Pascalian Wager & Materialist Faith
The modern, Protestant-derived notion of belief as factual acceptance (e.g., seeing Zeus on Olympus), which Žižek argues did not characterize ancient Greek religiosity.
In his words 11
“Destiny is inevitable but what we can change is our very inevitable destiny.”1:13:35 Are Catastrophes Virtual? · predestination as radical freedom — changing destiny itself
“which element of theology, which notion is most useful to historical materialism, to Marxism? … he said predestination.”4:13 The Irony of Buddhism · Jameson: predestination is the theological concept most useful to Marxism
“Yes your fate is predetermined but you don't know how. Your freedom is the freedom to choose your fate.”1:18:42 The Freedom of a Forced Choice · predestination reread as radical freedom
The stories that teach it
the jokes and anecdotes he reaches for when he works in this idea, ranked by how many of its talks they turn up in; each card is one story, with every retelling on its page
Niels Bohr's horseshoe
Niels Bohr had a horseshoe on his country-house door; when a scientist friend asked why a scientist would keep a superstitious charm, Bohr answered 'I was told it works even if you don't believe in it', Žižek's model for ideology today.
Stalin's formula for a good communist
Stalin said a good Bolshevik should combine Russian passion/dedication with American pragmatic spirit. Žižek adapts this, replacing it with the trio: Jack Bauer's brutal dedication, Stringer Bell's opportunism, Homer Simpson's evil humour.
Glasgow Climate Conference
The Glasgow conference said all the right things about acting now, yet things continued unchanged, illustrating the paradox of modern cynicism where speech replaces action.
Canned laughter / TV laugh track
Mentioned as another example of passive consumption and the removal of substance (laughter without the joke/comedy).
Organic apples as ideology
Žižek confesses he buys organic apples not because he is convinced they are better but because it makes him feel good, as if he is doing something for Mother Earth. The purchase functions ideologically regardless of sincere belief.
The Da Vinci Code DVD
Žižek admits buying an illegal DVD of The Da Vinci Code from Petticoat Lane Market, noting it was a perfect copy, to introduce a psychoanalytic reading of the film.
Where it comes up 40
48 moments located in the transcripts, click a timestamp to play from there