Journal | Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie occidentale
Monographic journal issue | 53 | Supplemento | 2019
Research Article | Utopia, determinismo tecnologico, ingegneria sociale: la dianetica tra scienza e fantascienza
Utopia, determinismo tecnologico, ingegneria sociale: la dianetica tra scienza e fantascienza
Abstract
In May 1950 L. R. Hubbard published in a science fiction magazine “Dianetics: The Evolution of a Science”, which would later form the basis of Scientology. Emerging from the technocratic mindset typically associated with the periodical, the article considered the human brain as a computer in need of rewiring, giving birth to a peculiar kind of utopian thinking whose aim was not the creation of a ‘new man’, but the return to an original perfection of the mind. Through an examination of this text and its context, I propose to investigate the relationship between engineering culture and literary fictions, trying to understand how the mind-computer analogy shaped the vision of a regenerated society.
Submitted: March 21, 2019 | Accepted: May 27, 2019 | Published Nov. 27, 2019 | Language: it
Keywords Technocratic culture • Human mind • Technological utopianism • History • Science fiction
Copyright © 2019 Giulio Argenio. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOc/2499-1562/2019/01/031
