Idiocracy

Beyond the universal history of human incapacity, there is today a new quality of idiocy. While the old idiot derived knowledge from isolation, the new idiot refuses any understanding of the world. He appears merely as a figure of systemic incompetence, which unfolds its effects even in the most intricate branches of political and media life, while developing new, often completely absurd competencies. Today's debates about fake news or post-truth society can also be interpreted from this perspective as signs of a comprehensive transformation of forms of self-politics, in which the absurd redefines the image of reality. For while there is much talk of global awareness and community, the solipsism of the idiotic subject seems to play an increasingly effective role beneath the surface. As the isolated self among many, it forms the empty center of a planetary, self-revolving idiocy. Zoran Terzic's essay, which is both broadly scoped and detail-oriented, takes up the cultural-historical figure of the idiot and traces its configurations through its numerous appearances in intellectual history, aiming to examine idiocy as art beyond a hypertrophic present.