Russian Cosmism
Article
Russian Cosmism is a recurring concept in the Collected Agenda archive, appearing 4 times across 4 issues between October 28, 2024 and January 19, 2025. The archive places it in contexts such as “Russian Cosmism, as I learn in the back room of a vegan Thai restaurant… centers on the idea that true morality must seek to defeat death”; “a Russian Cosmist is arguing that sunspots control trends in human behavior”; “The Russian Cosmism Circle of New York presents POST-DOOMERISM”. It most often appears alongside David, Geo Yankey, Joshua Citarella.
Metadata
- Category: Concepts
- Mention count: 4
- Issue count: 4
- First seen: October 28, 2024
- Last seen: January 19, 2025
Appears In
Related Pages
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- David (3 shared issues)
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- Geo Yankey (3 shared issues)
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- Joshua Citarella (3 shared issues)
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- KGB (3 shared issues)
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- New York (3 shared issues)
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- POST-DOOMERISM (3 shared issues)
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- Soho (3 shared issues)
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- Sovereign House (3 shared issues)
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- Altro Paradiso (2 shared issues)
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- Annabel (2 shared issues)
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- Berlin (2 shared issues)
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- Cafe Gitane (2 shared issues)
External Links
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- Instagram: https://instagram.com/russiancosmismnyc
Source Context
Recovered passages from the original issue text. When the raw archive preserved outbound links inside the source passage, they are listed directly under the quote.
Russian Cosmism, as I learn in the back room of a vegan Thai restaurant in a basement off East Broadway, centers on the idea that true morality, at least in hypothetical terms, must seek to defeat death. A truly good pursuit must strive for the end of all that is bad. Russian Cosmism, of course, assumes that death is bad. Therefore - it seeks immortality and to resurrect the life of everyone who has ever died. It seeks to solve the issue of finite resources with the infinite supply of the cosmos, stars, and boundless solar light, to harness eternal energy and then, through technology, make humanity eternal too.
A friend brings coffee over this morning and we sit on the terrace. It’s not too cold yet. The terrace is dusty and I’m excited for the surface to freeze over. I tell my friend about the Russian Cosmism Reading Group I have joined, following an announcement at the Bryan Johnson Don’t Die event downtown last month. I tell her that I’m interested in the idea of defeating death because it strikes me as both spiritual and flagrantly sacrilegious. I’m inclined to find the concept terrifying, because there are so many worse things than dying that could happen during eternity. She tells me that following a former boy band pop star's death last week, she felt really sad that she will never be a member of the 27 Club. I know that’s so fucked up, she says.
Inline links: Bryan Johnson Don’t Die
At the reading group itself, the conversation centers mostly on the sun. In the text, a Russian Cosmist is arguing that sunspots control trends in human behavior. I order vegan broth. Thai iced tea. Afterwards, my boyfriend meets me at the subway station. We walk to a comedy show. We walk home. If immortality is a degradation of sanctity, then death is the culmination of a series of small degradations of everything else. It’s nice out tonight. It’s been in the high sixties for a while now. Hypothetically, it could stay like this forever.
From 6pm at Gonzo’s Studios — The Russian Cosmism Circle of New York presents POST-DOOMERISM - a talk with labor leader Chris Smalls. Ft Geo Yankey, Joshua Citarella, and Prada Horse Shoe.
From 7pm at Gonzo’s — The Russian Cosmism Circle of New York presents POST-DOOMERISM; a talk with labor leader Chris Smalls, featuring artist and podcast Joshua Citarella, comedian Geo Yankey, and Prada Horse Shoe. Dope afters lineup to follow.
David and I go to Estela for dinner. It’s our anniversary. He tells me not to say anything online about it. Private life should stay private, he says, but I’m writing it anyway. Estela is nice. It’s the sister restaurant of Altro Paradiso. My friend, Madelyn works there. Estela is smaller, cozier, you have to buzz to get into the building and then it’s up some steps, it feels like you’re in an apartment, it feels like you’re in Berlin. I’ve never been to Copenhagen, but I imagine it feels a bit like Copenhagen, too. “I like more old timey restaurants,” David says. “Me too,” I say. “But sometimes isn’t it nice to be in a restaurant that feels like Copenhagen? David agrees. He’s never been to Copenhagen either. Altro Paradiso is brightly lit, whereas Estela is dim. Stella - Latin for Star. Etc. The distinction feels a little obvious, but then, I’m being a little particular. Estela is small plates. Romantic. You can tell because you have to buzz the door to get in, and because the lighting is really dark. They put us in a little alcove by the shelves and shelves of wine. We order iberico ham, bread and butter, endive salad, crab with celery root (the best dish), squid ink fried rice with little bits of squid, steak with elderberry sauce. I order a Tito's martini, but I’m told they don’t serve Titos here. I’m told they have one martini with vodka that “tastes like smirnoff” ($22) and another with vodka that’s way better and far preferable (paraphrased) ($30). Our waitress is peppy. “We’ll take the Smirnoff,” David says. “She’s nice,” I say, later. “Domineering,” David says. Later, the waitress rolls her eyes a little when she asks me how my martini is. She smiles when I say good. I believe she is sincere in her hope that I’m happy as I guzzle up the fruits of my lowbrow taste. It really is a lovely meal. I don’t mean to be cynical. I tell David he should tell them it’s our anniversary so we can have something free, and he tells them “it’s our anniversary, can we have dessert on the house.” Then, I’m embarrassed, but they bring us dessert (with a price) and champagne (on the house). Tuesday, January 14 I’ve been working on maintaining constant motion. “An object in motion will stay in motion,” I’ve been telling anyone that will listen. I walk in place all day, and then I walk through Washington Square Park at night, freezing. I make sure to do an extra lap to circle under the arch, all sparkling and illuminated and icy. I’m thirty minutes late to the Post-Doomerism talk at Gonzo’s, and this feels like an important one to me because I used to base my entire framework of thought around mitigating dread through a surrender to the inevitability of fates worse than death. It’s a terrible way to view the world - juvenile if nothing else, but also aesthetically and morally barren, limiting, a nihilistic obsession with the present does lead to destruction (yourself and others), no matter how many delusions you harbor about enlightenment, and about time and therefore preservation as false constructs. You can’t be nihilistic if you believe in good and evil, and I do believe in good and evil, so it was never going to hold up. Post Doomerism The lecture is just starting when I exit the elevator. The talk is between Chris Small (founder of Amazon Labor Union), PradaHorseShoe (founder of Russian Cosmism Circle NYC), Joshua Citarella (Doomscroll Podcast), and Geo Yankey (Comedian) “Russian Cosmists think that Marx doesn't take it far enough,” Amana explains. “Marxism wants to abolish capitalism, religion, the family…. but what about abolishing the OG bummer - death.” The point of the talk seems to be to present a sort of leftist vision of tech accelerationism. Capitalist Realism, the parts of the industrial revolution deemed actually good, nuclear fusion (clean and limitless energy which imitates the sun) instead of nuclear fission, fossil fuels , etc etc etc. The audience, on the other hand, is mostly composed of people I recognize from other downtown events - this one taking on an uncharacteristic and somewhat academic sincerity. “Hypothetically, heat death could occur before we run out of fuel,” a girl sitting next to me murmurs at one point, evidently at least somewhat convinced by technology’s capacity for limitless good. I try to conjure a sense of what she’s imagining in my mind's eye - create enough clean energy, and you could be driving your car one day when the whole universe just implodes. This isn’t aspirational to me. Longevity even, has never been particularly aspirational to me, although increasingly moreso, I’m increasingly less cynical. I appreciate the sincerity of the lecture. I appreciate some of the ideas they put forward, too. It’s an irony-pilled audience and they're sitting in a deeply earnest room. I slip out during the Q&A - overwhelmed, honestly, and I’m late to another function. I’m handed a gin and tonic in the Lower East Side. I’m talking about the Russian Cosmism lecture. “Lenin tried that and 20 million people died,” I am told. “I don’t really know enough,” I say. I’m sent a documentary about The Tyranny of Scientism. I order some things like the books by Nick Zurnig and Mark Fisher. It’s good to be objective. The night slips onward. It’s rude to talk about accelerationism at a party. Wednesday, January 16 It's slightly warmer in New York today. It's still cold, but it's less frigid, I'm walking through Soho typing, I'm walking to Equinox, I'll finish writing this on the treadmill, I had such a fun night last night although I do feel terribly guilty about squandering my health and my beauty and my soul every time I get drunk. I was such a good drunk, though. I adore my friends so deeply. I adore my new friends. I think they are my best friends. I’m trying not to quantify everything. There are names of people I love spinning through my mind, now. Why order things. Some people exhaust me, and then there are other people who don’t. I’ve found new friends who live artfully while occupying a natural state that is absorbed with the physical world, recently. How lucky for me. I don’t want to use my volatility as a bludgeon with which to bend people to my whims. Good thing I don’t feel particularly volatile this week. It’s best to consider these while outside of them. Objective introspection: am I doing a good job? WHAT YOU SHOULD DO Gofundme + LA Fire Resources here. Sunday, January 19 From 6pm - midnight at EARTH — Jordan Castro and Cluny present SILENCE. An evening of silence. No speaking, no phones.
Inline links: https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XxFb!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F59a8c887-c1bc-4090-9568-92185cc4e0c1_1412x1420.png, Amazon Labor Union, PradaHorseShoe, Russian Cosmism Circle NYC, Doomscroll Podcast, Geo Yankey, Capitalist Realism, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kDE6!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd7220533-39ee-4944-a185-b7983b1500e9_1600x1066.jpeg, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!abSY!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcb12cd88-f058-4032-ba7f-a91514034d33_1600x1066.jpeg, here, EARTH, Jordan Castro, Cluny