The Thermodynamic Pervert: Symmetry-Breaking, Code Formation, and the Evolutionary Jouissance of Becoming-Human.
The standard narrative of human evolution--that we ascended from apes through gradual adaptive refinement--obscures the traumatic kernel at its core. What if the emergence of Homo sapiens recapitulates, at the biological scale, the same catastrophic structure as cosmological symmetry-breaking? In my...
| Publicado en: | International Journal of Žižek Studies Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 1 - 15 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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International Journal of Zizek Studies
2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=193611705&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 193611705 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 17518229 7834 jtl: International Journal of Žižek Studies issn: 17518229 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2026 vid: 20 iid: 1 pid: 59861 pub: International Journal of Zizek Studies artinfo: ui: 193611705 ppf: 1 ppct: 14 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 1MB tig: atl: The Thermodynamic Pervert: Symmetry-Breaking, Code Formation, and the Evolutionary Jouissance of Becoming-Human. aug: au: Todd, Ian George affil: Sydney Medical School University of Sydney, Australia su: Symmetry breaking Thermodynamics Human evolution Decoherence (Quantum mechanics) Entropy Semiotics Pattern formation (Physical sciences) Consciousness sug: subj: Symmetry breaking Thermodynamics Human evolution Decoherence (Quantum mechanics) Entropy Semiotics Pattern formation (Physical sciences) Consciousness keyword: Žižek code formation coherence evolution high-dimensional systems Lacan symmetry-breaking thermodynamics ab: The standard narrative of human evolution--that we ascended from apes through gradual adaptive refinement--obscures the traumatic kernel at its core. What if the emergence of Homo sapiens recapitulates, at the biological scale, the same catastrophic structure as cosmological symmetry-breaking? In my previous work on coherence geometry, I argued that quantum collapse reveals not reality's failure but the obscene success of incompleteness itself. Here I extend this analysis to the evolutionary domain: Code formation--the emergence of stable symbolic structures from highdimensional coupling dynamics--represents not progress toward wholeness but the iterative deepening of an original wound. Symmetry-breaking in the early universe introduced lack into the Real; biological evolution perpetuates this lack through thermodynamic computation, producing consciousness as the jouissance of recognizing one's own dimensional inadequacy. Man evolves not despite entropy but through it, each increment of coherence purchased at the cost of deeper exile from the symmetric Real. The upright ape who discovers language, tool-use, and ideology has not transcended the animal kingdom--he has merely found new ways to enjoy his incompleteness. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of International Journal of Žižek Studies is the property of International Journal of Zizek Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: International Journal of Žižek Studies holder: International Journal of Zizek Studies dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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