2016-08-04

To Infinity... And Beyond

What do you call a belief system without a name? Especially when the followers of it don't even think of it as a belief system because they believe it is "the Truth". Well you just have to find one for it/them.

A common belief of the 'modern' world is that "Newer is Better" and "The Latest is the Greatest". A large hunk of the advertising we are bombarded with, is flogging the new thing to replace the old, often with a simple declaration that it is better just because it is newer. In the Information Technology business, we are constantly pushed to upgrade, such that it has become an endless hamster wheel of repeatedly patching and upgrading as more important than the reasons the systems were implemented for. Never a thought that we might find good enough or any equilibrium.

John Michael Greer articulates this very nicely in After Progress. Where Greer calls it the "Religion of Progress" which describes it nicely, but somehow that just doesn't sound right as a Name. Then it hit me, strait out of the cartoons, Buzz Lightyear's "To Infinity And Beyond!"
Looking ever forward, not at yesteryear, but off beyond the possible. Perfect as the axiom of that belief, to be used as an exclamation mark to what a point being said. It becomes a handy acronym of TIAB that can be said with the same tone as Christian's "amen". So the belief can be called TIABism, with followers being labeled TIABists or TIABers. But will they accept Buzz Lightyear as their patron saint? Messiah? The Buzz? Prime Buzz? or some other possibility.

Sayings and other attributes of TIABists
 - “It’s different this time,” as in That was then, this is now, it’s different this time, that’s history, we need to be thinking ahead of the times, not behind them: i.e. history is the past and we can safely ignore it rather than learn anything. Which just shows that TIABists are just dooming themselves to repeat history.
 - Luddite, used in the same ways that foreigner, goy, heathen, infidel, heretic, etc. are often used.
 - ageism: where any one or thing is of less value because of how old it is. A true TIABist does not collect antiques.

What else do you see as being a part of the TIABist faith?
                       Where else do they take it..  To Infinity... And Beyond?

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