flâneur

28: Out of the valley - by Nadia - Monomythical

nayafia.substack.com · 3,013 words · saved by 1 readers

There are stories of all-powerful gods, and those of gods who are flawed. Lazy gods, reluctant gods, petulant gods, hedonistic gods who indulge themselves in the spoilings of the celestial rather than attending to earthly matters below: these stories call to us, because they remind us of ourselves. Two of my favorite stories about flawed gods orient around a similar thematic axis. Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light imagines gods as a super-class of humans who developed technology to make themselves godlike, and who retain control over mortals by preventing further technological advancements. Likewise, qntm's Ra tells us of an elite group of humans with access to advanced technology who secretly hoard this knowledge for their own benefit. Their shared crux hinges upon a tragic asymmetry: The gods had every imaginable resource available, and yet they kept it all to themselves. Last fall, in a post titled "The Shitposting Gods of Silicon Valley," Pirate Wires' Mike Solana recounted Elon Musk's

There are stories of all-powerful gods, and those of gods who are flawed. Lazy gods, reluctant gods, petulant gods, hedonistic gods who indulge themselves in the spoilings of the celestial rather than attending to earthly matters below: these stories call to us, because they remind us of ourselves. Two of my favorite stories about flawed gods orient around a similar thematic axis. Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light imagines gods as a super-class of humans who developed technology to make themselves godlike, and who retain control over mortals by preventing further technological advancements.…

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