[1] From: "Gregory J. Murphy" (73)
<gjmurphy@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>
Subject: A Unix tool for lit crit
This piece of humor might be a bit recherche if you don't know Unix,
but for what it's worth...
Gregory Murphy, Text Systems Manager
CETH (The Center for Electronic Texts in the Humanities)
E-MAIL: gjmurphy@princeton.edu
WEB PAGE: http://www.princeton.edu/~gjmurphy
---------- Forwarded message ----------
>From: David Laur <david@rainsound.com>
---------- Forwarded Message
>From: robert@ocean.washington.edu (Robert Drucker)
PSHIFT(1) USER COMMANDS PSHIFT(1)
NAME
pshift - paradigm shift utility
SYNOPSIS
pshift [-zzeitgeist] [-rragelev] [-v] [-c] [-wn] [+|-n]
DESCRIPTION
The pshift operator performs a paradigm shift on its input stream
within the context of the current or specified zeitgeist.
OPTIONS
-z Specify the zeitgeist context. May be specified here or from
the environment variable $ZEITGEIST.
Supported values of zeitgeist are judeo_christian (default),
postcommunist, new_age, and when_god_was_a_woman.
-r Specify rage level. Acceptable values of ragelev are
ennui (default), deep_seated, and consuming.
-v Set to verbose mode. Normally pshift operates silently; in
verbose mode it publishes a 500+ page bestseller entitled
"Rethinking [input stream] in the [zeitgeist] Age", and then
begins soliciting honoraria until the operator types ctrl-c.
On some systems it runs for Congress.
-c Set to collective IO. Normally pshift takes its input from
stdin and outputs to stdout; in collective mode it takes its
input from the Collective Unconscious and writes to the Body
Politic.
-wn Specify first, second, third or fourth wave. Acceptable
values for n are 0,1,2 or 3, with 2 (third wave) being the
default.
[On Sun systems, the logical waves are 0,3,2,1, which map to
physical waves 0,1,2,3; see Sun Technical Manual for details.]
+|-n Specifies the number of times to prepend 'post' to the
zeitgeist context, if positive, or 'pre' if negative.
The default is 11.
EXAMPLES
source $DEITY | pshift -zpostcommunist -rdeep_seated -v +1
On most systems, the above command will output a hardcover volume
called "Rethinking God in the Post-Postcommunist Era", in which the
irrelevence of erstwhile religious concepts is seen to have
triggered a global, deep-seated rage vis-a-vis traditional
sociopolitical norms leading to a premature breakdown of emerging
postsoviet infrastructure.
pshift -znew_age -rennui
The above command produces no output, but privately processes a
vague discontent which it will share if its space is honored. May
be redirected to /dev/null.
pshift -c -w3 -1
Taking its input from the collective unconscious, the above command
rejects the failed socioeconomic policies of the last thirty years
and replaces them with a futurist, fourth wave polemic of
traditional values, the two-parent family, and the supremacy of the
private sector that was the foundation of the American utopia of
the 1950s. Use a prepend value of -2 to restore the American utopia
of the early Industrial Age, a value of -3 to restore the European
utopia of the Enlightenment, -4 for catholic hegemony, etc.
(note: Requires grass root permission. In verbose mode, it may
also require a $4 million advance.)
SEE ALSO
backlash(1)
BUGS
You must have root permission to use consuming rage.
AUTHOR
Robert Drucker (robert@ocean.washington.edu)
copyright 1995 Robert Drucker.
Robert Drucker is a trademark of Robert Drucker.
------- End of Forwarded Message