„[I]s not day-dream the virtual catastrophe in which knowledge is initiated?“ (p. 325) #Thom #day-dream #catastrophe #knowledge
„It is striking how all past and present techniques of foretelling the future depend on the following principle: a generalized catastrophe (tea leaves in a cup, lines on the palm of a hand, drawing of cards, the shape of a chicken’s liver, etc.) is studied and its morphology is then associated, by a suitable isomorphism, with the preoccupations and difficulties of the client. This method is not absurd insofar as the dynamic of morphogenesis may contain local accidental isomorphisms with the dynamic of human situations, and often a gifted soothsayer may well elicit some valuable conclusions from this examination. To classify these isomorphisms in some definitive manner would be to embark on the characteristic form of delirious thought.“ (p. 330, n. 6) #Thom #future #catastrophe #morphology #isomorphism
„Le mot « catastrophe » n’a donc pas ici cette connotation négative qu’il a en revanche dans la langue de tous les jours… tout simplement, en chaque point v de l’ensemble catastrophique K, les choses changent…“ (p. 6) #Thom #catastrophe