Mikhail Epstein's definitions
domestican n Latin domesticus, belonging to the household, from domus, house - someone who preaches the values of domestic life, worships the deities of hearth and home.
He is a sort of a monk, though his monastery is his own house. In a word, he is a domestican.
A typical domestican hates public spaces. Hu prefers hus kitchen and living room to all attractions in the world.
A typical domestican hates public spaces. Hu prefers hus kitchen and living room to all attractions in the world.
by Mikhail Epstein November 6, 2003
Get the domesticanmug. chronocide n (Greek khronos, time + Latin cidum, from caedere, to slay; cf. genocide, homicide, parricide) - the murder of time, the violent interruption of historical succession and continuity.
Any revolution is a form of chronocide: the past and present are sacrificed to the future. Any counterrevolution is also a chronocide: the present and the future are sacrificed to the past.
Communism is a chronocide: it destroys the tradition in its leap to the ungrounded future.
Fascism is a chronocide: it brings the society under the spell of the archaic past.
Communism is a chronocide: it destroys the tradition in its leap to the ungrounded future.
Fascism is a chronocide: it brings the society under the spell of the archaic past.
by Mikhail Epstein November 9, 2003
Get the chronocidemug. chronomania n (Greek khronos, time + Greek mania, obsession, madness; cf. megalomania, balletomania) - obsession with time and speed; inclination to utilize every moment and to submit one's life to a total time control.
America suffers from chronomania. Faster, faster, faster! Why not to stop and to look in tranquility where we stand and into which future we have been rushing headlong.
Chronomania may become dangerous for your mental health. Try to find a different focus of life, apart from schedules and deadlines.
Chronomania may become dangerous for your mental health. Try to find a different focus of life, apart from schedules and deadlines.
by Mikhail Epstein November 9, 2003
Get the chronomaniamug. conaster n from Latin cum, with + Greek astron, star - literally with star, the exact antonym to disaster; the fortunate outcome of an almost imminent disaster; the sensation of a catastrophe narrowly averted and later remembered from the vantage point of safety.
There were several conasters in my life that I cannot recall without thanking God for his undeserved mercy.
You were born under a lucky star. This conaster is an amazing mixture of chance and miracle.
You were born under a lucky star. This conaster is an amazing mixture of chance and miracle.
by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003
Get the conastermug. netscapist (net + escapism) - a person who escapes from unpleasant realities into the networld (see netscapism).
Netscapists are ubiquitous today. If you chat with a neighbor for hours from your computer instead of seeing him in a cafe, you are in danger of becoming a netscapist.
by Mikhail Epstein November 7, 2003
Get the netscapistmug. multividual n Latin multus, many + Latin individuus, indivisible Ð a multiple individual that embraces many selves and in a technological perspective can possess multiple bodies.
As early as 1970s, psychologists indicated the emergence of a proteic type of personality who combines the properties of different individuals. This is not a schizophrenically split personality, but the one rich in roles and selves, a multividual who cannot be confined to a single self.
The multiplicity of selves often reveals itself in the acts of inspiration and artistic creativity. Eventually these multiple selves will acquire not only symbolical and imaginative embodiments, like in theater, but also independent bodies. Like a bio-species is exemplified by a multiplicity of individuals, a multividual will become a psycho-species exemplified by various organisms. Such multividuals will reach across continents assuming various material guises and performing various social and professional roles, and simultaneously they will be aware of their unique destiny and moral responsibility.
The multiplicity of selves often reveals itself in the acts of inspiration and artistic creativity. Eventually these multiple selves will acquire not only symbolical and imaginative embodiments, like in theater, but also independent bodies. Like a bio-species is exemplified by a multiplicity of individuals, a multividual will become a psycho-species exemplified by various organisms. Such multividuals will reach across continents assuming various material guises and performing various social and professional roles, and simultaneously they will be aware of their unique destiny and moral responsibility.
by Mikhail Epstein November 6, 2003
Get the multividualmug. ambipathy n (Latin, Greek ambi- (or amphi), both, on both sides + Greek pathos, feeling) - a mixture of sympathy and antipathy, of attraction and repulsion; a condition of being torn apart by conflicting feelings and aspirations.
"... At once I hate and love as well," - this line by Catullus, Roman poet of the first century BC, is one of the first literary expressions of ambipathy.
Dmitry Karamazov in Dostoevsky says that "a man is too broad" and is equally attracted by the two abysses--the upper and the lower ones, the ideal of Madonna and the ideal of Sodom. In this sense, Dmitry and perhaps Dostoevsky himself are the brightest manifestations of this common trait of ambipathy.
Dmitry Karamazov in Dostoevsky says that "a man is too broad" and is equally attracted by the two abysses--the upper and the lower ones, the ideal of Madonna and the ideal of Sodom. In this sense, Dmitry and perhaps Dostoevsky himself are the brightest manifestations of this common trait of ambipathy.
by Mikhail Epstein November 6, 2003
Get the ambipathymug.