his 4-part miniseries. (Although why he felt it necessary to give a lecture to his dog, Yap -- with no one else listening -- about the development of human consciousness was not entirely clear.)

I appreciated having the philosophy expressed in that speech labeled for me as "bicameralism." As I recall: When I first read that speech in the TPB collection, some years ago, I suspected Alan Grant might be paraphrasing someone else's philosophical concepts, but I didn't recognize the basic approach and I didn't know who might have come up with it first, or how they developed it. Now I know more about that (although I still disagree with the basic premise about what, if anything, drastically changed in the human brain a mere three thousand years ago). But at least it's thought-provoking!

Here's what Anarky says in the first page of his lecture, which I provide in order to set the record straight on just what he claims to believe on this subject. I'm simply transcribing his dialogue from one page; since no one else was speaking, I don't bother doing it in true script format.


***** BEGINNING OF LECTURE EXCERPT *****

They lied to us, Yap. They told us the evolution of human consciousness was a long, slow affair that began 2 million years ago and is still going on. But it didn't, and it's not.

Until about 1,000 B.C., almost all human beings lived unconscious lives. They built cities, traded, even developed language and hieroglyphics. But they were little more than highly intelligent animals guided by strong impressions, or "voices," in the right hemisphere of the brain.

They weren't deceitful, they knew no guilt, and they weren't responsible for their actions. Just like you, Yap.

3000 years ago, as societies became increasingly complex, the system began to break down. As civilizations collapsed, conscioussness was "invented" as a tool for survival.

Consciousness is the ability to think in metaphors and analog models -- to introspect. For the first time man could become his own adviser, teacher and guru. His own god.

Out of the runs rose a golden age--from Confucius in China to Socrates in Greece. But within a few hundred years that flowering was choked out by a greedy elite.

Thinking is hard, Yap. It requires effort. But mankind missed the easy life, and yearned for its lost "voices." Politicians, priests and philosophers leapt to fill the gap.

***** END OF LECTURE EXCERPT *****


I actually transcribed the above passage a couple of weeks ago -- and then I kept forgetting to post it in this thread!

If you look back in this thread to my earlier mention of that lecture, you'll see that my memory of it was flawed. I correctly remembered, in general terms, that Anarky boldly asserted that a fundamental shift in the functioning of the human brain had occurred as recently as three thousand years ago, but I mistakenly thought that was when he believed our ancestors started "hearing voices" occasionally -- instead of it being when most of them stopped "hearing voices" in their heads on a frequent basis because they were developing a more integrated consciousness somehow!