I was once told that I should not bother with planning anything in my life. And so I’ve wondered if I hummed to high or low frequency. Perhaps the real question is, have I ever needed to wait for a train?
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro, Sweden 2016
Alexander Bogdanov (1873-1928), developed a theory called Tektology as “the science of structures” as a forerunner to systems theory [1]. His main goal was to clarify in generalisable form the principles of the organization of all living and non-living structures:
“Tektology must clarify the modes of organization that are perceived to exist in nature and human activity; then it must generalise and systematise these modes; further it must explain them, that is, propose abstract schemes of their tendencies and laws… Tektology deals with organisational experiences not of this or that specialised field, but of all these fields together. In other words, tektology embraces the subject matter of all the other sciences.” [2]
I am probably a late developer. I spent an evening watching a 2013 produced movie, Frequencies, also known as OXV: The Manual. Written, directed, and produced by Darren Paul Fisher, this multiple award winning independent British film is classified as a science-fiction romance. But if anything, it would be Bogdanov’s tektology and the science of structures that runs as meta and non-meta themes through the brilliant script.
Below, some exchange of dialogue from the movie I’ve favourited, searching for the phrase “knowledge determines destiny” using an online concordance software.
And have I ever waited for a train? I don’t know. I figure it depends on what it means, the intransitive verb “to wait”.
Knowledge determines destiny: a concordance search in OXV: The Manual
I. Scene
Mrs. Fortune: Is there anything we can do about her emotional…her emotions?
Miss Anderson: It’s a common side-effect: the higher the frequency, the lower the empathy. One tends to drive out the other. The luckier we are, the less we care about it.
Mrs. Fortune: And no one’s gonna be luckier than Marie.
Miss Anderson: No, it doesn’t appear so. There are certain things we can try — knowledge does determine destiny, after all. [00:05:57]
Mrs. Fortune: I don’t want her to be an experiment. We want her to, uh…make friends, have fun, fall in love, have a normal life.
Miss Anderson: Oh, I’m sorry, but you must understand, that won’t be at all possible.
II. Scene
Miss Anderson: Do you like him?
Marie: It’s just an experiment.
Miss Anderson: It’s a false experiment; frequency does not change. Don’t waste your “feelings” on this boy; the two of you are just not destined to be together.
Marie: Knowledge determines destiny, Miss Anderson.[00:10:33]
III. Time – Phrase knowledge determines destiny from 00:05:20 in the movie
00:21:11 I changed my frequency.
00:21:13 You know that’s not possible.
00:21:15 Knowledge determines destiny. I —
00:21:16 You did this?
00:21:19 – You found the solution? – Yes.
00:21:22 – Does that surprise you? – Yes.
00:21:24 You are Low-Frequency.
00:45:55 Expecting a call?
00:45:58 – Yes. – How did you last more than a minute?
00:46:03 – I changed my frequency. – You know that’s not possible.
00:46:05 Knowledge determines destiny. I —
00:46:07 You did this? You found the solution?
00:46:10 Yes.
00:46:13 – Does that surprise you? – Yes.
00:46:16 You are Low-Frequency.
00:46:18 Not anymore.
01:21:20 while we decide precisely how to deal with you.
01:21:23 – But– – Under any circumstances.
01:22:01 (Knowledge determines destiny.)
01:22:09 (What do I know?)
01:22:14 (Nothing.)
01:31:37 (Knowledge determines destiny)
01:40:06 someone to give me what I wanted?
01:40:09 I tell you that when the equation is perfect,
01:40:12 I will know the true pattern.
01:40:15 You ask me what good that will do.
01:40:17 I tell you, “Knowledge is useless if you only know parts —
01:40:23 There can be no truth.
01:40:26 Everyone else will know only pieces.
01:41:55 It means everything’s already decided.
01:41:58 There’s no freedom, no responsibility,
01:42:00 and knowledge absolutely does not determine destiny.
01:42:04 Yes.
01:42:09 Does it matter?
And in Marie-Curie Fortune’s surrealistic world, — A serious question, or polite conversation?
References
[1] Capra, F., & Luisi, P. L. (2014). The systems view of life: A unifying vision. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[2] Bogdanov, A. quoted in Gorelik, G (1975). Principal ideas of Bogdanov’s tektology: the universal science of organization, General Systems, 20:3-13.