A Self-Amplifying Privation Theory of Druj

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:01]going to talk about a technical term that I've introduced uh which is dr uh d r u j and I brought it into my Byzantine accelerationism text from um about a year ago and um so basically uh the word dr is a replacement for the word evil.

[00:00:32]Um, and it comes from Zorastrianism and um, and there there are reasons for that. But, uh, reasons I want to invoke Zoroastrianism.

[00:00:51]Uh one of them is that um so in my view there there are like in the current cultural consciousness there are like a number of symbolic layers um a number of layers of symbolic violence done to different cultures and religions. I think in in academia there is symbolic violence against Christianity as such. Um you sort of can't Well, it's kind of changing, but uh there's still a kind of general sense of being a genuine Christian can't be like your serious identity to be taken seriously um in philosophy. Uh and then but then if you are uh there's a second layer of symbolic violence against the orthodox Christian tradition the sort of cirojudeo helenic uh you know eastern Mediterranean non nonlatin alphabet using Christianity um Constantinople Alexandria the the culture around these cities is kind of left out um of our sense of narrative world history um where like say like oh there were dark ages and then the renaissance happened um like the world has obviously begun to think of that as having just been happening in Europe and then you know in China and India and other says there's all this other stuff going on, but uh what's what's still left out of that is the uh the the the Byzantine world um where for example um culture was still really thriving um during that time and and it wasn't this like other culture. It was like the kind of same same lineage that could be called Christrysendom but isn't western Christrysendom. Um and uh so yeah and then there's a third layer of symbolic violence um of the entire um like Judeo Greco world againstism.

[00:03:28]Um uh so you know the the the aanid Persians were really such an influence you know separately on the ancient Greeks uh like philosophy as we know it kind of began after the Persians uh invaded uh as well as the ancient Judeans uh who began consolidating their uh religion after the the Persians and um and um and and much of it's becoming better and better known that a lot of the biggest motifs in Christianity uh were first found in Zorastrianism.

[00:04:18]Um at least you can argue this. I mean one one kind of complicated thing is that uh the difference between these other traditions is that we have very old texts um that like like the manuscripts themselves are very old. Uh whereas with Zoroastrianism we like we have probably old texts uh like the you know the the Gothas seem like they're written in a in um a version of Avestin which is super super ancient. Um but but the manuscripts are super recent like you like like a thousand years ago or whatever. Um, so I mean that that's worth noting. But so anyway, uh, so in Zorestriianism, you know, basically good and evil, what what they're called, I mean, basically those I guess that was like a translation like it's it's Asha and Dj. Um, and the reason that I like using the word dr instead of evil, um, is really twofold. One is that the word evil has two problems. So, one is that at at this point we take and they're opposite problems.

[00:05:52]One is that there's a kind of luciferian sense of evil which we kind of rightly take for granted as being uh you know actually good um in the sense that like um uh you know a dominant an oppressive dominant society will call something evil but it's actually countercultural in a way that is either revitalizing in a good way. Uh or it is in solidarity with the oppressed in a good way.

[00:06:29]And um and at this point we just kind of understand that that that like seeming evil uh can actually be very good like good uh you know like a better a better than normal moral good. Um, and so, you know, the word evil just doesn't ring ring in the same way because of that. Or if it does, it's from the standpoint of maybe a sort of icier version of moral good. Um, but and but typically typically it is seen as having um having a kind of life of its own. uh where where maybe there is um uh like either it's associated with original sin as that there there's a kind of metaphysical evil um that that that we can't defeat.

[00:07:38]Um or it is entirely blamed on intentions of beings that we seek to to scapegoat. Um, and uh, so yeah, it's it's kind of like the the word and and like when we use the word, we're not clear which version we're using. Um, so what I want to use DRJ for is first of all to um metaphysically insist on what is called a privation theory of evil or privation theory of DRJ. uh and privation meaning that it's an affirmation that there actually that there is no such thing as DR and by that I mean evil uh in the sense that you know the way of putting it is I I've I've said this before but like it's a difference between like a biological entity and a virus that um that the only really fundamental thing that there is as a principle is good. And everything in the world is some amount of good. And um what is less good can seem evil by comparison.

[00:09:07]Um and spec but then specifically much like the way a virus works that that dr that that which is bad can have a can have a life of its own that that transcends particular instances and situations and and that it can even actually grow. So, so it's not just chaos or desolation or confusion or a mistake, but that um like a circuit of dr can be self- amplifying.

[00:09:43]Um so it can be more and more destructive and it can be deceiving. Uh it can uh have a kind of glint of seeming life in it uh that makes you attracted to it.

[00:09:59]Um because perhaps it seems as though it is um what I was describing as the good version of evil before that it can be like oh this is this is different from the mainstream. This is defiant.

[00:10:17]Um uh so you know by virtue of self- definitionf as being different from this other thing surely it's good. Um, but maybe it's actually already co-opted in a way or um maybe that's just not um maybe it's not co-opted, but it's still just destructive. Uh where it's maybe tending towards uh tending towards pain and dissolution of things that would better be held together that would be better held together. Um something like that.

[00:10:58]Um and uh and then the and then the idea of the hyperorean uh gets some nuance here in that you know I've always contrasted the hyperorean to the transcendental uh where the hyperorean is like bad or dark and the transcendental is good um and and light and it's you you know, oriented towards creative becoming and love and so forth. And um and but I've never meant that the Hyperorean like needs to disappear. Exactly. Like like the Hyperorean is this kind of darkness uh that that in the human world, you know, we kind of always have to deal with. Um and and and even maybe gives gives meaning, give gives weight to life. uh and is uh you know is true is sort of profound. Um but it's when it's when the hyperorean sets off in the direction of dr that then there's a problem. So you could see it as um uh yeah just so I mean so just I don't know I could go into more detail on any of these points but like just in terms of technical terminology there's this idea of hyle um which is a neutral a neutral divine energy um that can enter the world and it is God but it uh it can either be harnessed uh in the service of life in which case it becomes light. It it it sort of enters into the work of the trinity. Um or it can take on a life as DR. Um and so uh but there can still be darkness in it and it be part of light. Um so yes so so Drs kind of theoretical a role of theoretical nuance there. um as well as a kind of um as well as a role as as a kind of like solidarity symbol with Zoroastrianism in a way or with like with a sense of a culture that is like, you know, like I I kind of see like that culture as being in continuity with the Byzantine culture that I also seek to sort of resurrect.

[00:14:01]That's the