virtonautics n (virtual + nautics, from Greek nautikos, of ships, sailing, like in astronautics) Ð experimental exploration and development of virtual worlds.
Now virtonautics is still in embryo, but in the future it will become as common an occupation as aeronautics and astronautics today.
by Mikhail Epstein November 03, 2003
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 08, 2003
sanitas insania (from Latin: sanitas, health + insania, mania.) Ð obsession with health and wellness characteristic of many Americans. Thus, sanitas insania is an oxymoronic phrase. To be obessed with health is unhealthy.
Hugh suffers from sanitas insania, that's why he is unable to be in love with anybody except his own body.
by Mikhail Epstein November 06, 2003
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.
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
etceteric adj (from etcetera, "and so forth")- somebody or something usually included in the "etcetera" rubric, one among "the others," "the like," "the rest," not named individually; marginal, anonymous, obscure.
I'm afraid you have never heard about Andrew Lynch. No, he is not an exoteric writer. He is simply an etceteric writer.
Alan has worked in zoology for almost forty years, and he still remains an etceteric researcher. Isn't this a shame? Let's find a way to give some tribute to him.
Kaluga is not an etceteric Russian provincial town, it is known for the best preserved cityscape and architecture of the 19th century.
Alan has worked in zoology for almost forty years, and he still remains an etceteric researcher. Isn't this a shame? Let's find a way to give some tribute to him.
Kaluga is not an etceteric Russian provincial town, it is known for the best preserved cityscape and architecture of the 19th century.
by Mikhail Epstein November 06, 2003
an error of reducing higher or more complex processes, such as human behavior and thinking, to its elementary components or material bearers, such as physiological structures or chemical reactions.
Reductive fallacies abound in the popular works of Carl Sagan. For example, he wrote in his best-selling book The Dragons of Eden": "My fundamental premise about the brain is that its workings--what we sometimes call "mind"--are a conse`uence of its anatomy and physiology and nothing more".
by Mikhail Epstein November 06, 2003
abbreviation for Electronically Generated Groups, such as smart mobs
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 03, 2003