SPINAL CATASTROPHISM: A SECRET HISTORY - THOMAS MOYNIHAN

“The overlap between the grave, the bath and the bed; strategic escapes from the burden of verticality.”

-Anne Carson (this quote isn’t in the book, it just sprung to mind while reading)

This is a buzzy little theory book from a few years ago that I’m glad I finally got around to reading. I can see why it made such a splash (as much as a jargon-y, theory book can “make a splash”), it’s very original and far-out, it’s wide-ranging but also pithy, with sort chapters that don’t overstay their welcome. It’s full of interesting theory-speak words like “zeitbeger” “psychozoic” “chronotaxis” and “cosmotraumatics” as well as provocative ideas sourced from all over like, “Misogyny is birthed from the spine,” “The universe is one colossal chronometer” or “There is something cosmically damaged about the upright human.” all of which Moynihan explains but doesn’t dwell on. He’s remains focused on giving you the full breath of his ideas. The starting point comes from Moynihan’s body itself, the book is dedicated, “to my scoliosis” and takes the human spine and the upright posture of man as a jumping off point to discuss all manner of issues. He is focused on the ways in which this posture, which is unique in the animal kingdom, sets humans apart and causes all sorts of pain and problems. He illustrates the way the structure of the universe itself is visible in the physical body of man. Large portions of it are quite pessimistic, given how our spines predisposes us to back-pain, as well as the large pain that comes along with consciousness itself. Moynihan explores outwards and tries to ponder why greater intelligence aren’t visible in the universe, including ideas about how the physical laws of the universe themselves might be the result of  𝛀-level intelligence playing games beyond our understanding. I only realized partway through the book that Moynihan is CCRU adjacent though he manages to not dwell on Nick Land nor Mark Fisher, which is a nice change of pace. The CCRU connection gets more interesting when he quotes, at length, a man named D.C. Barker, who coined “spinal catastrophism” and, who is, apparently, an ex-NASA guy who went off the rails with his pessimistic speculation. I found his ideas, as related in this book, pretty interesting but when I looked into him he, apparently, isn’t all together real. He seems to be something of a CCRU egregore, or at least it seems that way, I’ll have to do more research when I have better internet access. It seems that he also used to teach “Anorganic Semiotics” at “Miskatonic Virtual University” which does seem to raise some questions. But, all that aside, the book raised some interesting points and got me thinking in new-to-me ways about the “meaning” of our spine and posture. It didn’t bore and is full of all sorts of interesting spinal illustrations. It manages to both not take itself too seriously and also be rigorous about what it’s saying. A real best case scenario for theory book. I’d recommend. 100 Million spines.