Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 7401182" data-attributes="member: 58172">There is a movie that is fun, called ‘Beyond Reality’, or it seems called ‘Beyond the Edge’. Essentially, it is about individuals using psychic powers to win in gambling casinos. It also involves spiritual worlds and mundane gangsters.I just saw the movie online within the last few weeks.The movie is staying with me because of the oddness of its source. As far as I can tell, it is a Russian movie made in Russia with Russian actors ... speaking English.Heh, the movie confirms a prejudice I get from my Russian friends that Russians are surprisingly superstitious. Surprising because they dont care about religion and are hardcore modern, yet take seriously and even show fascination with concepts that America categorizes as paranormal.The movie is modern in every way. At the same time, I got a vibe that strongly reminded me of Norse and Sámi animism. And I realized there is a strong Siberian shamanic undercurrent persisting even within the modern Russian worldviews. It made me recontextualize my impression that I get from my Russian friends. Rather than ‘superstitious’ which I dismiss, I now kinda view my friends as animistic which I value.I have a gut feeling that animists are paying attention to certain aspects of nature (and global ecology and interconnectness of all forms of life and environment) that classic modernists tend to overlook. Philosophical discussions about artificial intelligence suggest animists might be correct all along, emphasizing that existence is inherently conscious in various modes of consciousness. (According to certain traditions even within my own religion, even rocks have a ‘desire’ even if only to keep on existing.)Anyway, for me, the movie raises ethical concerns about animism. Even when spiritually attaining superpowers what do these quasi-animists do with these cosmic-altering abilities? Heh, use the powers to win at gambling. The movie is slightly more ethically redeemable than that. But it reminds me of the ethical shortcomings with Norse animism. Lacking, is a sense of win-win. Mostly, there is a sense of limited resources, scarcity, ... and that is it. Competition within a painful world.It seems to me, monotheism carries with it a sense of transcendence, infinite possibilities, generosity, helping others altruistically, and patience. At least in Nordic nations, these features are what animists found appealing about monotheistic traditions.Anyway, I mention the movie, Beyond the Edge, here because the Russian culture seems a fun context for ‘magic’ in the modern world.́́</blockquote>

Verification