Mikhail Epstein's definitions
chronosome n (Greek khronos, time + Greek soma, body; cf. chromosome) Ð a unit of historical heredity, in contrast with a chromosome as a unit of biological heredity; a mental code of a historical period that is transmitted to next generations through styles, traditions and unconscious influences ("cultural air").
The chronosomes of the early 20th c. avant-garde have reached the generation of the 1960s and shaped its political views and artistic styles.
Nabokov's novel "Invitation to a Beheading" bears many Kafka's chronosomes, even if the author claims to have never read Kafka.
Nabokov's novel "Invitation to a Beheading" bears many Kafka's chronosomes, even if the author claims to have never read Kafka.
by Mikhail Epstein November 13, 2003
Get the chronosome mug.happicle n (happy + diminutive suffix Ðicle, like in "particle," "icicle") Ð a particle of happiness, the smallest unit of happiness; a single happy occurrence or a momentary feeling of happiness.
There is no happiness in this world, but there are happicles. Sometimes we can catch them, fleeting and unpredictable as they are.
Like photons, happicles have zero mass at rest--the inertial mass that we identify with happiness. Happicles just flash and go out in passing. They may be as transitory as a fragrance in the air, or a yellow falling leaf, or a glance of a passerby on the street.
Happicles make life worth of living, even in the absence of stable happiness.
Like photons, happicles have zero mass at rest--the inertial mass that we identify with happiness. Happicles just flash and go out in passing. They may be as transitory as a fragrance in the air, or a yellow falling leaf, or a glance of a passerby on the street.
Happicles make life worth of living, even in the absence of stable happiness.
by Mikhail Epstein November 8, 2003
Get the happicle mug.chronocide n (Gr. khronos, time + Lat. 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 chronocide mug.Inventurers know how much they donÕt know; like Socrates and Kant, they start their journey with the confessed Òignorance.Ó
by Mikhail Epstein November 6, 2003
Get the inventurer mug.polypath n. ( Gr. polys, much, many + patheia, suffering) Ð a person with multiple disorders, such as neuropathy, myopathy, sociopathy, chronopathy, etc.
by Mikhail Epstein November 13, 2003
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Outwardly the distinction between Savior and Slavior may be as subtle as one letter difference in their names.
For many old-believers, the Slavior is already here, in our very midst, and they refuse to serve this self-appointed sovereign.
For many old-believers, the Slavior is already here, in our very midst, and they refuse to serve this self-appointed sovereign.
by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003
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or bookcrossing communities, that use the web to ferment their social
bonds in real space and time.
or bookcrossing communities, that use the web to ferment their social
bonds in real space and time.
These EGGs are indeed the eggs of new, trans-electronic sociality.
Do you participate in any EGG? - Yes, I am a seasoned egger.
Do you participate in any EGG? - Yes, I am a seasoned egger.
by Mikhail Epstein October 2, 2003
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