66 definitions by Mikhail Epstein

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
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ride the edge

to be ahead in a certain skill or profession, to be on a cutting edge and take all the risks of being the first and leading the others
A recent graduate in quantum physics, Amalia now rides the edge of nanotechnology.
by Mikhail Epstein November 6, 2003
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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
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a nickname for our decade
American culture likes to divide itself into decades: the prosperous fifties, the rebellious sixties, the egoistic seventies, the greedy the eighties, the booming ninetees… Finally, the dooming
2000s
by Mikhail Epstein October 8, 2003
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videocracy

videocracy n. (from Latin video, I see + Latin cratia, from Greek kratos, power, rule; cf. ideocracy) Ð the power of visual images in shaping contemporary societies; the crucial impact of television, cinema, internet, and advertising on public opinion, political affairs, market strategies, etc.
Videocracy has become the flip side of democracy in the mass media age.
by Mikhail Epstein November 15, 2003
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hibyer

hibyer, n. (hi+bye+suffix er)

a marginal acquaintance with whom "hi' and "bye" are the most typical units of verbal exchange; the vocabulary of a minimal relationship.
Do you know this woman? - Not really, we are hibyers.

They were married for ten years, but now they are only hibyers.

I was surprised when hibyer stopped for a more substantial conversation.
by Mikhail Epstein November 16, 2003
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amort (amor + mort)

amort n. (Lat. amor, love + Lat. mort, death)

the double instinct of love and death; the ambivalent combination of Eros and Thanatos or the transformation of one into another; a cruel and (self)destructive passion that leads to the ruin of the loved or the lover.
Amort is the most common theme of European literature, from Tristan and Isolde to The Ballad of Reading Gaol:

And all men kill the thing they love,
By all let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!
by Mikhail Epstein November 16, 2003
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