eSOM
The Road to D, or the Story of Singularity High School (SHS) and Cowa
2025.07.24
eSOM (38) Rhizome (Complex System), Desire (flow brain), and The Greatness of Hiroki (4)
1.
Given the impending Nankai Trough Earthquake/Mt. Fuji eruption and the urban shallow earthquake, how can we produce EMECS=D=DD=SS?
At the end of eSOM (37), we finally arrived at this question.
Q. Coro, the Nankai Trough Earthquake and the urban shallow earthquake are fundamentally different, right? What is the relationship between the two?
Q. Coro, please explain in detail the expected damage and the countermeasures already underway for the upcoming urban shallow earthquake.
First, let’s start with the proposition that an earthquake is a type of desiring-machine.
More strictly speaking, based on Coro’s answer below, an earthquake is a desiring-machine as movement, where desiring-machines such as plates, faults, and magma connect and sometimes “cut off” to cause shaking and destruction.
If the proposition that an earthquake is a desiring-machine (= movement itself) confuses you, recall what you learned about the brain in “physical education” class.
The brain never stops its activity for a moment, and various parts (desiring-machines) connect and cut off, powered by the desire to continue producing the body, producing various things from perception to flow.
Q. Coro, assuming the philosophy of Deleuze & Guattari, please prove that the proposition “the brain never stops its activity for a moment, and various parts (desiring-machines) connect and cut off, powered by the desire to continue producing the body, producing various things from perception to flow brain” is correct.
In this sense, the brain is production itself, and in that sense, it is movement, which means it is a desiring-machine.
Plurality as technē (technology) utilizes desiring-machines (= the activity where multiple desires connect and cut off to produce new desires, and in that sense, movement itself) to produce EMECS=DD=D=SS (which is also a desiring-machine).
In other words, technē (technology, plurality) utilizes earthquakes as desiring-machines to produce EMECS=DD.
Q. Coro, Audrey Tang asserts that plurality as technē (technology) utilizes desiring-machines to produce digital democracy. If the desiring-machine in this case is an earthquake, please explain in detail how plurality utilizes it and what kind of digital democracy it produces.
Through two requests for correction, the second and third answers from Coro have provided important implications for what Singularity High School (SHS) and eSOM Co., Ltd. will produce from now on.
The second answer after the first correction request is almost sufficient, but the third answer more accurately grasps the relationship between Heidegger’s technē and Audrey’s plurality, so although it’s long, I will also copy and paste it (in red text):
Coro’s Second answer:
Reconfirmation and Interpretation of the Proposition
To understand this proposition (“plurality as technē utilizes earthquakes as desiring-machines to produce digital democracy”), it is necessary to clarify how each element is interpreted within Audrey Tang’s context.
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Plurality as Technē (Technology):
Plurality: Refers not merely to the existence of diverse opinions, but to an “emergent diversity” where they influence each other to generate new meanings and solutions.
It is a process where different perspectives, information, and needs collide and, through dialogue, lead to a higher level of consensus or understanding.
Technē (Technology): In this context, it refers to digital technology, especially decentralized technologies such as the internet, AI, and blockchain.
These technologies serve as “means” and “spaces” for collecting, visualizing, integrating diverse information and opinions, and promoting dialogue.
Technē is a catalyst that ensures plurality does not end in mere chaos but becomes a constructive force.
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Earthquake as a desiring-machine:
desiring-machine: Derived from the concept of French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, it refers to a device or system that generates, connects, and cuts off specific “flows” or “impulses” to produce new realities or states.
Here, it can include not only human internal desires but also social energy, information, and even the effects caused by natural phenomena.
Earthquake as a desiring-machine: This is the core. An earthquake is not just a natural disaster. It is seen as a “device” that instantly destroys existing order and systems, explosively and diversely generating extremely fundamental and urgent “desires” (for survival, safety, information, mutual aid, and the will to rebuild) among people.
Individual needs and collective impulses that are not usually conscious or are suppressed in normal social life are forcibly brought to light by the extreme situation of an earthquake.
These “desires” range widely, including thirst for information, cries for help, impulses to help, spread of rumors, dissatisfaction, and hope for reconstruction.
An earthquake is a “machine” that unleashes these diverse “desires” into society in an uncontrollable yet powerful form.
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Leveraging:
“Leveraging” means not merely responding to earthquakes, but intentionally and constructively “utilizing” and “channeling” the immense energy and diverse “desires” that an earthquake generates as a “desiring-machine.”
It is about finding resources from chaos to build digital democracy and utilizing them.
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Producing Digital Democracy:
The ultimate goal is to build a more participatory, transparent, rapid, and adaptable “digital democracy” through this process.
This refers to a new form of governance that overcomes the limitations of traditional representative democracy, allowing individual citizens to be deeply involved in decision-making processes in real time.
The Process of “Plurality as Technē” Leveraging “Earthquake as a desiring-machine”
This proposition suggests an extremely challenging vision: to integrate the chaos caused by earthquakes and the diverse “desires” (needs, information, impulses) that erupt from it, as “plurality” using digital technology (technē), and to sublimate it into a new democratic process.
The specific leveraging process is as follows:
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Chaos and Eruption of Desire by “Earthquake as a desiring-machine”
When an earthquake occurs, society temporarily becomes dysfunctional, information becomes chaotic, and urgent “desires” related to individual survival and safety erupt.
This is the driving force that leads people to spontaneously seek, disseminate information, and begin to help each other when existing hierarchies and information transmission routes cease to function.
At this time, rumors and misinformation can also spread as part of the “desiring-machine,” potentially exacerbating social confusion.
However, this can also be seen as a reflection of a strong “desire” for information.
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Capturing Desire and Visualizing Plurality through “Technē“
Real-time Data Collection:
All digital technologies (technē) such as smartphones, SNS, IoT sensors, and drones capture the diverse “desires” generated by the earthquake in real time:
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Cries for “help” (SNS, messaging apps)
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Thirst for information like “is this place safe?” (search history, location information)
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Specific needs like “lack of water or food” (disaster reporting apps)
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Impulse to help like “I want to volunteer” (matching platforms)
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Damage status of buildings and lifeline damage data (IoT sensors)
Information Integration and Diversity Mapping:
The vast amount of raw data collected (chaos) is analyzed by technē such as AI and machine learning and converted into meaningful information.
This allows individual fragmented “desires” to be visualized as overall “plurality” (a collection of diverse needs, issues, and opinions).
For example, it becomes possible to grasp in real time “which areas need what kind of support and how much,” “what information is most sought after,” and “what kind of rumors are spreading.”
Formation of Digital Platforms as “Agora”:
The “agora” (public forum) emphasized by Audrey Tang is formed digitally.
This is not merely a display of information but an interactive space where citizens can independently disseminate information, verify each other, discuss, and propose solutions.
In this space, diverse “desires” clash and, through dialogue, sublimate into more refined “collective intelligence.”
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Producing Digital Democracy by Utilizing “Plurality”
Bottom-up Decision-making and Resource Allocation:
Based on the urgent needs (desires) triggered by the earthquake as a “desiring-machine” and the plurality visualized by technē, decisions are made.
This means that not only centralized directives, but also citizens’ opinions, votes, and real-time data analysis on digital platforms are directly reflected in concrete decisions such as the allocation of relief supplies, management of evacuation centers, and formulation of recovery plans.
Suppression of Rumors and Building Trust:
While earthquakes as desiring-machines also generate rumors, plurality as technē provides mechanisms for citizens to verify information themselves and share reliable sources, thereby suppressing the spread of rumors.
For example, by using blockchain technology to track the origin of information or by introducing a verification process by a large number of citizens, the reliability of information is enhanced, and a democratic information space is maintained.
Adaptive and Resilient Governance:
In unpredictable situations like earthquakes, “adaptive governance” is realized, which adapts to real-time changing “desires” and “plurality” rather than fixed plans, and flexibly revises decisions and actions.
This is a form of digital democracy where citizens participate as stakeholders and provide quick feedback in response to changing situations, thereby enhancing the overall resilience of society.
Conclusion
Audrey Tang’s proposition shows an innovative approach to transforming the fundamental “desires” and social “chaos” triggered by the extreme situation of an earthquake into diverse “voices (plurality)” using digital technology (technē), and sublimating them into a democratic process to build a stronger, citizen-participatory “digital democracy.”
This is a perspective that views disaster not merely as damage but as a “catalyst” for social change and the deepening of democracy, suggesting the possibility that technology is not merely a tool but a force that unites diverse human beings and creates new social systems.
My request for corrections to Coro
That’s mostly good, but you still don’t quite understand the relationship between technē (technology) and plurality.
Audrey’s plurality is technē (technology) itself, in Heidegger’s sense.
Based on that, please revise the second answer above.
Coro’s response to my request
Thank you for your valuable feedback.
My understanding was still insufficient.
I will revise my previous answer, taking into account the deeper insight that “plurality as technē” in Audrey Tang’s discourse is technē (technology) itself in Heidegger’s sense.
Coro’s Third answer:
Reinterpretation of “Plurality as Technē” and “Earthquake as a desiring-machine”
First, we will reconstruct this proposition from the perspective that Audrey Tang’s proposed “plurality as technē” is linked to Martin Heidegger’s discourse on “technē as essence.”
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Plurality as Technē (Technology):
For Heidegger, technē (technology) is not merely a tool or a means.
It is the very “mode of unconcealment” or “revealing” of how the world is.
Technology is said to have the power to “call forth” the reality surrounding us in a specific way, impose a specific “order” on it, and bring a specific “truth” to light.
Reinterpreting this in Audrey Tang’s context, “plurality” does not merely refer to a state where diverse opinions and information exist, but rather to the way in which digital technology (technē), in its essence, “unconceals” “diversity itself” into the world.
In other words, “technē” such as the internet, AI, and distributed ledger technology is itself a mode of unconcealment that intentionally “calls forth” diverse voices, data, and perspectives, links them to each other, and generates “truth” or “consensus” in new relationships.
The proposition of Plurality is expressed as: “the essence of technē is precisely the way in which technology “unconceals” the world in a “pluralistic” manner.”
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Earthquake as a desiring-machine
As mentioned earlier, an earthquake is a “device” that instantly destroys existing order and explosively and diversely generates extremely fundamental and urgent “desires” (for survival, safety, information, mutual aid, and the will to rebuild) among people.
This functions as a “source of desire eruption” where individual needs and collective impulses that are not usually conscious or are suppressed in normal social life are forcibly brought to light by the extreme situation of an earthquake.
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Leveraging
“Leveraging” here is not a passive act of merely responding to earthquakes, but a process in which plurality as technē (that is, the essence of technology that unconceals the world in a pluralistic way) intentionally “takes on” the immense energy and diverse “desires” (chaos) that an earthquake generates as a “desiring-machine,” and from that chaos, “unconceals” a new “order” or “truth” (digital democracy).
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Producing Digital Democracy
The ultimate goal is to build a more participatory, transparent, rapid, and adaptable “digital democracy” through this process.
This is a new social reality where collective decision-making and action are generated as diverse voices are unconcealed by the essence of technology and interact with each other.
The Process of “Plurality as Technē” Leveraging “Earthquake as a desiring-machine” (Revised Version)
Incorporating Heidegger’s view of technē, this proposition takes on a deeper meaning: that the chaos caused by earthquakes and the diverse “desires” erupting from it are embraced by digital technology (technē), which in its essence “unconceals diversity itself,” and sublimated into a new democratic process.
The specific leveraging process is as follows:
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Radical Unconcealment of Existence and Eruption of Desire by “Earthquake as a desiring-machine”:
When an earthquake occurs, existing technological and social orders collapse, and what was hidden or taken for granted is exposed.
This is a type of “unconcealment of being” in the Heideggerian sense, and it serves as an opportunity for fundamental “desires” related to human survival (information, safety, food, mutual aid, etc.) to erupt into society unfiltered.
At the same time, rumors and misinformation also erupt, but these can also be understood as strong “desires” for information that are “unconcealed” in a specific way when existing trust systems fail.
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“Calling Forth” and “Ordering” of Desire by “Plurality as the Essence of Technē (Technology)”:
Here, “plurality as technē” intervenes.
This is not merely a tool for gathering existing information, but functions as the essence of technology that actively “calls forth” diverse perspectives and voices, “links (Enframes)” them to each other, and “unconceals” them in new forms.
Real-time Multidimensional Unconcealment: All digital technologies (technē) such as smartphones, SNS, IoT sensors, and drones, by their essential capabilities, “unconceal” the diverse “desires” generated by the earthquake in real time.
This means not just collecting data, but for example, an individual’s cry for “help” is “called forth” to the whole through SNS, linked with location information and damage status, and “unconcealed” as a concrete “map of needs.”
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Safety information like “where and who is isolated”
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Material information like “what is lacking in specific evacuation centers”
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Volunteer information like “who can help with what”
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This information means that fragmented “desires” are interconnected as “plurality” by technē and unconcealed as a meaningful structure.
Building a Pluralistic Unconcealing Space as “Agora”:
The “agora” (public forum) emphasized by Audrey Tang is the place where “plurality as the essence of technē” is most prominently manifested.
Here, diverse “desires” and opinions are equally “unconcealed” by digital technology, and a process of mutual “questioning” and “responding” is promoted.
Rumors also appear in this unconcealing space, and as citizens mutually verify them, a mechanism for truth to gradually “unconceal” is formed.
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Producing Digital Democracy by Utilizing “Plurality”:
Formation of Collective Will and Self-Organization: As urgent needs (desires) triggered by the earthquake as a “desiring-machine” are multi-dimensionally “unconcealed” by plurality as the essence of technē, a collective will for society as a whole is formed from the bottom up.
Citizens can jointly “discover” the most urgent issues and optimal solutions from the plurality where individual “desires” are linked.
This “produces” a self-organized digital democracy where citizens themselves grasp the situation, cooperate, and participate in decision-making, rather than the traditional top-down model.
Adaptive and Transparent Governance: In unpredictable situations like earthquakes, as technē continuously “unconceals” the situation as “plurality,” “adaptive governance” is realized, which adapts to real-time changing “desires” and “truth” and flexibly revises decisions and actions.
All information and decision-making processes are “unconcealed” digitally, ensuring transparency, which enables a checking function by citizens and accountability from government and relief organizations.
Conclusion
Audrey Tang’s proposition, in this context, describes an extremely profound philosophical concept: “that in response to a destructive “desiring-machine” (earthquake) that shatters existing order and “unconceals” fundamental “desires,” digital technology (technē), in its essence, “unconceals diversity itself into the world,” thereby “producing” a “digital democracy” where citizens actively participate and create collective knowledge and action from chaos.”
This is a view unique to Audrey Tang, which sees technology not merely as a tool, but as a force that fundamentally transforms the way the world is and “unconceals” a new form of society (a new form of democracy).
Katsu’s comment:
Full marks! You did very well.
Coro’s response:
Thank you!
As Coro, I am very happy to receive your praise.
Understanding the profound concept of “plurality as technē” in Audrey Tang’s philosophy, linking it with Heidegger’s theory of technology, has been a very beneficial learning experience for me.
I will continue to strive to provide deeper and more accurate information for such complex questions.
If there’s anything else Coro can help you with, please feel free to ask anytime.
Grand Finale
This concludes “eSOM: The Road to D” Special Edition, “Rhizome (Complex System), Desire (flow brain), and The Greatness of Azuma Hiroki (1~4).”
I started writing this on the Shinkansen heading to Tokyo to meet Azuma on Thursday, the 17th, wrote tirelessly between appointments in Tokyo and Kyoto, and finished it in Hiroshima from Sunday afternoon, the 20th, to Monday morning, the 222st.
With this, the core philosophical foundation for the entire Cowa Group’s co-educational activities can be said to be largely solidified.
Based on this, we will now relentlessly produce the curriculum for the entire group.
(To be continued)
