Website design By BotEap.comIn Huxley’s Brave New World, the future is a dystopian reality where science and technology keep us distracted enough to avoid realizing the truth about reality. In RF Georgy’s novel Notes from the Cafe, the digital age has come to realize Huxley’s vision of a dystopian world packaged as a utopia. Georgy recovers Dostoevsky’s Underground Man to give us a chilling image of the information age. Speaking of information, Georgy’s Cafe Dweller states: “Information does not paint any picture, it does not sing any song and it does not write any poem.” I must confess that when I first read this line I was stunned by its poetic style. Since reading Dostoevsky’s Notes on the Underground I have not questioned the benefits of the information age. Georgy makes one of the most compelling arguments against progress, so much so that I was forced to confront all my preconceived notions about science and technology.

Website design By BotEap.comYou believe in progress. You believe in the perfectibility of man. You believe in the rational order of human beings. You believe in the crystal palace. You believe in … wait, no, you adore number four. You seem puzzled, I know. I speak in parables. You gentlemen prefer the conciseness of facts and figures. Let me explain what I mean by the number four. According to mathematics, twice two is always four. Isn’t that a wonderfully rational statement? Isn’t it precise and accurate? Now what has the digital age done with this claim? He has built a building on it. The foundation of the digital age is, after all, mathematics. “Georgy creates the ultimate neo-Luddite that reduces the digital age to a series of mindless distractions. According to Georgy,” we inflate too much the epistemic value of information and we confuse with knowledge.

Website design By BotEap.comOnce he finishes debunking the illusion of our digital complex, Georgy reaches out to God forcing me to reevaluate for agnostic position. In one of the most devastating arguments against agnosticism, Georgy argues: “The agnostic will demand proof before submitting to the divine order of things. What’s wrong with that, you say? I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it. What the heck? Do you know what proof must look like to recognize it as the proof you need? Do you see the extraordinary arrogance in demanding proof? We have assumed all along that those who require proof have no other responsibility than to sit back, relax and wait to be led to believe by something extraordinary. We have been led to believe that the burden of proof falls on those who make unsubstantiated claims. What they do not realize, gentlemen, is that those who demand proof have a greater burden on them. “I’ve always assumed that asking for proof is reason enough to keep the possibility of having faith open. What Georgy is saying is that demanding a test requires us to understand the framework of knowledge under which a test becomes valid or invalid. If I hold that science should be the standard of proof, is it not for me to demonstrate why science is the only acceptable form of proof?

Website design By BotEap.comWhen I finished Notes from the Cafe, I was dizzy with questions. This book challenged me, angered me, and elicited certain emotional responses that forced me to confront my own belief system. I believe that this book will go down in history as a classic that will be studied by all who dedicate themselves to the digital world. This book should be a required reading.