Skip to main content

Mikhail Epstein's definitions

egonetics

egonetics, n. (ego+net+ics)

weaving a network of self-references, increasing one's presence on the internet.

Egonetics is different from "ego surfing" - a search of one's own name on the internet (using search engines). Egonetics
is an active electronic dispersal of your name, making links to your homepage, entering various interactive sites and
open forums. It can be done for the sake of an idea or a commercial promotion, but in absence of ideological
or professional motifs, this is a narcissistic case of egonetics.
I am afraid that my colleague uses her office hours for egonetics.

He is not an egoist in the traditional sense, he is simply an egonetic.
by Mikhail Epstein November 16, 2003
mugGet the egoneticsmug.

ghostalgia

ghostalgia n. (ghost + Gr. algos, pain, grief, distress; cf. nostalgia) Ð a mystical longing or wistful affection for ghosts, angels, miracles, aliens, and other otherworldy characters and mysterious phenomena.
Ghostalgia is a form of nostalgia in that we experience the other world as our genuine lost home.

I am agnostic, but sometimes I feel ghostalgic.

On the eve of deep historical crises, ghostalgia can grip the souls of entire nations.
by Mikhail Epstein November 15, 2003
mugGet the ghostalgiamug.

chronopath

chronopath n. (Gr. khronos, time + Gr. patheia, suffering) Ð a person who suffers from chronopathy, i.e. a disorder of time sense.

chronopathic adj Ð characterized by chronopathy.
Why are you always late? Are you a chronopath?

He has no ill intentions or disrespect when he misses one appointment after another. He is severely chronopathic since his childhood.
by Mikhail Epstein November 13, 2003
mugGet the chronopathmug.

webbiage

webbiage n (web + suffix iage, like in verbiage) Ð excessive use of web tools and design beyond those needed to present a certain content or achieve a certain goal.
Why do you need all this webbiage? Simplify, simplify!
by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003
mugGet the webbiagemug.

noocracy

noocracy n Greek noos, mind, and Greek -kratia, power or rule Ð a system of world government based of the integrated mind of civilization and its transpersonal decisions; syntellect as a ruling principle of the future society.
As the thinking matter increases its mass in nature and geo- and biosphere grow into noosphere, the future of the humanity can be envisioned as noocracy--that is the power of the collective brain rather than separate individuals representing certain social groups or society as whole.
by Mikhail Epstein November 6, 2003
mugGet the noocracymug.

inventure

inventure (invention+adventure) Ð an adventure of mind, creative and engaging intellectual action.
This book is about the invention of radio, but it reads like a thriller, with one inventure piled upon another.

By cutting reason down to size and establishing its ÒproperÓ limits, Kant encouraged subsequent inventures, a never-ending quest to reach beyond the limits of rational thought.
by Mikhail Epstein November 6, 2003
mugGet the inventuremug.

humy

humy n (abbreviated and affectionate name of a human being implying smallness) - a human being as a partner or a pet of creatures with artificial intelligence. The term also resonates with "humiliated," the role humans might assume in a technosociety dominated by the humanoid machines.
For somebody as smart as this humy, you have to wonder why it cannot escape death.
by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003
mugGet the humymug.

Share this definition

Sign in to vote

We'll email you a link to sign in instantly.

Or

Check your email

We sent a link to

Open your email